Tuttle Goes to LotteWorld

With a twenty percent discount by bringing my passport to prove I am a foreigner (!), the regular one-day ticket to LotteWorld is 38,400 W. A one-day ticket today just for Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom is USD 110. Crunching the numbers, this means that LotteWorld is only 30% as expensive as the Magic Kingdom. Which is appropriate, because it's only 1/3 as good.

But I didn't really go around comparing the two--that wouldn't be fair. But there were definitely rides that invite comparison, about which more in a moment. The park is actually in parts, the "Magic Island", which is outdoors (as seen above), and "Adventure Land" which is indoors (as seen below):


Like at Disney, there are periodic parades. It seemed to me that many of the "cast members" are foreigners. Most guests, of course, are Koreans, including this couple on the walkway over the highway to Magic Island:


The first thing I did (because there were about three people in line) was a shooter called 3D Desperados, on an Old West theme where you wear 3D glasses, sit on a bucking saddle and pop the bad guys. I came in second out of about ten people.


This reminded me that I wanted to do some 3D stuff now that I don't have to fiddle with regular glasses. I did another shooter on a knights and dragons theme and the "dynamic theatre" experience, which was called "Dracula 4D", but should have been called "Dracula 4 minutes and thirty seconds" because that's how long it lasted. The story line was silly but the 3D graphics were very good. The best of the 3Ds was the Ghost House, in a stationary seat with an all-too-short but very good immersive exit. You the viewer are a cat exploring a really creepy haunted house with apparitions, Undead baby dolls and teddy bears, bats flying at you, scary spiders with glowing abdomens, etc. It was scary enough that two kids had to leave during the course of it--this one was twelve minutes or so (plus the exit). A much better return on the same 20 minute waiting time as Dracula.


Lines in the morning were pretty reasonable, but the park became much more crowded in the afternoon, and I didn't want to go on the really popular rides anyway. I'm pretty much over roller-coasters and I did the drop thing at Universal Studios where they call it The Tower of Terror. A couple of things were closed "for inspection" but I was disappointed that the Monorail, which goes all the way around the park, was shuttered. And for not a good reason considering the weather was utter perfection:


A children's ride called Fantasy Dream is essentially LotteWorld's "It's A Small World" ride. On the downside, it didn't have a catchy tune repeated over and over, but on the plus side, it didn't have a catchy tune repeated over and over. You enter through the clown's mouth.


The Adventure of Sinbad is LotteWorld's Pirates of the Caribbean, and it was pretty good. but nothing can hold a candle to the original.


There is, needless to say, a large number of shops and restaurants. But they offered a wider selection of goods and food than I was expecting. I had a slice of bacon cheddar and a beer (Kloud, Lotte's own brand) for 8,700 W. Later, I had another beer from a stall. The cup filled from the bottom!


The last thing I did, other than buying a delicious strawberry smoothie, was to visit the "trompe l'oeil" art gallery. It wasn't as good as others I've seen, but I got one pic:


So, that's my first day of "Spring Vacation". Depending on weather and other factors, I may not blog my other activities as quickly as I did today, but check back soon!