Seoul - the second time around

We had a couple days off from work because of the Chinese Lunar New Year. My friends and I decided to take another trip up to the heart of it all. We were more confident about maneuvering through the streets of Seoul this time around.

We met up with our friends Alex and Jill. The first day our destination was Lotte World! Now keep in mind it was freeeeezing cold in Seoul. We even had some snow. Most normal people would think it would be insane to hit up an amusement park in freezing temperatures and ride rollers coasters at high speeds while high up in the air. Well somehow Nolan got word that this was an "indoor amusement park". Too bad we didn't find the indoor part until well after our hair froze, our extremities had gone numb, and we could no longer stop trembling.
On a side note, before we even reached Lotte World, Jill and I got a little side tracked at the underground shopping center underneath the subway line. There were just tons of shops filled with clothes, shoes, accessories, and everything else a girl doesn't need. Here's a small shop with usually hand made factory bags.
Before the bitter cold seeped into our bones, we were insanely excited about reaching our destination and riding the coasters.
Look, here's Lotte's mascot -- The Racoon! I smell a mouse rip off! We never actually spotted the mascot anywhere inside the park. It was too cold for him to come out.
This is the entrance to the park. The castle looks mighty familiar with the blue cones and all. Here's one of the rides. The round thing rotates as it swings from one side to the other. If things go awry you might either fall into a frozen lake and die instantly, or hit another roller coaster on the other side. Pleasant! Makes you want to go on it with even more vigor!

That was the ride that did me in. And it was the first real scary one we went on. I think I'm a pretty big fan of roller coasters. But riding them in the cold is just crazy. The seats had a shield over each person to sort of protect them from the cold and windy ride. That didn't do much. My hands were so cold after that ride. It felt like someone could chop them and I wouldn't notice or feel any pain. Well, I guess I would notice from all the blood. Ew! After our bitter cold ride we needed to get inside somewhere. We stood in line for some haunted house thing which would bring us inside.
I was so cold that I ended up wrapping myself up with two scarves. This is funny to look at now, but I definitely wasn't laughing as I was standing there freezing. While standing in line I was amazed at how busy the park still was in the winter. There were girls walking around in shorts! Yes shorts! Jill and I gawked in wonderment at girls strolling around the park as if it were summer. We decided maybe they just don't feel it.

After making it inside to the haunted house, we decided we needed to get some food before we could hit up another ride. We went on one more roller coaster before calling it quits for being outside. We were treated to funny signs of no drunken rides as we waited in line.

We strolled to another part of Lotte World. We got inside and realized OH MY GOD! It is an indoor amusement park! There was a whole other world to be explored. It was basically a 4 or 5 story building packed with rides, even some roller coasters -- all indoors!
We rode on the big hot air balloons that circled the building from high up.
Then before we knew it it was time to ride the coaster that weaved in and out of the walls of Lotte World. It was a little scary to be honest. It's not like the ride was out in the open. It was somehow cramped into a space amongst all the other rides. The line was pretty short so we rode it twice. The day ended on a high note! It was a good day once we got ourselves out of the freezing cold. There's more to this Seoul trip though. I'll post the second part next time.