Garet

It’s why I joked about how many times the logo shows up when almost all the other rides don’t have a set logo. I think previous TR’s by other users have also pointed it out.

Good to know, both the official site and Naver (Korean Google) told me to allow about 90 minutes travel time and with plenty of trains to the old station, I figured being only 9KM away was a safer bet to rush back for a train. I ended up taking the bus and I know it sounds silly but until my son goes to pre-school and my wife works again, the difference between a $40 taxi and a $10 taxi is enough for me to take my son out somewhere on my next free day, which is all the difference to me. The site only lists a single souvenir shop and that's all that I could find in the park: https://www.gjw.co.kr/Contents/contents.php?cmsNo=DB0400/view/57 Even the site talks more about how it has hello kitty teddies than merchandise. The store was mostly generic toys at the back, themed headbands at the front and a bunch of Gyeongju temple/city souvenirs that are at all the tourist sites here. Your welcome. Just FYI Space Tour and Space 2000 have closed down, Draken is open and the Octopus ride has also been removed.

I ended up making some purchases after reading this thread. Turns out the wasabi pretzels are from a korean company. Found a giant bag of them. Thanks for posting a picture I had walked right past them in the supermarket. They were delicious We never seem to get official nanoblocks here but after seeing chip and dale in your post I looked to see what was in the nano block stores and found a err... chipmunk couple model. The fad of nano blocks seems to have died out here after they were everywhere a few years back. I made quite a knock off collection when they were around though.

Final part I don't know how I missed the rapids ride on my first walk around considering it had not 1 entrance sign..... ....not two.... .... but three signs. On your canyon adventure, you will see dinosaurs... ... old wooden buildings... ...water guns... ...rapids.... ...Indians and a drowning man. This ended up being the only ride I didn't ride. I had a return train and it was re-riding both roller-coasters or riding this and choosing one of them. This seemed to be an upcharge so I ended up carrying on walking. For what was only 10C weather the water rides were packed. The flume was quite hard to photograph. This was taken from the photo zone. This old roller coaster is now a backdrop to become a highly themed smoking area. Again the park really tried to theme up what could have easily just been a generic ride. The park must be making a fortune selling these ponchos. Every rider was buying one and bags to cover their shoes. ...until I saw the wave... ... You couldn't even see Phatheon's lift hill behind it. I've seen some parks drain or lower the water to reduce the splash. I remember going to USJ and getting lightly sprinkled on Jurassic Park and Splash Mountain at TDL in weather like this. Gyeongju World doesn't seem interested in doing that. There's a boat in there somewhere. This ride was insanely popular for the cold weather, considering how soaked you got. I briefly entertained riding... I ended my day with one last ride on Draken. Since the queue was longer I had a lot of time to stand under the dragon. With the sun starting to set, I headed out of the park for my bus, two trains and a 40 minute drive home. I will definitely be back to visit this park again.

Part 2 The first ride you'll hit outside Draken Valley is probably the ferris wheel. You can see a few of the tourist sites just outside of the park. The wheel gives you a nice view of Draken from the top. Looking over towards the park of the park i'd be heading to next. This seemed quite tame after the extremely aggressive versions you see in the night life area or arcades in some of the Korean cities. Heading over to my next ride I was here for. The park wants you to notice this ride so it has 2 big entrance signs. Even the wheel covers got some theming i think this was the only piece of netting I saw. Apart from that, the ride flies over the paths with the park trusting people aren't idiots and stowed their belongings in the station. I've only been on 4 of these rides before this one. Nemesis, Montu, Raptor and Nemesis Inferno. It didn't really compared to those first three but it was much better than Nemesis Inferno to me (a low bar I know) I think this may have actually been my first big wheel I've ridden in Korea. Everland's is SBNO and Children's park removed theirs before I ever visited. Again for such a little park, they go all out on their theming of the buildings. Heading over to my next ride. I don't know why but apart from giant drop towers like Blue Fall. I prefer these to the Intamin towers I've been on. The drop feels more aggressive and more forceful to me.

