SeoulLand

Gwacheon, South Korea

“Charming amusement park with lots of classic attractions”

Welcome to Seoul Grand Park, a huge leisure park south of the Korean capital. The main components of this park are a zoo, an art museum and SeoulLand. It may sound crazy, but the layout of the resort somewhat reminds me of Magic Kingdom. First of all, the parking area and subway station are on one side of a lake, while the aforementioned attractions are on the opposite side. And while you don’t get to the parks by ferry or monorail like at Walt Disney World, Seoul Grand Park also provided transportation. The most notable mode of transportation is the Elephant Train. This train runs in an infinite loop around the lake and stands out because of the elephant face on the front. Most Korean visitors opt for the Elephant Train, but we choose to just take a stroll around the lake. After fifteen minutes, we reach the entrance of SeoulLand.

After spending some time in South Korea, we know that foreigners hardly ever pay full price for amusement parks. This also applies to SeoulLand, as we once again found a serious online discount for non-Korean citizens. The regular ticket rate was approximately 34.50 euros (in 2023), but we got in for less than half of that price. Then, SeoulLand welcomed us with World Plaza, a Main Street-like area with an international feel. We noticed typical Dutch facades, a Polynesian-looking restaurant and a rainbow version of Pisa’s Leaning Tower. It’s clear that World Plaza has been there for quite some time and we can’t speak of a high-quality theming level, but it’s a charming entry plaza nonetheless. Besides, World Plaza treated us to an unexpected déjà vu. At the end of the avenue stands a large silver sphere, which immediately reminded us of EPCOT and Europa-Park. Unfortunately, this sphere doesn’t contain an attraction, but purely functions as a visual element.

ROLLER COASTERS

A name like Crazy Mouse probably makes you think of a standard wild mouse from Mack or Maurer Rides. SeoulLand did things a bit differently, though. In fact, this coaster was made of Arrow-like track and the vehicles are also reminiscent of old-fashioned inversion roller coasters. While a cute little mouse face was mounted to the train, this is far from a typical wild mouse. The ride is also completely different: most of Crazy Mouse’s curves are slightly banked, resulting in much less lateral g-forces. In addition, the track contains a few tame drops, but it’s definitely not an adrenaline-pumping machine. Consider Crazy Mouse as a modest family roller coaster, but its uniqueness certainly makes it a valuable credit.

Tomorrow Land (no, I’m not making it up) is a themed land that caters to roller coaster lovers. In addition to Crazy Mouse, this is also the place where we find SeoulLand’s two most thrilling coasters. Number one is Columbia Double Loop Coaster, which was built by the Japanese company Senyo Kogyo. It’s a coaster of solid proportions: the layout is nearly 900 metres long, the maximum height is 32 metres and the train reaches a top speed of 85 kilometres per hour. And, as its name suggests, the track contains two vertical loops. This all sounds very nice, but Japanese manufacturers are not usually known for their smooth roller coasters. That’s why we initially had some doubts, but I must admit that the ride experience wasn’t too bad. The loops were surprisingly intense and the ride evokes a good sense of speed. Although I wouldn’t describe the ride as glass-smooth, Columbia Double Loop Coaster actually turned out to be pretty enjoyable.

The nearby Black Hole 2000 counts as one of the highlights at SeoulLand. This brightly-coloured inversion coaster towers high above SeoulLand, while the green hills provide a photogenic backdrop. Furthermore, the ride’s two corkscrews are visible from many different angles. Unfortunately, it’s exactly those two inversions that turn Black Hole 2000 into true torture. That’s a shame, especially because the rest of this 974-metre-long ride actually turned out to be pretty enjoyable. Re-track, anyone?!

Tobot is a South Korean animated series featuring cars that can transform themselves into robots. Consider it as a child-friendly Transformers, if you will. The series seems to be wildly popular and SeoulLand is cleverly capitalizing on that with Tobot Train. We are talking about a Zamperla powered coaster with a double helix. The station and ride vehicle were lightly themed, but Tobot Train still looks like it belongs on a funfair. The same goes for Tikitoc Train. This is a Wacky Worm with a cutely designed train and station, but the hardware isn’t in the best possible condition. The ride is shaky and rough, and a coat of paint wouldn’t hurt.

OTHER EXPERIENCES

As mentioned before, SeoulLand has quite a few references to Disney theme parks. We have already talked about the EPCOT sphere and Tomorrow Land, but there’s another area that reminds me of Disney: Adventure Land. This zone offers a go-kart track and a swinging ship, but I was especially happy to discover Den of Lost Thieves. Unfortunately, this dark ride turned out to be very short and the scenes consist mostly of 2D scenery. I’m not usually a fan of laser guns in dark rides, but in this case the interactive game did offer additional value: by focusing myself on the targets, the ride’s cheap theming was a little less noticeable.

Adventure Land’s largest attraction is Flume Ride, a classic log flume. The fact that this is SeoulLand’s only water-based attraction is reflected in its popularity. Despite the chilly weather, there was quite a long line during the afternoon. What did we get in return? A rather simple-looking log flume with barely one drop. Still, this ride has some surprises in store. The layout is relatively long and the descent delivered more thrills than I expected. Flume Ride features a double drop with a solid shot of airtime.

WORTH A VISIT?

When amusement park enthusiasts talk about Seoul, they usually talk about Everland and Lotte World. SeoulLand often seems to be forgotten and that’s a shame. Obviously, SeoulLand is less impressive than its two major competitors, but the park delivers a solid experience nevertheless. The scenic location alone deserves a mention. The landscape surrounding SeoulLand is beautiful and we also notice plenty of greenery and water features inside the park. In addition, I was charmed by the friendly staff, the entertainment and excellent F&B offerings. Still, keep one important thing in mind if you travel to this park anytime soon: you will hardly find any modern attractions here. For example, the most recent roller coaster addition took place in 1996! Therefore, I can imagine that some coaster fans leave this place disappointed. Personally, however, I thoroughly enjoyed this throwback to the 1990s. Visiting SeoulLand feels like visiting the amusement parks I used to design in Roller Coaster Tycoon 1… and that’s actually pretty awesome.

Have you been able to visit SeoulLand? Should this park invest in modern roller coasters? And how cool is that alternative Wild Mouse? Share your opinion in the comments section at the bottom of this page.