Opened in March, Legacy Entertainment’s second Lotte World theme park, Lotte World Adventure Busan, has been five years in the making. Legacy Entertainment – which designed the park together with Lotte World – announced that more than half a million guests visited the theme park in its first 100 days, equating to around one in seven Butan residents.

The original Lotte World theme park, which opened in Seoul in 1989, is one of Asia’s most popular attractions, with between 5m and 7m visitors a year. Lotte World Adventure Busan was deliberately designed to look very different from the original park, with a colourful garden aesthetic “conceived to contrast with the grey-toned architecture of Busan’s densely packed urban districts.”

The new park features six themed zones, including Rainbow Springs, featuring live performances on the Garden Stage; Queen Lorry’s Royal Garden, home to the park’s iconic castle; and Joyful Meadows, with rides and attractions designed for young children.

The park is the flagship of Busan’s Osiria Tourism Complex – a 900-acre development designed to raise the city’s profile as an international leisure destination.

“The last decade has seen an influx of joyless, soulless parks all around Asia, and Lotte World Adventure Busan is proof that it doesn’t have to be that way,” says Legacy owner and Lotte World Adventure Park creative director Taylor Jeffs. “In Busan, we wanted to create environments that would be timeless, and that meant not adhering to any particular place. Our goal was to give our guests a stage upon which they could step away from reality and forget the pressures of their everyday lives.”

The summer saw the launch of two new additions – the Roller Coaster Restaurant, in which food is served to diners on an elaborate network of roller coaster-style tracks, and Ogre’s Flume – a log flume ride created by ABC Rides and inspired by the popular Korean fairy tale Ogre’s Magic Club.

Here Lotte World Adventure Busan official Kim Min-gyu answers our questions.

How would you sum up the design of Lotte World Adventure Busan?
Themed as a fairytale kingdom, Lotte World Adventure Busan offers six thematic zones. Each zone consists of different characters and building types which fit its own theme, but they also come together to create one storyline, which can be heard from the Talking Tree, located in the centre of the park.

Can you highlight any particularly innovative features of Lotte World Adventure Busan?
The newly opened Food Drop Restaurant is the first ‘rollercoaster restaurant’ in Korea, and the 10th in the world – it’s a unique restaurant that combines food and fun, where dishes are served on a rollercoaster rail. It serves western-style food suitable for the whole family.

Which rides are proving particularly popular with guests?
The so-called ‘three Giants’ are the must-ride attractions at Lotte World Adventure Busan.

Giant Digger is the first launched rollercoaster in South Korea, which features improved speed and acceleration when compared to traditional chain or cable lift coasters. It runs at speeds of up to 105 km/h on a track that is 38 m-high and about 1km-long. It’s a thrilling ride that becomes even more thrilling when the track rotates 360 degrees while the vehicle rotates 360 degrees at the same time. 

Giant Splash (Mack Rides) is a steel launched rollercoaster that’s proving very popular, and is perfect for a commemorative photo.

Our Giant Swing thrill ride lifts visitors 45m off the ground, offering them a view of the coast of Gijang. It has a central axis of about 28m rising to up to 120 degrees from left to right, moves at a maximum speed of 110km/h and has a radius of rotation of about 120m, giving visitors a strong sense of weightlessness. It is also a popular photo spot as it passes narrowly as if to reach Giant Digger on the left and Jamstone Dining (Lotteria) on the right.

What does the opening of Lotte World Adventure mean for Busan?
The park is expected to play a key role in promoting tourism in this region of South Korea. As the only theme park in Busan, it will contribute to the local economy through employment.