So last weekend I suddenly decided to do something I never usually do. I visited a park on a Saturday in Fall, a time when my local park Everland has waits of 90 minutes even for some of the flat rides. I found out I had a free Saturday around 11 PM on Friday. After debating driving or taking the train and with tolls and gas finding the times and price around the same, I decided to head out at 4 AM to Seoul Station to catch a 5 AM train. I honestly enjoyed Gyeongju World way more than I thought. It has a very nice ride line-up that probably matches Lotte World and Everland (although those parks do offer more to see and do when you're in the park) and the park seems to go out of its way to put a lot more theming into places than you'd expect of a park this size. 2 things really surprised me on this trip, 1: Even looking at some of TPR's old reviews, I didn't realize how compact the park is. There's a lot of rides considering how quickly you can walk from one side of the park to the other. I apologize that this one is going to be a bit weird and a bit rambling 2: For such a park with such an impressive line-up compared to other Korean parks, it weirdly almost felt like the park is just there to nab a few tourists from the many hotels surrounding it who are already in the area and not at all interested in really advertising or competing on a bigger stage. I took a transfer train to the old station which is only 9KM from the park as opposed to the bullet train station which is 1hour 40 mins by bus away and couldn't find any signs pointing me to the bus needed at the 3 road intersection. I know enough Korean to ask and found a bus but this continued when I got to the park. This may be the only park where I haven't seen any merchandise for the park. Not even a pencil or key chain. Even the operations and waiting signposts made me think it's used to not too many visitors. I started queuing for Phantheon at the 60-minute marker sign. They were only running 1 train (I found out later there is only 1 train for that ride) about every 6-8 minutes and I was constantly getting queue jumped by people who were going back to the snack stands for their buddies so that I barely moved and considered leaving what I assumed would be a miserable queue. About 20 minutes in of barely moving and suddenly in the building, I already hit a 10-minute waiting point and there was the station which was a very pleasant surprise. This happened a lot that day, I'd constantly find queues that were way overstated or rides like Klake that run super long ride cycles for park rides. Draken was stacking on the brake run for every train and that 60-minute line took me maybe 35 on all my rides. Nearly all the food in the park was quick serve and fast food. I kind of thought the main middle food court was kind of funny, it was ramyeon noodles with a markup price where you chose the brand you wanted and they just took it out the packet, sprinkled the sauce for you and then sent you off to the hot water dispensers dotted around the area. I know that sounds negative but it just struck me as interesting that the park potentially runs slower than the amount of staff running the day I was there. I loved the park way more than I thought I would and am just surprised that, among Korean travelers, it doesn't seem to get much recognition compared to Lotte World or Everland. I think the new rides flesh out the park nicely but if you visit on a weekday you can still probably do the park and some re-rides in a half day and check out some of the surrounding temples and monuments. Some things I did love about the park that I wasn't expecting was all the rides had photo zones and looking platforms right against the rides where you could get great photos or watch your friends ride. Such a nice little touch. I also loved the Korean trust mentality. Phantheon constantly crossed the paths but there is no netting since they just assume people won't be idiots and even though you can pay for just entry without riding, almost none of the rides checked wristbands to slow down the queue. They just trusted you were not abusing the system. Anyway onto the TR. Anyone who has seen my previous TR's know that on my first visit to any park, I tend to do a park index style post for most of the rides in the park that run 2-3 posts, so as always thanks for sticking through to the end. On arrival to the park. For anyone who worries about crowds you can probably get there just before opening and be OK. The ticket booths opened with the park and even when I got there early, there was only about 10 people per line by the time opening came around. The park seemed have quite a few flumes for it's water park, even though it's got a really tiny area to the side of the park. I wasn't expecting so much themeing for their main street. Most of these buildings were either just convenience stores or arcades. The one gift shop carried generic toys and stuffed animals you can find at any store. Entering the main plaza. The whole park is nicely kept and looked really pretty in the fall. The entrance to Draken Valley complete with a metal dragon. With block testing complete, I headed over to Draken. I really love this entrance way, the dragon is an amazingly detailed bit of scenery. Surprisingly, with all that big entranceway this was the only ride sign I could find. This splash-down was really cold at night with the wind blowing it back into the riders. Hopefully they drain it in the winter since this park runs all year round. You can see hints of the plans for old Norse realms themeing before they settled on Draken Valley This was my first time riding one of these. Not too sure I have a need to ride one again anytime soon. Klake is the last ride of the new area. They're quite proud of this logo. It's on the control booth, the main ride and painted under the floor so you'll see it as you ride. I rode this after Dragon Race and it had picked up quite a line. Next time it may be my first ride of the day by the end of the day it had the longest line of the park. This nicely themed building turned out to be housing a Dunkin Donuts. This wraps up the new area Draken Valley so now i'll move onto the older areas of the park. What I came all this way for. It had a big sign saying they would be block testing for 30 minutes so I went off to get some pictures of the area. So the area went through a few changes from an Alpine Village to Norse Mythology to Draken Valley in the design phase so I'll try my best to some up the story from the pre-show videos. Peter...err.... Peter Pixie (minus Tinkerbell although no-one told this sculptor) is summoned by Ghost Odin (who died in some Norse Wars) to put on his Infinity Gauntlet and search out the elemental powers to add to his gauntlet. Ice from by the alpine slides, fire from Krake etc. The last power he needs is the one ring to rule them all guarded by a dragon. I'm not too familiar with dive machines but I think this is a Griffon clone with smaller trains and the second vertical drop changed to just a very steep drop instead. I enjoyed it, but for reasons I'm not quite sure of, I find frisbee rides doing the pendulum swing a bit more fun than these 360 versions. It had a long ride cycle with 3 flips each way once it got to the top. There was a lot of hang-time to be had. The only weird thing was the ride almost shudders when it goes over the top. You can hear it when queuing and feel it vibrate a bit in the seats riding. Another themed building on main street.

