Following five years of design and construction, Lotte World Adventure Busan, the second park from the operators of Lotte World, opened to the public on March 31. According to the theme park’s designers, Hollywood-based Legacy Entertainment, the aesthetic divergence of the second park from the first is intentional.
“In Busan, we wanted to create environments that would be timeless, and that meant not adhering to any particular time or place,” says Taylor Jeffs, one of Legacy’s owners, as well as the park’s Creative Director. “Our goal was to give our guests a stage upon which they could step away from reality and, for a brief moment, forget about the pressures of their everyday lives.”
Conceived to contrast with the gray-toned architecture of Busan’s densely-packed urban districts, the new theme park has been designed with a colorful garden aesthetic, complete with landscape tableaus and bodies of water.
Photos courtesy of Lotte Work and Legacy Entertainment.
Exploring the park, visitors will discover six themed zones, beginning with “River Village of Tinker Falls.” Marked most notably by the towering cascade of Ogre’s Flume (with equipment provided by ABC Rides), this whimsical village leads guests to a central hub where they’ll encounter one of the park’s several icons — a talking tree. Sporting a spoke-and-hub configuration, guests are likely to return to this central plaza multiple times during their visit.
In “Rainbow Springs,” audiences can witness live performances at the Garden Stage — a nod to the Seoul park’s entertainment venue. Next door in the “Wonder Woods,” visitors can enjoy the Giant Splash (Mack PowerSplash) and Roller Coaster Restaurant.
The adjacent “Queen Lorry’s Royal Garden” is home to the park’s castle, as well as a fountain garden anchored by a family ride inspired by Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. More family fun can be found nearby in “Joyful Meadows” — a land home to rides and attractions targeted at families with young children.
Of all the park’s lands, “Underland” aspires to be a thrill seeker’s paradise with a theme and design aesthetic informed by the classic Korean fairy tale “The Ogre’s Magic Club.” It’s here that visitors will find two signature attractions — the Giant Swing (Zamperla Giant Discovery), and the Giant Digger (Mack Launched Multi-Looping Coaster).
Jeffs adds, “Just as happened at Lotte World over three decades ago, I believe visitors will make an instant and lasting emotional connection with this beautiful park from the moment they first step through its gates — and just like the gardens that inspired it, both that connection and this park will grow stronger and more beautiful with time.”
