Amusement Park Playoff: Legoland vs Lotte World vs Seoulland

Visiting South Korea with children and considering visiting an amusement park? There are many! I have visited Lotte World, Legoland, and Seoulland with my sons who are seven and five years old. They voted Legoland as their favorite. No surprise there I guess…who can deny Lego’s influence??? So let’s start with Legoland! It’s much newer than Lotteworld and Seoulland. It is however, in 춘천시 (Chuncheon-si), which is a city outside of Seoul. Many Seoul families will drive two hours to Legoland and stay the night at the hotel on-site. Legoland is actually a resort. I hear the hotel is 100% worth the money to experience the lego themed rooms. However, there aren’t many restaurants on the resort and they all close early. Saturday may be an exception as the park closes 3 hours later than usual at 21:00. So if you drive, expect to go off-resort for dinner. (You may even want to consider taking a drive and ferry to Nami Island if you have the time!) Alternatively, Legoland can easily be a day trip from Seoul via a direct KTX speed train, which takes 1 hour and 15 minutes between Yongsan Station and Chuncheon station. At Chuncheon station there is a free shuttle to Legoland, or you can take a taxi/Uber. Don’t want to travel far from Seoul? Lotte World right off Jamsil Station may be your best bet, especially if you want to escape bad weather or bad air quality. Lotte World has both an indoor and outdoor amusement park. You can also buy separate tickets to visit its own aquarium and folk museum (not to be confused with the National Folk Museum of Korea). Since it’s in the middle of Seoul, it’s more compact than Seoulland or Legoland, and therefore has fewer rides. So lines can be really long, except for little kids’ rides (thank goodness!). The Jamsil Station area is overflowing with restaurants and shopping both under and above ground, so you won’t go hungry, and you can absolutely get your retail therapy fix if you decide to visit Lotte World. Or if you need a break from the crowds, I’d recommend going to nearby Seokchon Lake, especially if it’s cherry blossom season. Last, but not least is Seoulland! Seoulland is the oldest park of the 3, but only one year older than Lotte World. Seoulland felt massive. It seemed like there were more rides and attractions than Legoland, including a really fun water park called Kraken Island. There were certainly more restaurants at Seoulland than at Legoland. Seoulland is located in a city called 과천 (Gwacheon), which is outside of Seoul, however unlike Legoland, one can reach Seoulland from Seoul in only 20 minutes by car. It is also possible to take the Line 4 subway to Seoul Grand Park/Seoulland Station, and then use the Elephant Train that can take you to Seoulland as well as Seoul Zoo. The train rides around many other nearby attractions such as the 4-story Ground Planet Kids Cafe and the gorgeous Gwacheon Seoul Grand Park Lake. To my readers - don’t forget to also consider Everland, Seoul Children’s Grand Park, and Gyeonju World. These amusement parks are still on my list to visit! 잘 다녀오세요! Have a nice trip and thanks for stopping by!