^ I had the same experience only at ToT as well. Everywhere seemed fine.

Everland's polar bear, the one that caused issues with animal rights groups I mentioned on my last few posts here has passed away. Source The home page currently is running a memorial picture as the main image and greyed out logos.

I know it's been a while since the TPR trip but I'm wondering how was Hair Raiser on anyone's last visit? It wasn't what I'd call rough or uncomfortable on my last visit 5 years ago but some friends went a couple years ago and considered it a 'one and done' and someone else I know who went recently really didn't enjoy their ride.

I don't usually recommend people to go through Klook and get the free q pass unless its more about going cheap than comfortably. They sell out a week or 2 in advance, your tied to that day regardless on weather or plan changes and its first come first served. The site specifies: The Q-Pass is randomly provided. You can not choose a specified attraction in advance. Edit: Just messaged a friend who has used it and they got to choose at booth but it was definitely first come first served if you have reserved through klook your guaranteed a q pass of some kind just depends on what tickets are left. The Klook booth opens at 11 inside the park so at least an hour after park opening, and tickets can't be changed so if the ride you picked went down for the day you were out of luck. I always tell people to go for the Everland q pass package or lately through Trazy where you can get tickets for cheap and do the fast passes yourself for $5 a piece and can usually order a day or 2 before. I know some people who prefer using the official sites though. That's always available for the next day so you don't have to stress about the weather or which ride. It's only a 5 dollar difference but I normally tell people just to get the 4 Q-pass and buy an extra beer over the 5 since the panda q pass is next to useless. You get put in the next pre-show which is pretty much the same as the normal queue does saving you 2 mins at best. I think you were just unfortunate in your timing since it was the only time you could go was a weekday in October. One of the busiest months since summer is too hot, winter things are shut down for temperatures and Halloween makes it one of the busiest months. As I said in my very first response I almost always send people there on a Sunday for opening, since weekdays has reduced ride hours (split shifts or 1pm openings and early closings), but with more rides available and more families at church it tends to even out q times to be the same. Honestly, I find Sundays easier to get thrill rides done since they tend to be dead compared to weekdays with school groups etc. With opening, you can also then spend 5 points on Lost Valley's lottery and then in 2 and a half hours have points to try for T Express evening lottery pass (the app caps you at 5 points a person.)

^If you have a phone that runs the app, I wouldn't recommend spring $30 a piece for extra T Express queue passes. You can use the app to do the lottery and since you get a point for every half hour your in the park you can try probably at least 3 times if your there for opening since you'll have the 5 points needed every 2 and a half hours. That Unlimited Magic pass for Lotte World used to be really pricey and limited, like only 30 a day allowed to be sold. Nice to see it is a bit cheaper and more available. If the app didn't work you could have scanned your ticket in one of the machines around the park, and booked 1 ride at a time, like old Disney paper fast pass style, they're provided for people who don't have phones but not an issue with your premium and chances are that most free slots would have been booked up by people arriving in the morning.

I highly doubt they would do that. Lotte World has been doing this for years with the shopping mall restaurants in Underland. Normal entrances in the mall, themed on the park side and then a small divider fence in the restaurant with areas to place orders either side. Found some pics from my old TR. Fenced one. This one wasn't fenced and you can see the mall from the park. The staff would check tickets and unlock the gate if I remember correctly.

