Trip Report

Everland (Yongin-si, Gangwon-do South Korea)

- Darren Mullins

This past Sunday, I got up very early and headed out to Yongin to Everland. I was excited to try out South Korea's newest roller coaster which Everland had just opened on October 1st of this year.

I arrived at the park shortly after 9:30am and headed straight to the Eagle Fortress suspended terrain coaster. I swear this coaster becomes even more intense each time I ride it. This not only may be the best suspended coaster in the world, it also may be the best terrain coaster in the world as well. The Eagle Fortress' highest point is about 25 feet off the ground and this is at the brake run at the end of the ride. The rest of the coaster is no more than a few feet from the ground thanks to it's placement on a mountainside. It climbs up the side of the mountain, does a u-turn, zooms down the side of the mountain and zigzags through its course. The cars come very close to the trees. I have ridden terrain coasters at Kennywood, Paramount's Kings Island, Holiday World, Lake Compunce and at many other parks, but none of the terrain coasters I have ridden in America are as good as the Eagle Fortress. When compared to the Eagle Fortress, the Beast, Boulder Dash, Raven, Legend and Thunderbolt become just ordinary coasters and are nothing special. The Eagle Fortress rules!

After my ride on the Eagle Fortress, I headed over to the newly opened Aesop's Village section where three new rides were just added. One of these new rides is a Tortise and the Hair themed family coaster from Vekoma called the Racing Coaster. This coaster is a single track ride despite being called the Racing Coaster. The coaster is one of the best Vekoma family coasters I have ever ridden. It's fastest point is right before the brake run. The Racing Coaster became my 412th coaster. While in Aesop's Village, I was pleasantly surprised at a new ride called the Lily Dance. This is a new version of the old PTC Crazy Daisy ride. I love these. They are so rare. I do not know which company made this ride, but it is nice to see a classic being made again. Hopefully, more parks will add these. Everland's isn't all that fast, but I have the feeling it can be made to run faster.

After Aesop's Village, I headed over to the Super Bobsleighs. While on the way, I stopped to take a couple of spins on the Dragon Coaster. This Zamperla coaster was added to the park in 1987 (according to information on the sign at the entrance to the ride) and may be on its way out judging by the amount of rust on the track. With the Racing Coaster being added, it could be possible that the Dragon will be removed, unless the park is going the same route as the Paramount parks are.

After the Dragon, I went to the Super Bobsleighs. This ride is actually three troughs in which riders ride on a one person cart down the side of a mountain. This ride could be considered a coaster for many reasons. In order to ride the Bobsleighs, a person needs to first ride a ski lift to the top of the mountain and then board the small cart that takes the rider on the journey. There is no conventional coaster lift here. The speed of the cars are controlled by the rider using a lever to speed up or slow the car. The rider decides how fast this ride goes. Gravity is the main source of power just like on a roller coaster. There are other reasons to consider this a coaster. The Intamin bobsled rides are considered coasters, this is like those except for the rider controlling the speed and the lack of a chainlift. There is a park near Fortoria, Ohio, that has a SBNO coaster that doesn't use a lift. Riders boarded the cars by walking to the highest point of the ride and then coasting down to the lowest point at the end of the ride. The Bobsleighs are very similar to a coaster experience and I do count this ride as a coaster.

I went on the Rolling X-Train next. This ride features the new Vekoma looping coaster train. The coaster was built by Arrow, but the Vekoma trains make the coaster almost unridable. Rolling X-Pain is more like it. The Eagle Fortress was being ran with two trains and had a 50 minute wait all day. One one train was being run on Rolling X-Train and the wait was only 10 minutes.

I spent the rest of my day riding the Eagle Fortress and the Racing Coaster. I also did some exploring in the shops. I didn't see the Bodies On Display exhibit this time as I had seen it back in April. For those of you wondering why I didn't mention the Jet Coaster, the reason is simple. It was removed a couple of years ago. Aesop's village sets on part of the site of the old coaster.

I left Everland after having a lot of fun. This is one of the greatest parks in the world and the Eagle Fortress is a ride that any Cedar Fair, Six Flags, Paramount or Busch park would love to have.

Kings Island, Holiday World, Lake Compunce and at many other parks, but none of the terrain coasters I have ridden in America are as good as the Eagle Fortress. When compared to the Eagle Fortress, the Beast, Boulder Dash, Raven, Legend and Thunderbolt become just ordinary coasters and are nothing special. The Eagle Fortress rules!

After my ride on the Eagle Fortress, I headed over to the newly opened Aesop's Village section where three new rides were just added. One of these new rides is a Tortise and the Hair themed family coaster from Vekoma called the Racing Coaster. This coaster is a single track ride despite being called the Racing Coaster. The coaster is one of the best Vekoma family coasters I have ever ridden. It's fastest point is right before the brake run. The Racing Coaster became my 412th coaster. While in Aesop's Village, I was pleasantly surprised at a new ride called the Lily Dance. This is a new version of the old PTC Crazy Daisy ride. I love these. They are so rare. I do not know which company made this ride, but it is nice to see a classic being made again. Hopefully, more parks will add these. Everland's isn't all that fast, but I have the feeling it can be made to run faster.

After Aesop's Village, I headed over to the Super Bobsleighs. While on the way, I stopped to take a couple of spins on the Dragon Coaster. This Zamperla coaster was added to the park in 1987 (according to information on the sign at the entrance to the ride) and may be on its way out judging by the amount of rust on the track. With the Racing Coaster being added, it could be possible that the Dragon will be removed, unless the park is going the same route as the Paramount parks are.

After the Dragon, I went to the Super Bobsleighs. This ride is actually three troughs in which riders ride on a one person cart down the side of a mountain. This ride could be considered a coaster for many reasons. In order to ride the Bobsleighs, a person needs to first ride a ski lift to the top of the mountain and then board the small cart that takes the rider on the journey. There is no conventional coaster lift here. The speed of the cars are controlled by the rider using a lever to speed up or slow the car. The rider decides how fast this ride goes. Gravity is the main source of power just like on a roller coaster. There are other reasons to consider this a coaster. The Intamin bobsled rides are considered coasters, this is like those except for the rider controlling the speed and the lack of a chainlift. There is a park near Fortoria, Ohio, that has a SBNO coaster that doesn't use a lift. Riders boarded the cars by walking to the highest point of the ride and then coasting down to the lowest point at the end of the ride. The Bobsleighs are very similar to a coaster experience and I do count this ride as a coaster.

I went on the Rolling X-Train next. This ride features the new Vekoma looping coaster train. The coaster was built by Arrow, but the Vekoma trains make the coaster almost unridable. Rolling X-Pain is more like it. The Eagle Fortress was being ran with two trains and had a 50 minute wait all day. One one train was being run on Rolling X-Train and the wait was only 10 minutes.

I spent the rest of my day riding the Eagle Fortress and the Racing Coaster. I also did some exploring in the shops. I didn't see the Bodies On Display exhibit this time as I had seen it back in April. For those of you wondering why I didn't mention the Jet Coaster, the reason is simple. It was removed a couple of years ago. Aesop's village sets on part of the site of the old coaster.

I left Everland after having a lot of fun. This is one of the greatest parks in the world and the Eagle Fortress is a ride that any Cedar Fair, Six Flags, Paramount or Busch park would love to have.

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