TR: Pyeongwha Land-The World's Most Dangerous Amusement Park

[The Angry Darren Mullins]

I met with my ladyfriend last Saturday and we decided to go to the DMZ. I had been to the DMZ on the east coast of Korea, but I had never gone to the area north of Seoul. There are several tourist areas of the DMZ. We went to the area known as Imjingak. We got a very late start. We arrived at 6:15pm and I expected the place to be closed. This area features a park that was created to console North Korean refugees who were cut off from the north after the war. There is a pond in the shape of the Korean penisula, an old steam train on display, various monuments and an amusement park. The park is called Pyeongwha Land. Pyeongwha is the Korean word for peace. Upon arriving, I could see the frame of a swinging pirate ship, which is very common in Korean parks. The swinging ships in Korea are the equal to the roller coasters in North America. Every Korean park has one of these things even if there is no roller coaster at the park. Knowing that there are a lot of small Korean parks that do not have coasters, I wasn't too excited about this park, but as we got closer to the park, I noticed the large number of rides at the park. I figured there might be a ride or two that I would like to try. The first ride I noticed was the park's train. The train looks like a mini steam engine. It is bigger than the CP Huntington trains that are so common in many parks. I also noticed something else-the park had a Wacky Worm coaster. Esoo and I were going to ride the train and we were told it was on the very last run. It seems the park was going to close at the odd time of 6:40pm. Since there was no time to really do anything, I bought a ticket and made a beeline for the park's Wacky Worm, which is named Lightning Train. The Lightning Train is the only coaster there and normally, a Wacky Worm coaster is nothing to get excited about, but Pyeongwha Land's way of running this little ride made it something special. The Wacky Worm coasters only have one real drop and a brake is used on this drop. At Pyeongwha Land, the brake on the coaster isn't used. This makes the drop and the last turnaround of the ride much faster than usual. I have to say that I was caught off guard by this on the first time around (riders are sent around three times on this coaster). I have to say that this is the world's most demented Wacky Worm. After riding the coaster, Esoo and I started to leave the park, but I noticed a shop there that has some items that I wasn't familiar with. It turns out this shop sells North Korean made goods that most North Koreans can't afford to buy. We got some tea and Blueberry Wine, both of which are made in the DPRK.

 

I was very impressed by my visit to Pyeongwha Land and I would like to go back. I remember visiting the Goseokjeong Pavilion last year and thinking how neat it was that it was so close to the DMZ. Little did I know that one year later, I would visit a park and ride a coaster that was located at the DMZ. I can just see Pyeongwha Land being marketed as "The World's Most Dangerous Amusement Park" due to it's location at the DMZ.

[Xme3]

Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun!