A trip to Seoul’s Lotte World

Today was going to be an exciting day because we are finally heading off to our long-awaited field trip to Lotte World.

The students could hardly contain their excitement because they all got up pretty early and were all in the bus by 9am as agreed upon the night before.

Unfortunately, Saipan Mayor Juan B. Tudela and chaperone Jose C. Tenorio were not able to join the group because it was pretty damp out. Instead, they were treated to a full day of pampering at the hotel’s sauna and massage, courtesy of the Junior Chamber International of Saipan.

Each year, the Junior Chamber International of Saipan members take their CNMI delegates to the renowned Lotte World. It’s one of the most exciting events that most students look forward to when they visit Seoul.

It was a short ride to Lotte World from the hotel we were staying at—about an hour and a half drive compared to the two- to four-hour drives that we endured the previous days. What actually took us longer to reach Lotte World’s giant clock was the traffic jam—everybody and their great-grandmothers also decided to take some time out at Lotte World.

I think I speak for everybody when I say that it was well worth the wait. The bus finally pulled up and let us off at the entrance door of the giant amusement park, which by the way totally reminds of something right out of the story of Alice in Wonderland.

But before the group could indulge themselves to hours filled with unlimited rides and amusement, we all ate cheeseburgers and French fries for lunch at Lotteria. Shortly thereafter, JCI Saipan president Yong Chul Jang and Jae Kim handed out our entrance tickets to the indoor amusement.

Upon entering Lotte World’s indoor theme park, we all briefly stood there and stared, mesmerized at all the sights and sounds that makes this theme park one of the most visited sites in Korea.

Lotte World, located right in the very heart of Seoul, is a recreation complex in Seoul. It consists of the largest indoor theme park in the world, an outdoor amusement park, an island linked by monorail, shopping malls, a hotel, a Korean folk museum, sports facilities and movie theatres in one area.

According to the information pamphlets that were handed to us, it’s ranked as the seventh worldwide in attendance, receiving up to 5 million people each year. The place was impressive.

Mr. Kim took the lead by instructing the entire group to ride together on the Spanish Pirate Ship, which swings at an electrifying 75 degrees. We all got on board and we were off.

The first few swings, I thought, “Not bad. I can actually get used to this.” Until, it started to pick up some momentum and then I just wanted to yell, “Get me off already!” I had my eyes closed the entire time.

An assortment of cuss words were running through my head at that point—I think I just about said every dirty word in the Urban Dictionary and I’m sure I even made some up along the way. All I can say is that that was one crazy bleepin’ ride.

We finally got off and I made sure that I thanked my lucky stars I survived it. From there, the group just went from one crazy thrilling sensational ride to another, from the Gyro Jump to the Flume Ride, from the roller coasters to the carousels. I tried my luck at the Sinbad Ride where it has this boat in a dark lake concept [think Freddy versus Jason when they were battling it out toward the end at the lake] taking you into haunted caves. I’m a sucker for haunted houses so I would have to say this was, by far, my favorite.

Besides the excitement of these rides, Lotte World also contains a variety of parades and laser shows. The 200 performers sing and dance in the World Carnival Parade, which adds excitement to the theme park. There was also an ice rink and an incredibly impressive Korean historical museum.

One can spend an entire day at Lotte World and not even visit or take full advantage of all that it has to offer. It was THAT huge. We spent a good four hours in there until Mayor Tudela met with us at the lobby. Next item on the itinerary was watching Korean pro-baseball.

It was at least an hour ride to the Jamsil Baseball Stadium, right where the Olympic stadium sits. The Jamsil Baseball Stadium is a Seoul landmark that can hold over 30,000 people. It is the home of the Doosan Bears and LG Twins.

On this particular day, the LG Twins would play against the Samsung Twins. The game was exciting despite a number of us not understanding baseball. Regardless, everyone got into it—the JCI sponsors Mr. Jang and Mr. Kim, Mayor Tudela, the chaperones, the students especially, and myself.

The game finally ended at 9pm. Samsung won with the score of 8-4, but it was all in good fun.

By this time, the whole group had already gotten sleepy and tired. We headed back to the hotel and crashed until the next day.