Lunar New Year Theme Park Events Galore: Enjoy Traditional Experiences and Receive Gifts~
[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Yong-jun, Travel Specialist] Lunar New Year is just around the corner. Prepare in advance places where you can perform ancestral rites and enjoy time with your family. These places offer the perfect combination of 'minimal cost, maximum effect.' How about theme parks and resorts? Theme parks near Seoul are ready to welcome customers with diverse cultural events blending tradition and modernity. Some even offer generous prizes, so if you choose wisely, you can enjoy a 'two birds with one stone' effect. Resorts are also enticing Lunar New Year visitors with various content.
◇ Everland Lunar New Year Holiday Seolkangs Trip
Everland will hold various special events during the 2020 Lunar New Year holiday from the 24th to the 27th. This year’s holiday features a photo zone where visitors can take pictures with cute rat zodiac characters, a global play zone to relieve holiday stress, a tarot street wishing for great fortune in 2020, and a special fireworks show, offering plenty of attractions.
Especially welcoming the start of a new decade in 2020, Everland is running the '2020 Begin Again with Everland' campaign with customers, offering abundant hands-on programs suitable for the whole family, making it an ideal spot for a Seolkangs trip.
First, various photo events with the newly created 'Etju' (Everland + Ju, meaning rat) character for the 2020 Year of the Rat will be held. Every night during the Lunar New Year holiday, special videos featuring the cute Etju characters will be shown on the Everland Ferris wheel.
At the Alpine Restaurant, the 'Excitement Photo Studio,' capturing the emotions of being twenty years old, will be newly opened from the 23rd. The studio features eight themed, stylish photo zones following storylines of love, travel, and parties, perfect for creating special Lunar New Year memories with family, lovers, or friends.
Enjoy playing games with the whole family to relieve stress and start 2020 with excitement. At Everland Carnival Plaza, from 11:30 AM to 5 PM daily during the holiday, a global play zone will be set up where visitors can experience traditional games from around the world. The zone includes traditional Korean games like Yutnori, Tuho, and Gongjangchigi, as well as traditional play items from countries such as Taga-o (Vietnam) and Kongju (China), all free to enjoy for anyone visiting Everland.
If you want to have fun predicting your 2020 fortune, whether you believe in it or not, why not visit the famous Everland Tarot Street? Newly set up at the Alpine Restaurant, Tarot Street offers entertaining readings of love luck, wealth luck, and career luck through tarot cards, making it popular among visitors.
To wish for a prosperous 2020 like dazzling fireworks, we recommend watching the special fireworks show 'Time Odyssey,' held from the 24th to the 26th. Watching thousands of fireworks light up the night sky while making New Year wishes with loved ones is a great experience. The park operates from 10 AM to 8 PM during the Lunar New Year holiday. The snow sledding area 'Snow Buster,' which makes winter more exciting, will also be fully operational with three courses during the holiday.
◇ Lotte World Lunar New Year Folk Games Festival
Lotte World celebrates the great national holiday of Lunar New Year with various events. It offers many opportunities to experience rare traditional culture, making it an ideal outing spot for the whole family.
During the holiday, Lotte World Adventure will hold 'Folk Festival' (5 PM) and 'Folk Games Festival' (5:20 PM). The events start with grand performances of traditional percussion instruments like drums, janggu, and kkwaenggwari, followed by a parade featuring a women's nongak troupe and folk game performers.
These events evoke nostalgia for parents and curiosity about new cultures for children, making them perfect for family enjoyment. Not only the 'Folk Games Festival,' but also the 'Folk Festival,' where you can enjoy the majestic performances of traditional percussion instruments such as drums, janggu, and kkwaenggwari by performers dressed in beautiful hanbok, are must-see Lunar New Year content.
For a more special Lunar New Year, renting hanbok at 'Pixie Magic' located on the B1 floor of Lotte World Adventure is recommended. Walking around the European-style buildings of Lotte World Adventure wearing the somewhat unfamiliar hanbok is a perfect chance to become a trendsetter. Wearing hanbok and taking photos on the carousel or at the Magic Castle is a unique opportunity to capture unforgettable life shots.
The Lotte World Folk Museum, which recreates Korean history and cultural heritage in miniature, also prepares special events for families during Lunar New Year. On Lunar New Year’s Day, a 'Lucky Pouch Making' event will be held, teaching the traditional custom of wearing lucky pouches believed to ward off ghosts and bring blessings.
Additionally, to celebrate the Year of the Rat, there will be a folk game competition called 'Beat the Rat Master!' where participants compete against the rat master in Yutnori.
Lotte World Tower’s observatory, Seoul Sky, will hold special Nanta performances on the evenings of the 25th and 26th at 8 PM on the 118th-floor Sky Deck.
The percussion performance group 'Boom Boom,' which combines traditional instruments like large drums and taepyeongso with modern instruments such as electronic piano and violin, will reinterpret traditional Korean courtyard plays in a modern way. The fusion of modern Korean music performance and the fantastic Seoul night view will offer a unique Lunar New Year special show exclusive to Seoul Sky.
At Lotte World Aquarium and Undersea Kingdom, which children love even more, various events themed on traditional fairy tales will be held.
Until the end of this month, purchasing Lotte World Adventure tickets via Payco Order with Payco payment offers a 50% discount on the 2-person family comprehensive ticket. Also, Lotte World Aquarium and Seoul Sky offer special benefits for 'reverse commuters.' By verifying high-speed bus, train, or airplane tickets or reservations used in January, visitors and one accompanying person can purchase aquarium and Seoul Sky admission tickets at a discounted price of 21,000 KRW each.
◇ Seoul Land Exciting Seolland Festival for Lunar New Year
Seoul Land will hold a special event called 'Exciting Seolland Festival for Lunar New Year' from the 24th to the 27th in the Samcheonri Dongsan area, filled with sights and experiences. During the Lunar New Year holiday, Seoul Land will operate from 10 AM to 9 PM.
To celebrate the 2020 Year of the Rat, a 'Character Photo Service' will be held where the rat character, along with Seoul Land’s mascots Arongi and Darongi and Meoteoli, will roam the streets taking photos with visitors. A free fortune-telling event called 'Ask Anything' will also be held during the holiday, inviting a fortune teller to read customers’ New Year fortunes.
Visitors can enjoy 'Alley Playground,' where they can enthusiastically scribble on walls, play ttakji (folded paper game), and rubber band jumping, as well as 'Land Stationery Store,' where nostalgic schoolyard games like making dalgona (honeycomb toffee), roasting jjondeugi (rice cake), and rock-paper-scissors medal games are available. The traditional punishment experience 'One Bang! Clinic' will also be operated. As a special event, a family competition of jegichagi (Korean shuttlecock kicking) featuring Seoul Land’s cute character Meoteoli and special guests will be held, with abundant prizes for participants.
Near the experience zones, visitors can enjoy nostalgic winter snacks that warm the body. Additionally, the food festival 'Seollan Night Market,' where food trucks offer various dishes, will be held throughout the holiday to celebrate Lunar New Year.
At night, the country’s top light festival 'Luna Park' will take place. Every night, across Seoul Land’s vast 282,250㎡ area, a fantastic light festival combining sparkling lights and music will be held.
Reporter Cho Yong-jun, Travel Specialist jun21@asiae.co.kr
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