Everland Resort: Re-visited (part 1)

Revisited? hmm...sort of. Well, for me..but for the girls, their mom included, it was their first time. But, as for theme park visits, it's countless time for them as well. We are at Giheung station waiting for Everline express to Everland. 

It's so convenient that we did not have to take the bus to Everland anymore! From home, we can go right until the parking lot of Everland by Everline Light Train. It's so comfy. The kids loved riding on the front. 

The first girls-only pic that I --gladly-- took was in front of the giant tulips gardens near the entrance before we start exploring....

Are you excited, gals? ^^ 

With the map on hands, we were ready to explore the park! We took the English guidebook which led to Eyra's disappointment hahahaha..because she is now getting used to read and understand stuffs in Korean....^-^ 

The first show: Pororo Show and 3D Adventure. Yes..the huge theater could accommodate more than 500 kids and their parents at the same time..I guess...well, maybe. Ok..they loved to see their favorite characters came to life. 

"Yeeaaacchhh" I know..I know..don't get too excited or lest you'd dehydrated yourself.^^ chuckles. 

Now let's take a ride on human sky. yes..it's called human sky..since the cable-car bring humans up and down the hill to save the time.....Wait? save the time? are you kidding me? It took us about 15 minutes just to wait in line.^^

But..eventually...Freya was having fun, too. 

Mom and Eyra was right behind us so..I could easily took a snapshot of them on the ride. 

Oh, sea lions and penguins: a small zootopia before heading to the parade... 

Yeach..the parade started. The crowd was overwhelmingly crazy..that we could barely see the whole parade. oh, well... 

Madagascar LIVE. Yes..Madagascar came to Everland. 

We did not manage to see it LIVE, though..but at least we got a snap picture of it. hahaha. 

I wonder what this little girl next to us was doing.... 

What would a theme park ride without riding on a carousel? The kids loved it as usual. well..they've been on these ones in other places..but..their eyes turned green whenever they see this... 

But...this is the one that surely made their laughter and smile burst...'Flash Pang-Pang' the going up and down..the shooting up and down ...on the colorful chairs along with the music that came with them.  

Aesop's Fables Village. They were enjoying the Lamb who Cried Wolf. Hmmm..what a day, right, kiddo?

Aren't you tired? 

Nooooooooooo 

Amsterdam Village. Er, what?

Anyhow..Freya seemed to have an endless energy... 

Now..we came

Now we arrived at the Four Seasons Garden...with the ferries wheel and lush colorful arrays of flowers, mostly roses, on display. 

Me, too...me,too..of course..I want to take a memorable moment with the kids, too.

Love the afternoon and love the scenery. 

Especially the gleeful moment we shared with the kids. 

The Grecian Park where we could be transported into the naked statues of all shapes ^-^ typically Grecian Ones.  

To top it off, there is a circular waterfalls that beautified the surroundings. 

Labyrinth Garden... 

Rose Garden....where Mama could be seen frantically and hysterically lost in mind....^^ 

Now..let's take another trip to the upperworld after being soaked in the underworld... 

Yeach...to save time..let's go to the different section of the resort..by this cable car. 

Since it was about 7 pm, the park was already lit with lights and the glittering and flickering lights that dotted the park made it even more marvelous. 

Freya could not stop wondering in awe... 

Let's go back again..... 

Yes..we're going back and forth to other rides by taking this cable car...well, to save time.. 

Just when..we were about to go home..

It's already 8.30 pm...'Freya said something like: Please daddy,,..can I go and take a ride again?

ohhhhhhh..okaaayyyyyyy

Everland Resort

The videos I captured at Everland Theme Park

T Express: The 7th steepest wooden coaster in the world

So," I have been to Everland"...well, this catch-phrase seems to be so lame and outdated.......but if we rephrase it into......I've been on T Express in Everland....well, it might change a bit:)

Yes, I learned that this T-express was built in 2006. I turned out to be the first wooden roller coaster in Korea. Some say that it boasts itself as the largest of any kind in the country. And...what is more interesting is that....it is dubbed the 6th longest wooden coaster in the world and.....it is.....about 2 km long:) -- I just learned about it, too.  oh gosh oh gosh..I never thought that I just rode that!!!! 

One more thing....it is also the steepest one. After browsing on the net,....it is said that its drop is inclined to be 77 degrees. I would never have taken the ride had I known this before. So, should I say.....it was fortunate that I did not anything about it until after I was on it? yes, pretty much..that was the case. I would not have...if I had known...But..still, I guess I would have....as well.

and..I came to realize as to why it is called the T Express...because it turned out that the logo of the coaster is derived from the SK Corporation's SK telecom.

Wait...there are more interesting facts about this that I got from Wikipedia: 

Apart from the fact that it is the steepest wooden roller coaster (77 degress), its drop is the 7th steepest in the world. And..the attraction time is 3 minutes!!! making it the longest in Asia and 7th in the world. What's more? Its altitude is 56 m, making it the highest in Asia and 3rd in the world. The maximum speed is said to be 104 km, the fastest in Asia and 8th in the world. They say something about the G-force (Gravity force)...but I do not understand what it means...so I might as well leave it. 

The first time I saw the brochure of the park, I set my eyes on this particular attraction, simply because I have been other ones the last time I was here back in 2002. :) long time ago. Nothing changed much except for this particularly thrilling ride: T express. 

I could see from the looping and circling queuing lines.......it was one of the top attractions.

So, although I knew that we had to wait for one hour....I thought...we had to make a decision to stay and be in the queue. 

I took the picture while waiting for my turn:)

It turned out to be quite true. It PAID OFF. I was hilariously excited to have been on it.

With my friend, Elmira, we were waiting for like 1 hour more.....and during which we talked and took some snapshots of the surrounding. We were then followed along by our groups who also decided to take this monster:)

I guess the reasons as so many of our friends decided to take this ride was simply because we had only 3.5 hours to enjoy the park. We did not have that much time...so taking the most thrilling ride would be an even accomplishment in itself. And..that was practically what I had in mind. Once I had myself on this one, I could say enough to other attractions and used the best of my time by enjoying the scenery there.

.....

The waiting was okey, I guess because we knew that it would come up with something worth-waiting for. The line was getting closer and closer to the entrance. I was a bit shocked and kinda wondered to myself as to why I lured myself into this 'intended jeopardy' :) I was enchanted and thrilled at the thought of having thrown myself in the midst of crowds who are waiting in line.

As I got inside or underneath the coaster, on our way to the stairs leading to the ride, I was flabbergasted to see the all wooden constructions that practically supported this whole thing. It was a sight ...unbelievable to grasp. I came to wonder whether it would be safe and all of those kinds tingling questions....that kept popping up on my head. But, no matter I tried to get rid of them...they just kept coming back. I felt the shivering lump on my throat. 

But, I got no other choice but to move on...until I realized that I was on the seat and have the double seat belt on.
There.......no words could describe it.

It was over.

I was tossed around my seat.....in a seemingly endless thrilling ride.

I did it....... though I was surely drenched in cold sweat of satisfaction.....of conquering the challenge. 

I did not close my eyes...but afterwards...even two days afterwards...I still can feel the pain on my neck, shoulder and my back. I bet it was because I was so tensed during the 3 minute ride on that thing:)

Wait...the question is....DO I WANT TO TAKE THE RIDE AGAIN?

yes......OF COURSE. 

I thought I could not believe it myself.....but the idea of taking the ride again...is already lurking in.

One of the most memorable moments in Korea. Indeed, it will be.

Everland Resort

To sum it up in one word: Indescribable!
Well, yes...that was exactly what I felt.
Well, actually I would not have summed it this way, had I not been on T EXPRESS, which boasts to be the 6th tallest wooden  roller coaster in the world. ( I should check on this whether it is true),but one thing for sure...I was flabbergasted and aghast and gasped as I realized that the first turn was 90 degrees down below in the speed that I could not describe....^^
That was the highlight of the trip to Everland.

T Express Thrilling Ride

It  happened to be the 35th anniversary of Everland

The Halloweeen fiesta dotted the parks everywhere

Felix, me, Jobirson, Emma (the sticky glued folks)

at HUFS Yongin Campus. The lake in the forest of oblivion

I remembered the fresh air I breathed there....compared to that in Seoul:)

It was worth it. the 50 minute wait in the loooooooongg queeeuee......PAID OFF.!
So, the trip to Everland was one included packaged designed by our university, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, to accommodate the students during their stay here to 'scream and shriek' out loud..:) Nooo..of course not. what I mean is that...it is actually an inclusive free package for the whole international students currently studying at HUFS campus.
the trip was managed to show the students the second campus of HUFS which is located at the outskirts of Seoul, in Yongin are. It is a 2-hour ride by bus to the southern part of Seoul. The campus turned out to be 30 times way way much bigger than HUFS campus in Imundong where I am studying now.
Well, it was worth visiting, because it offers different atmosphere of learning. It is surrounded by hills and lush vegetation. In addition, a lake and the forest of OBLIVION, yes you guessed it, folk.....are also inclusive in the area. Hmmm it reminds me one of Harry Potter's magical spells. "oblivioso" so as to make us forget all the troubles and feel happy about something.

Well, whether it has something to do with that.....I got to check this out.

Now, back to the trip,
the international office staffs went with us along side with some students from ISO (international students organizations). Well, I should thank the university for giving me a chance to see the campus and moreover..the 10-minute-drive-from-campus: Everland Theme Park. Indeed, it was a great time that I had.
Oh...more on the pictures are in Facebook:)