Continental US? Maybe. Overall? BEHOLD: These things are in quite a few places in Korea under the name disco pang pang, either up side streets of the night life areas or in a basement of an arcade. I've seen in the dark disco light ones and some with performers who flip and kick within centimeters of the rides and catapult to the roofs. Apologies for the quality and the angle, the autofocus had a complete fail and the person I left it with didn't realise there was a jump when I was riding. [youtu_be] [/youtu_be]

And in one single line you've sold every future TPR Japan trip.

Stop by Korea for the wasabi milkshake they sell here. Or if you are feeling particularly mean, let the flavour soak and pass it to an unassuming friend and tell them it’s vanilla since it's hard to tell the flavor from looking at it

More importantly, which show? Spongebob closes on the 16th, you know! You guessed it. Oh, I'm so jealous! We loved the show! I've actually considered doing a classic TPR "Coaster Expedition" style video to "I'm not a Simple Sponge." Enjoy the show! At least there is a good video of it floating around for those who want to relive it after it closes! I need to go track down this video after work. Really would have loved to see that musical. I’m not the hugest fan of the show but I have friends who dislike it more than me and they loved the musical for its energy and catchy songs

For some reason Gene Wilder passing away was coming up on the bbc website today. I didn’t realise he had died 2 years ago so was sad to read it even if I’m two years late

I don't break park rules and I guess if I ever went out to this park i'd be buying fastlane but hypothetically isn't this more of an encouragement almost to take your phone with you than a deterrent? If the line was 45mins to an hour and a greeter at the line entrance warned me that if I take my phone with me to use for the whole queue, I will have to leave the line at the end but get a free pass to essentially get back on with no wait v.s. a long line with no phone, I'd take that exit pass.

Lotte World pretty much owns a catalogue of Intamin flat rides and a coaster in their park and I almost never see downtime, and at the next park over in Everland with T Express I've never seen down for anything other than weather.

Batman & Chiller says hi. .. Lol. Oh...right.... Ok. "Worlds first" full circuit dueling launch coaster Battlestar Galactica says hi.

There used to be a Mos Burger near me but that chain and a few other foreign companies completely vanished from Korea. Mos Burger still has a couple of places open but they're pretty spread out. The Panda Express I saw once came and went so fast, think they're down to 3 stores now. Shake Shack is the up and comer these days. Dairy Queen just started to show up.

Not quite the same but you reminded me that one of my favorite take away places when I need a quick lunch has become bonguesse rice burgers in korea. It took off a few years ago and there are stores everywhere now. I always grab a rice burger for lunch since it's only $2-4 dollars if i'm teaching somewhere. http://m.bongousse.net/Web/menu.aspx They've just introduced supersized versions for around $4.50

My usual weight was 75kg, went down to 68KG for my wedding and ballooned to 96KG for a variety of reasons after my son was born over the next 2 years (working a second job to knock down the mortgage meant too little exercise, sleep and way too much junk food for one). I got my first walk of shame on an aqualoop 2 months ago (thankfully after 10 minutes in the inspection line and not the 40 minute slide line) because I can't get my wedding ring off my finger anymore and they're really strict about jewellery and clothes to prevent slidebacks (Saw a few girls turned away who had a bra not a swimsuit under their t-shirt since all clothing bar shorts and swimsuits have to be stowed). That was my wake up call to make me lose weight since my son is starting to want to go on the small children's rides now and obviously can't go alone since well for one he's two but also he hasn't quite mastered the understanding of I can't stand up when a ride is in motion and I'd hate for him to miss out on rides because his daddy can't fit below the bar. Especially since Asia can be a bit more restrictive, I know there's a couple of rides in China i'd be turned away from. Definitely will keep these tips in mind since my wallet really sticks out from my pockets.

RIP Aretha Franklin

Well, they did that with FURY 325 (although it isn't close to CP) after years of saying they won't build a "regular" coaster taller than MF. I think they don't care about keeping records only at Cedar Point anymore and that is good for us! I've never understood this belief that Cedar Point has to be the king of titles and records. 'Hey let's not build a giant coaster that will make news and gain attention for breaking a record or two, get visitors through our gates and push up attendance in Canada because it'll steal some thunder away from another of our parks in Ohio that the majority of people at CW probably won't visit.' said no manager ever.