Lotte World

Rob, a fellow salsa dancing Englishman, lives a five minute walk from Jamsil subway station. This also happens to be the gateway to Lotte World: "A World of Magic and Fantasy".

From the first time we met to the present day I have sung the amusement park's praises to this incessant sceptic, but having avoided it for two years Rob was adamant he would continue to do so. Now on the final stretch of his time in Korea I finally persuaded him - as a general theme park enthusiast - renouncing his absence would be worthy of his time. With girlfriend Jenny and boyfriend Ian in tow, we made it a date and finally got there last Sunday morning.

It continues to be a Disney rip-off (I swear that parade car was playing the Looney Tunes theme) but hosting all the big rides plus a decent number of small ones, it definitely deserves a mark in my 'Theme Parks of Korea' book.

Despite being the largest indoor amusement park in the world[1] the outdoor Magic Island is really where it's all happening. I mean, granted, the Crazy Bumper Cars are indoor (a big selling point for Rob) and considering the small scale of the four storeyed arena the French Revolution does a pretty impressive take on thrilling. But there's no Gyro Swing to whirl you out over the lake, or Gyro Drop to leave you contemplating the size of Seoul 70 meters above ground. Ian claimed he wouldn't be riding anything with Gyro in the name, but of course this was just a pretense.

Despite being a weekend during Korea's only week summer holiday with the sun shining so forcefully we're left to wander how we didn't all result as red as ripe tomatoes, the crowds weren't too hideous to battle. The queues inevitably hotted up as the day progressed, but with such exhilaration from the fluffy characters that sporadically flashed you a wave or the newly sprouted animal ears from the majority of the people, a good rest in line between rides was probably called for.

As long as you can tolerate a bit of waiting, having experienced Lotte World at both end of the year during the two Korean holidays, I don't think this is a place you could ever want to avoid. Besides the dizzying feeling of being on hallucinogenic drugs, that is. But being a country with a strict prescriptive drugs only policy, this is probably as close to the real thing you'll get.

[1] according to the ever-trustworthy Wikipedia