Imagine Six Flags under a roof. Now make the signs in Korean but still enough English to be tourist-friendly. This is Lotte World. Arguably one of the largest indoor amusement parks in the world, Lotte Worlds outdoor section complements the indoors quite nicely – but guess which one is more popular during the winter? You guessed it – the indoors section, although the outdoors section was quite busy as well.

Make your way there through the Jamsil subway station – you never have to feel the cold breeze of winter if you don’t step outside, and the place is kept at room temperature. Pretty surprising considering its size. Before paying your way, check to see if there are any discounts available – the Korean friend I went with saved 50% for paying with the right debit / credit card! A one-day-pass (unlimited rides) admission for adults without any discounts was 35,000 won. The many other prices you see in the picture above include the teen and children categories, along with ‘late admission’ (after 5pm), ‘general admission’ (get into the park and pay separately for each ride you want), and ‘late general admission’ (after 7pm). If it’s any consolation, you don’t have to face a Korean and mumble your request for tickets – you’ll see some automated ticket booths on the way in, and the occasional ajumma with a fanny pack can supply your need for tickets. Be aware that the latter is illegal and isn’t likely to save you a lot of money – buyer beware, and it’s best to avoid the type altogether.

Once you enter and before you head upstairs to the main level, stop and ponder these wonderful horses for just a few minutes… OK, now that that’s done, go up the escalator into a whole different world .

‘Happy Christmas’ is the slogan of choice across many parts of Korea – why not ‘Merry Christmas’? Who knows.

The popular ride has a good re-creation here in Korea.

A brief excursion into a separate exhibit of plants and animals.

I didn’t catch this little guy’s name – let’s call him ‘Bob’ – but he blended in so well with the background this was the only picture where he was in focus and visible… He’s only a couple centimeters long (less than an inch) if that helps the scale.

A room about butterflies – including quite a few examples professionally pinned and presented for the world to see. This was one of the very few areas entirely in Korean – virtually everything else in Lotte World was very tourist-friendly, including signs in Korean, English and Japanese.

The classic ‘circular fishtank around a pillar’ fishtank.

Lots of fish packed into tiny areas make for some interesting pictures. OK, back to describing the area instead of the animals.

Your classic boat ride – where you get swung up and down like a pendulum – with a rather racy lady on the front. Kids, keep reading – adults, click at your own risk.

Before long we found a log flume ride. A fairly short 15-minute wait later, we were on:

Some fairly interesting scenery at play here – little audio to speak of, so there’s not much of a language barrier.

Like any self-respecting log flumes, there is a climb – and what goes up must come down. We didn’t get very wet though – good thing, even though the water is clean and the place is warm.

Another log flume drop – taken once off the boat for a better angle.

Looking around we see a big hole in the center of the building looking down. We look down…

…and find an Olympic-sized ice skating rink open year-round! You can walk the loop / lap all the way around and overlook the skaters, though there are plenty of interesting things where you are. Ice skating is not included in your one-day pass (13,000 won admission – ouch!), and you have to exit Lotte World to get any closer. Thanks, but I’ll stick with the ice skating at City Hall Plaza for now.

A ride that goes in a loop? Sure, why not?

One basic loop doesn’t sound so complex… but take a look at all those wheels. The black line on the right is the track for a ride in a parachute attached to the ceiling.

Upside down and taking pictures… Yep, that me.

The Drunken Basket (I can’t make these names up) – your classic ‘spin-the-wheel-as-fast-as-you-can’ ride.

‘The Adventures of Sindbad“? I thought his name was Sinbad. It’s essentially the same story, albeit told entirely in Korean with Korean heroes. Very colorful:

One of the only pictures that came out from within the ride. Sindbad battles a three-headed dragon, gets on the king’s good side, gets the girl, lives happily after, yadda yadda yadda.

Before long a crowd gathered around the circular trail in the center of the building; ropes and metal posts cordoned off the area. Hunji indicated some sort of parade was about to take place, so naturally we had to stop and enjoy:

Reindeer apparently aren’t needed for Santa’s souped-up, rocket-powered sleigh.

One of the mascots of the park amidst some Nutcracker-like scenery.

It’s the bubble man! More than a few kids – and adults – reached out to play with the bubbles.

Guys on stilts – though to me they looked like they just arrived from a Dr. Seuss book of some kind. QQQ

A couple of many various dancers – quite a few of which were foreigners. Some looked like the ballerina type, while other seemed a bit more rounded… All looked a little underwhelmed by the fairly basic routines, though still entertaining to watch.

At this point we began making our way to ‘Magic Island’ – the outdoor component connected to the indoor Lotte World. Your one day (or general admission) pass gets you into both – who cares if it’s cold outside?

More than a few things remind me of a Disneyified environment – but no complaints there.

One of the first rides we tried – the Waikiki Wave swings you back and forth, up and down a bit. Not overly scary, and a decent warmup to the rest of the park.

This house looks yummy! OK so you can’t really eat it – or even go inside. It’s a staff only building.

Apparently it’s also an odd phenomenon to make graffiti on any of the otherwise white walls. Too many people bringing permanent markers with them into the park I guess… Most are the lovey-dovey type, but supposedly a few are of the ‘Kilroy was here’ type.

The ‘Gyro Swing’ – one of my personal favorite rides that was outdoors! It’s one of the only rides where you can actually feel yourself pulling some G’s. That it rotates as well means you get tossed around in a few different ways – lots of fun.

Inside one of the castles… does anything look just a little…odd… about our knight friend?

Looking up at one of the larger / landmark castles. I could imagine having an office near the top of the building, looking down at the crowds below you…

Similar to most any other free fall / ‘Drop Zone’ type of ride, the ‘Gyro Drop’ rotated as you went up – and made you wait those few tortorous seconds where you just hang there…

Going back inside now, Hunji and I walk around the 2nd floor of this behemoth. The interior as a whole is pretty cleverly designed to make the place as a whole look huge without making everything visible to see from, say, the entrance. In some cases you’ll see portions of a indoor roller coaster (like the ‘French Revolution’, for example – lots of fun) visible before it ducks below ground or hidden from view.

Some of the lit-up waterfalls. Like quite a few decorative lights in Korea, they rotate all the way through the color spectrum, so you’re never looking at the same color for long.

Check out Lotte World if you need a day indoors to get away from the cold, or just want to see what an indoor amusement park. There’s more than enough English to get around, and is very tourist-friendly. If you’re a particular type of amusement park conniseour, you might be disappointed at the lack of originality (the pretty standard formulas of amusement parks are all there – nothing too out of the ordinary). That’s a small price to pay for having a taste of home while you’re living in Korea

Directions: On the Seoul subway system, take line 2 or line 8 to the Jamsil station. Take exit 3, then follow the overhead signs towards Lotte World or the Adventure Park. There’s plenty more to see / do within the building – don’t forget about the Folk Museum, arcade, ice skating, and so on. For those, follow the signs – they’re all in English and pretty well laid out.