TheThemeParkGuy

Everland is one of the world's most successful theme parks with regards to crowd levels, on a par with the Disneyland and Universal Studios parks. I don't understand exactly why*.The park has a nice setting in between forest-covered mountains and contains all the standard theme park features like roller coasters, water rides, themed villages, flower shows and animals, but there's nothing distinctive which makes this Samsung-owned venture deserve its outstanding success. When...

The first Paramount Movie Park will grace the soil of South Korea, far away from it’s native Los Angeles. A Titanic ride is expected here and a reproduction of the iconic Paramount Pictures Mountain is planned as the centerpiece for the park. The Ground Breaking Ceremony took place in November 2008; however, as of February 2009, there is only an announcement fence surrounding a parking lot. But I love this fence. Paramount Movie Park. Magic. The big question is...

Upon returning to Hwaseong, my local helpers and I had the good fortune to bump into a hobby pilot who was just fixing his private airplane. A few minutes later we took off over the eastern part of the yet-to-be-developed Songsang Green City that will eventually turn into the Universal Studios Korea resort. Construction hasn't commenced yet, but there are rumors that this might happen as early as spring 2010 in time to complete for the announced spring 2013 opening date...

Caribbean Bay is the water park sister to Korea's immensely popular Everland theme park next door. On the day of my visit, it was heavily overcrowded with ecstatic locals in search of relief from the oppressive summer heat. It is packed with state-of-the-art thrills like undulating water coasters, u-shaped vertical tube slides, challenging surf ride pools and an exciting wavepool - all set against a backdrop of endless forest. I recommend dodging the crowds by visiting this...

Announced a couple of years ago with rumored locations in Busan or Jeju Island, the world's only MGM Studio Park will eventually be located on Seoul's Incheon airport island, north-west of the runways in a development area called IBC-II (International Business Centre 2). Thanks to Yoon 'korea2002' from Skyscrapercity.com (pictured left) for guiding me to the exact location! Flat, wide, reclaimed land greeted me there with no sign of MGM or theme-park construction yet,...

I outlined in 'The guy and his idea' section what I think about copy-and-paste theme parks. Lotte World's castle and theme park logo inflict a mixture of pain and nausea on The Theme Park Guy; it's probably not possible to copy more obviously from Disney. Consequently, the rides are hybrids of Disneyland's 'Indiana Jones', Universal Studios' 'Mummy Ride' and SeaWorld's 'Journey to Atlantis'. For those not blessed to have experienced the originals, Lotte World offers...

According to a 2010 press release from Canadian slide manufacturer White Water West ‘the largest and most thrilling waterslide in the world' just opened in South Korea. The slide is evocatively named ‘The Abyss' and The Theme Park Guy was duly bound to don his hat and head over to investigate. To find it I had to travel to Sokcho, a rather remote holiday town 4-hour's drive from Seoul on the Eastern coast of South Korea. There, the bombastic funnel shaped slide...

Visited 2014. Small, scenic, and nothing too special, Busan Aquarium is the busiest aquarium I ever came across. Conveniently located right next to Busan's main beach, it's a real hit with the locals...