After making plans with Katie the week before, we decided to spend Saturday night at her place so we could catch the bus early the next morning. We spent the night playing Wii, and proving that we are smarter than 5th graders. The next morning we met Angelina and Katelyn in Cheolsan, where the bus was waiting at a seemingly random spot outside a Burger King. It was a cute pink bus with curtains inside, pretty much typically Korean. The ride took about an hour and a half, with some crazy traffic (and driving!) on the way. Our bus driver decided at some point that it would be ok to change lanes into the oncoming traffic lane, to pass the traffic jam. Oh, and did we mention it was at the top of a winding mountain? Fun. Fortunately most of us slept through it. We paid once we arrived, and took pictures of our bus stop to make sure we would remember where to catch it again.
It was about 35$ to get in, and the outside was very castle-ish, what amusement parks should be like. There were flowers everywhere, and false buildings with country scenes and castles painted on them. It was Tulip Festival time, hence the flowers. We started off with some funny shops and the only sunglasses we've seen that Koreans actually buy, and caught a picture of Fake Mickey and Minnie Mouse. We're not really sure what animals they are supposed to be.
Our first ride was a spinney one, very much like Psyclone at Canada's Wonderland. Sam was apprehensive about his ride reaction, and countered this with some gravol. Perhaps not the best idea, which we realized once he started dozing off in the next couple lines. After "Psyclone," we headed for snacks, and spent some time chasing a wonderful Korean mullet/rattail with our camera's. Secretly of course, but Angelina insisted. Chloe loves pretzels, but Korean pretzels are stuffed with this really icky sweet white cheese. She keeps trying them though, and this time was no different.
Next was the Santa Maria, same as the Rage at Wonderland. Sam decided to have some ice cream and wait it out. We noticed some more Korean couple stuff; the matching outfits we've gotten used to, but this time we saw some impressive dedication. The wait in line was about half an hour, and a girlfriend made her boyfriend hold the park map above her head to shade her from the sun. Half an hour with his arm above her head.
The next ride was similar to another Canada's Wonderland ride, the Riptide. Sam and Chloe didn't feel like getting wet, so they stopped in a nearby restaurant for drinks. There were fake jukeboxes, which we poked at until we were sure they didn't work. Then another spinney ride, and on to the T Money Express, a wooden roller coaster which apparently has the steepest drop. Sam had a nap while we waited, and Chloe can't really say it was her favourite ride ever. After the ride, we stopped by the gift shop so Angelina could buy an adult size leopard pajama set for her school's PJ day, and Katie bought those animal ears that everyone was wearing.
Later in the day we walked to a food court type area, decorated with thousands of flowers, especially tulips. We ate a quick lunch, and headed to the zoo. That was Chloe's favourite park of the day, and Sam was perking up by that point. There were tiny little baby monkeys, so cute! Chimps and gorilla's and those funny ones with the red bums. There were lemurs leaping around, and a GIANT turtle, talking parrots, and weird animals to have at the zoo, like gophers. Oh, and there were tigers! We finally got to see a white tiger.
Our last stop on our way out was the gift shop, which delayed us for longer than usual when we found the toys. They had John Deere tractors! Then we caught the bus, rode to Cheolsan, and took a taxi home. Long day, but worth it. Everland, check!
