Nolan's Big Birthday: Lotte World

Another day, another 4:45ish wake up. Time to tell you all about Nolan's super special fifth birthday here in Seoul:

Our day began a bit later than the days before. The boys slept in to almost seven. Huge progress! When Nolan began stirring, I quickly found all of his gifts, hidden throughout the suitcases. Once all were found, we began singing Happy Birthday and laid his gifts out on the bed. His smile was so filled with excitement and surprise, it was just the best!

After opening and playing with his new toys for a bit, we got dressed and headed down to breakfast. We ate quickly, knowing that our taxi would be arriving soon to take us to Lotte World, an indoor, children's theme park. We have been talking about visiting this place since the day we knew we would be traveling to Korea. We had no idea at the time, that the day our visit would fall on would be Nolan's big 5.

The taxi ride was longer than our others, about 45 minutes, but it was nice to be warm and know that we would make it there soon. We have made great progress with the subway, but if we are headed somewhere important, where time is of the essence, we have opted to take a cab instead.

When we entered Lotte World the boys lit up! Their eyes and smiles were twice their normal size. Coming into the main area is very surreal. It is gigantic. Aspects of it look like a mall, other parts remind me of Disneyland. All of it is pretty cool.

We wandered around for a bit, taking it all in. We tried a couple of rides, but each one has it's own opening time and several were still closed. We finally came to the carousel, one of Nolan's all-time favorite rides, and hopped on. We continued to wander the massive building, finding rides and attractions hidden in corners. Everyone, except Liam, loved a ride called Sinbad's Adventure. He was not a fan of the drops or the dark. The ride was similar to Pirates of the Caribbean.

We got lunch, went on rides, saw shows, ate ice cream and did a lot of people watching. We spent all day exploring the building, spending such a great day together. We left Lotte World in the early evening, knowing that the boys' energy would be fading fast. After returning to our hotel, we unpacked from the outing and asked Nolan what we wanted for his special birthday dinner. Of course, he said Taco Bell. We have yet to find a Taco Bell here, so we talked him into the Mexican restaurant in the mall.

While at dinner, Joe and I had the realization that, although our boys have been amazing troopers for this entire trip, yesterday was by far their best behaved and happiest.

After dinner, we stopped at dessert stand and Nolan picked out a piece of cheesecake for his birthday cake. When we got back to our room, the boys ate their treats and turned on a movie. We were all happily exhausted from one of our favorite days in Seoul. While I was changing for bed in the bathroom, Liam ran to the door to tell me that fireworks were going off on the river, just below our window. While watching the spectacular show, Nolan made the comment that the fireworks must be for his birthday. We have no idea the real reason, but it was a very special coincidence, that I hope he remembers just this way forever.

"Hey, remember that really special birthday in Korea, when they did a firework show, just for me?!"

Although we loved Lotte World, there were some things we wish we would have known before going.
Here is a list of some advice/information we would like to pass on for others who may go there in the future:

1. It's cold! We all wore our lightest sweaters and T-shirts, thinking it would be nice and warm inside. The boys seemed fine, but I was freezing the entire time. I'm not sure if the reason is the massive ice rink in the middle of the park, or if they just choose not to heat the building and it's winter. Everyone else seemed to know, because they were still wearing their big winter coats while going from ride to ride.

2. Check the heights for riding before you go. We tried to do this, but were unable to track it down. Most of the rides have a height requirement of 110 cm. Nolan was just shy of that, so we were turned away from ride after ride. I was worried the second time it happened. but he took it like the big boy he is now and moved right along to the next one. Eventually, we found a map that listed all the rides and their height requirements, so that we could just avoid them all together.

3. There is a small kiddo area, but it is not consistent. Nolan could ride most of the rides in this area, but some were geared more toward toddlers, and one we were turned away from because he was still to small- in the small kid area! Like I said, he took it like a trooper, but it was hard for mom and dad to see him turned away over and over again on his special day.

4. The souvenirs are very reasonably priced! It kiddo (including Maylee) got one before we left. Liam picked out a light up sword with "battle sounds", Nolan got what looks like a light up ray gun, and I picked out a character bag for Maylee, as Foster Mom said that she loves to fill bags with toys and carry them around. Each of these were 15,000 won or less. 1,000 won equals a little less than one US dollar.

5. Be ready for your personal space to no longer be a thing. This is more a general piece of information about traveling in Korea, but it was more obvious at Lotte World. Koreans are SO polite, welcoming, and helpful, and they tend to not share our social rules when it comes to space. Waiting in lines, was full of pushing, people getting in and out of line, and even some ladies touching the boys faces.

6. Be ready to take candy from strangers. Our boys are SO loved here in Korea. We have been stopped everyday, multiple times a day, to be told how handsome they are and then they are given candy. This is the first time when we have told them, it's okay to take candy from a stranger. Ha ha ha! I think Korean women must line their pockets every morning, on the chance that they will see children to dote on.

It really was such a special day for our Teddy Bear and for our family!

Today, we see Maylee again!

The perfect ending, to a perfect day!