Everland Theme Park and Wicked!

Headed up to Seoul right after work Friday - caught the 22:06 train which was a mistake as the subway had closed by the time we got up. At Choi's Guesthouse we met a lovely girl from Lebanon who spoke English, French, Arabic and was learning Korean - puts most people to shame!  Got up very early and headed out to Everland!

No Frothy Beer or
Aliens Allowed

Is this Lacist?

Transport info: Got to Everland by catching the express 5002 bus from the middle of the street near exit 4 of Gangnam station. Got back by getting a different bus 1500-2 to Sadang station - it was 10 or 15 min longer but we weren't standing all the way. This year the Everline from Giheung Station should open (it's ready, trial runs went fine last year but the owners were concerned it would make a loss until the Shinbundang line opened). There was a short shuttle from the bus station (also where the Everline ends) to the entrance. The shuttle bus also goes to the water park Caribbean Bay (I'll have to go when I get back to Korea, especially if everyone there is fit and oiled up like the advert).

T Express - 77 degree drop, 104 km/h,
Get your QPass tickets as soon as you get there!

Plastic Sheets
- Amazon
Experience

Ghost Bedside Reading

The ticket office opened at 9:30, gates at 10 so there was quite the crowd outside (top photo). A band of foreigners played while they opened up and everyone rushed in. We immediately went to the back of the park where the wooden T Express rollercoaster is in the "European Adventure" region (see this video). We picked up a Qpass then went on and it was my favourite ride there. 77 degree angle drop, 104 km/h and most of it being thrown out of our seats. Tried taking a photo of us pulling cute faces but were told off :-( Picked up a Qpass for Amazon Experience and then went back on the T Express. It was just as great as before but the very back was the best, possibly due to the momentum of the train.

Mirror, Mirror....

Next on the Amazon Experience which was a white water rapids style ride but each "boat" was made up of 6 wedges which could move semi-independently and were covered so you didn't get too wet (although this is really the point of these rides!). See this video. The rest of the rides were pretty fun, nothing particularly special. The haunted house had amusing books in the fake library - The New Jewish Encyclopedia, The Black Military Experience in the American West, Poems from the Middle East.

We saw the splash water show which was very, very.. wet. Honestly I've seen less water spray in the Victoria Falls rainforest. We caught animal shows - including one with a monkey named after a Kpop group JYP. The seals, penguins, tiger and two polar bears all looked well looked after and happy. Not at all shell shocked like the polar bear at Edinburgh Zoo. The African area was a little racist but had some fun animals. Thankfully I did not give any monkeys boners this time, maybe I wasn't looking my best!

            Splash Fun Parade - I could only do their job high.....

Almost front row and Center

On Sunday we went to see Wicked (on until August 31st) at the BlueSquare Music Hall which is connected to Hangangjin station near Itaewon. Our seats were good, but a little high and far from the stage. Still the show was excellent. No photography allowed, but I was sneaky.  Also I admit I was not close enough to take the photo on the right :-)