This week I had the opportunity to check out Korea’s newest theme park, Shinhwa Theme Park. The park opened earlier this year and is part of what they are calling the “first premium integrated leisure and entertainment destination resort in Jeju.” For those not familiar with Korean geography, Jeju Island is located off the southern coast of the peninsula. It’s a popular vacation/honeymoon destination for Koreans and is often referred to as “Korea’s Hawaii.” The island is absolutely beautiful and offers some stunning beaches and coastal scenery. The island is also home to Korea’s tallest mountain, Mt. Hallasan. There are also plenty of random touristy things scattered all over the island (think Wisconsin Dells minus the hepatitis). For example, you can go horseback riding and then take a small drive down the road and eat horse meat at a restaurant.
So back to the park. I was very impressed with what they have accomplished thus far. The resort consists of the theme park, a water park (featuring three Proslide slides and a water coaster), hotel & casino, a ‘City Walk’ type area with shopping and restaurants, and condominiums.
The park is absolutely geared toward families with smaller children with the park taking on the theme of the well-known ‘Larva’ animation series here in Korea. So that means you can ride larva on the carousel, ride the larva train, and eat in the larva cafeteria. For the bigger kids, the park features a Mack spinner, a disco, 4D theater, and a few bigger flats. Overall, it’s an adorable park for families. The weather wasn’t so great during my visit so the park was dead. I spent about an hour and a half there and then was ready to go. General admission tickets are 39,000 Korean Won ($35) and the park is located about an hour bus ride from Jeju airport.
I hopped aboard a JejuAir flight from Seoul’s Gimpo airport down to Jeju Island. I managed to book a round trip ticket for around $50.
The resort is kind of in the middle of nowhere on the island. You either have to rent a car or take a bus. You can take a bus directly from the airport which takes about 1 hour.
The entrance had a bit of a steampunk theme and looked great.
The Mack spinner is named Dancing Oscar.
After the park, it was time for dinner. Korean BBQ is just the best. I’ve lived in this county for 6 years and never get sick of it!
The weather was amazing the next day so I opted for the beach! Jeju is home to Korea’s most beautiful beaches.
Jellyfish?!
Jeju lava man!
Mojitos!!! It’s possible I had ‘a few’ of these.
And my final dinner before heading back up to Seoul.
I had never heard of this Larva series so I looked it up and now I'm in love! So cute! I see the amount of garlic on your plate for the Korean BBQ and I am now insanely jealous and hungry!!!! I believe this park is only growing (I see you Lionsgate area!) so I look forward to see what's next.
I assume you got the credit, Looty? It was freezing and windy when we went there in April and they never opened the coaster.
You didn't mention the weird sex museums on the island! When S. Korea was dirt poor, Jeju was the Niagara Falls of S. Korea, a relatively inexpensive place to honeymoon. There are 3 such museums. We visited Jeju Loveland, a sort of sex sculpture garden, and it is bizarre.
I'll refrain from posting a Jeju Loveland photo (definitely nsfw), but here we are in front of Shinhwa. And there is a K-Pop museum right in front of the theme park!
OMG! Definitely cannot show this report to my kids or I'll be forced to buy plane tickets to Korea! They are huge fans of Larva. That area looks very cool.
The "Larva on Stage" photo, looks like it's the same tech for the interactive shows that Disney does, between a screen character and the audience. Neato if it is! And if it isn't.....well, it's Larva!
And that train looks pretty cool, too! What is all that (theming) about? And the engine is a.......?
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