Korea + Japan 08/18 – E-World by Mega-Lite
In August 2018, just over a year after our last trip to Korea and Japan, Heartline, his wife and myself returned.
The last trip was one I’ll never forget but this time it was even better.
Late on a Thursday me and Heartline made our way to Heathrow to board our plane to Korea.
We were going to be flying with Asiana, my first ever 5 star airline and an airline that had massively impressed us on short haul flights in the past. Sadly though not only did they not impress this time, they managed to possibly be the worst long haul carrier I’ve travelled with.
First we were delayed by an hour, then the onboard media selection was awful, then the food was terrible, then we only got offered 2 drinks in 11 hours and finally the staff didn’t seem to care. It really was a good thing Heartline got an amazing deal because if I paid the premium for a 5 star airline to be treated like that I’d be livid.
We landed in Seoul at 4pm Korean time, flew through security, screamed at a poster of Blackpink and then booked our tickets to Music Bank while waiting at the luggage carousel.
After we collected our bags, I grabbed something to eat at Lotteria and we sat and watched 6 beautiful women in traditional dress playing traditional instruments, while we waited for Heartline’s wife to arrive from Singapore.
All united now and we boarded the metro from the airport to Seoul station, a journey which feels longer every time you make it.
After we arrived at Seoul station we got spited by Quiznos, ate ice cream for dinner, bought our train tickets for tomorrow and saw a homeless man exposing himself, all before we retired to bed.
Day 1
The next morning after breakfast we made our way to the station to catch a train to Daegu.
The journey flew by and I was impressed that in only 2 hours we had been able to travel from the very top to the almost bottom of Korea, it takes about that time for me to get to London these days.
After we found somewhere to ditch our luggage for the day we ventured onto the Daegu metro on route to E-World.
E-World
E-World reminded me a lot of Seoul Land from our last trip, in that neither have any attractions worth seeking out, both have been forgotten in terms of upkeep and investments, both are very popular with the locals and despite their weaknesses both parks can deliver a fun day out.
After purchasing our tickets, we entered E-World and made our way up the hill to where the rides live.
Magic Castle – We couldn’t have picked a better first coaster to reintroduce ourselves to Korean theme parks than riding a wacky looking children’s coaster while the operator sings for us.
Boomerang – Possibly the smoothest Vekoma Boomerang I’ve ever ridden.
Camel Back – The first of this trip’s quota of jet coasters and a brilliant first example. Camel back is secretly a bit of a beast, one that’s not afraid to throw you about, I even got air time.
Hurricane – A mostly rust covered looping coaster buried in a sea of trees with an unknown manufacturer, what could possibly go right?
Hurricane is that rare breed of coaster that’s so bad it’s almost good, it’s poorly designed transitions started me laughing, then Heartline got hit by a tree and I couldn’t stop.
Mega Swing 360 – A Kpop idol I’m in love with once rode this on a tv show, so of course I had to give it a go, huge mistake…
When the ride is at full pace and easily making it’s 360 rotations, it’s terrifying. While it’s warming itself up to make those rotations and leaves you hanging upside down it’s probably one of the scariest rides I’ve ever ridden.
With all the major attractions knocked off we rode the park’s log flume, it was nothing special.
After this we went for food.
E-World had both a pizza restaurant and a burger place, so for a few moments we thought we were spoiled for choice but sadly not.
The pizza place offered a whole host of pizzas we wouldn’t eat, so instead we opted for the burger place, which was pretty dire.
With that disappointment behind us we went to check out the massive observation tower located right next to E-World.
While the ride line up is poor and the lack of investments disappointing, E-World still made for an enjoyable half day out.
With a few hours left before we needed to catch our train to Busan, we decided to “dust off Daegu”, which meant visiting Pago Land.
After a lengthy journey on the metro and quite literally 2 miles of walking, we arrived.
Now Heartline had told me that Pago Land was just a collection of terrible rides at the side of a main road but even that extremely accurate description doesn’t do it justice. Picture an abandoned scrapyard at the side of the road, where the only paths are loose stones and then throw the sketchiest and most sorry looking kids rides you can ever imagine into said scrapyard and have them operated by elderly Koreans who have lost the will to live and you’ll be only halfway to picturing the mess that lay before us.
Still, there was a powered twin helix coaster up for grabs…
We walked in to see an operator at all of the rides, not another living soul other than said operators, prices displayed at each attraction, nowhere to buy tickets and a general sense of dread. After a second loop round trying to find a way to buy tickets and with every single old person running the place staring us down, we walked over to the twin helix.
The operator was sitting on the station platform in a plastic garden chair and after we gestured that we’d like to ride, he began clucking and spitting and going on a lengthy rant in Korean. Utterly confused we stood there in disbelief and yet again gestured that we’d like to ride, to the exact same reaction.
Following this we walked away to regroup and tried to think what the hell this bloke was going on about. We had gone on quite the journey to get here we thought, so let’s give it one more go.
We walk back over, he is still sitting in his chair, we point to the ride again, this time his approach is solemn and even more confusing. He muttered a slew of soft Korean words in response to any gesture we made or any sentence we spoke at him. At one point we attempted a hilarious stare down, which once again got us exactly no where.
Heartline believes his response was something along the lines of “why should I get out of my chair?” and honestly at this point I’m inclined to believe it, either way it looks like we aren’t dusting off Daegu today…
Following that experience we took a bus back to Daegu station, collected our luggage, boarded a train to Busan and there got spited by another Quiznos.
Thanks for reading, click here for the next part of this report where we visit Gyeongju World and eventually get to ride 2 quality B&M coasters.