한국어
Winter Indoor Adventures in Seoul with kids
Seoul Land, Woongjin Playdoci, Zoolung Zoolung, and COEX Aquarium
12.2024
Every weekend, I took Liam out to explore different places. The biggest question was always where to go depending on the weather. Thankfully, Korea has tons of well-equipped indoor play facilities, so even when it was cold outside, there was nothing to worry about. They even have indoor zoos! Plus, there are plenty of indoor water parks that feel like mini theme parks, so winter didn’t stop us from having fun in the water either.
It would’ve been more convenient if we had a car, but since we had to rely entirely on public transportation, we mostly stuck to places that weren’t too far from home.
Zoolung Zoolung Indoor Zoo
Zoolung Zoolung, the indoor zoo, has multiple locations, most of them inside shopping centers—perfect for spending an entire day out. The interior was beautifully and neatly decorated, almost like stepping into a fairytale world!
We also tried visiting outdoor zoos, but once the weather got colder, most of the animals weren’t out, so it didn’t feel worth the trip. One particularly chilly week, we decided to visit the Zoolung Zoolung location in Yeongdeungpo instead, since Liam loves seeing animals.
This branch is inside Times Square Mall, which makes it super convenient—you can spend the morning at the indoor zoo, grab lunch, then catch a movie or relax at a kids’ café in the afternoon. There’s even a bookstore and lots of shopping options, so you can do everything in one place.
As expected, buying tickets online is cheaper.
We got ours through Naver for 23,500 KRW.
On-site price: 29,000 KRW (same for adults and kids).
Opening hours: Weekdays – all day / Weekends – 4-hour limit.
There are a variety of hands-on activities scheduled throughout the day, so it’s more fun to check the timetable and plan your visit around those. They also sell animal feed at the entrance—but only before you go in—so if you buy it in advance, kids can feed the animals themselves, which they absolutely love.
I didn’t know this at first, so I didn’t get the feed before entering. Liam held out his hand to the birds, but since he didn’t have any food, they didn’t come to him. He was really disappointed.
There’s also a seal-feeding experience. The staff hand out slices of cucumber, and kids line up to give them to the seals—who adorably take the cucumbers with their flippers! The kids went crazy for it.
Besides that, there are other animal feeding experiences, and you can even watch the crocodiles being fed. There’s quite a lot to see, though it takes about two hours to make your way through the whole place.
After seeing all the animals, there’s an indoor playground at the end where kids can play for about 30 minutes. There’s also a food court right next to it, so if you get hungry, it’s easy to grab a bite.
Since it’s close to home, the indoor zoo “JurungJurung” was the perfect spot to visit on cold days!
Seoul Land
Seoul Land had a lot of events during the winter. They opened the sledding area, along with various seasonal activities that you can only experience during the winter.
On Christmas Day, December 25th… If I were in Australia, I would’ve gone camping or spent time with a big group of people, but in Korea, there wasn’t much to do for Christmas. In Korea, going out on public holidays or days off can be a bit daunting because of the large crowds.
With nothing else planned for Christmas Day, I was worried about how crowded Seoul Land might be, but since I had no other plans, I decided to take Liam and head there by subway. I expected it to be super crowded, but when we arrived, it wasn’t as busy as I thought it would be.
We took a photo in front of the landmark at Seoul Land with Liam.
To get to Seoul Land, you can take the subway Line 4 and get off at Daegongwon/Seoul Land Station.
The entrance to Seoul Land is quite a walk from the station, so I recommend taking the elephant train. If you go up a little from Daegongwon Station, you’ll find the entrance, and there’s a kiosk where you can buy tickets for the elephant train. You can purchase them personally, then head to the train station to wait for your ride.
Liam, who had never ridden a sled before, had his first sledding experience ever! 🛷
There were sleds for both kids and adults, so the kids’ sleds were perfect for young children to ride safely. The line was really long, but surprisingly, it moved quickly, so we didn’t have to wait too long. While waiting, the kids could play in the snow, so it wasn’t boring for them.
After that, we tried the smelt fishing experience.
We used a scoop net to catch the smelts, but at first, the smelts were so fast, and I didn’t have the technique, so I couldn’t catch any. After a few tries, I got the hang of it and was able to catch quite a few. It was a bit hard for Liam to catch them, so I ended up doing most of the fishing while Liam seemed to catch them with his mouth haha, he was talking non-stop.
Smelt fishing was definitely my favorite activity at Seoul Land!
As soon as we entered Seoul Land, we got in line for the smelt fishing and found out that tickets for the 4 p.m. session were still available.
So, I bought the tickets first, then we went sledding, grabbed some snacks, and when the time came, we spent 30 minutes enjoying the smelt fishing experience.
놀이기구는 안탄다고 하여 딱 하나 탔다. 입체 영상이 나오고, 의자가 움직이는 것 하나만 같이 타고, 다른것들은 관심이 없었다.
오후가 되니 춥게 느껴져서 실내 놀이터에 줄서서 들어갔다. 무료로 운영되며 1시간동안 놀수 있다.
매 시간마다 전체 인원이 다 나오고, 새로운 사람들이 입장을 하여 시간에 잘 맞춰서 가면 오래 기다리지 않고 입장할 수 있다.
After playing for an hour, we were hungry, so we had a quick dinner at Lotteria. By the time we finished, it was already dark.
The Christmas market was beautiful, but it was so crowded, so we just took a quick look around and headed home.
The Christmas tree was so pretty, so I took a photo of Liam. Then, someone kindly offered to take a picture of both of us together, so we ended up with a nice memory photo. ^^
Seoul Grand Park
Seoul Grand Park is so huge that it’s worth spending an entire day just exploring the park. Since it was winter, many of the animals were indoors.
The park is designed in a way that allows you to see animals indoors, so if the weather is nice, you can visit the outdoor areas, but if it’s cold, you can still enjoy the indoor exhibits. There were a lot of different animals, and the zoo was so big that after seeing everything, we took a bus to the zoo entrance. From there, we took the elephant train to the subway station entrance nearby.
If you plan to visit both Seoul Land and Seoul Grand Park in one day, the entrances are a bit far from each other, so walking might be difficult. I recommend taking the elephant train to travel between them!
Woojung Play City Water Park
There are many water parks in Korea, and Woojung Play City is a place that’s not far from my home and can be reached in about 20 minutes by subway.
I had been putting it off for a while, but since my time in Korea was running out, I finally went.
Even in the middle of winter, there are outdoor hot springs and swimming pools available, and there are various indoor swimming pools and hot spring baths too.
After spending the whole day swimming, when it was time to go home, Liam refused to go back, so it took some convincing to finally get him to leave.
How to get there and how to use it:
From the Samseon Gymnasium Station on Subway Line 7, it’s a 5-10 minute walk.
I bought the entrance ticket in advance through Naver reservations, which was cheaper than buying it on-site.
Ticket Price on Naver: 55,000 KRW
For a 4-year-old boy and his mom, we entered the swimming pool.
In Korea, boys over 4 years old are not allowed into the women’s changing room. However, Woojung Play City has a kids’ changing room, so Liam and I changed clothes there. I gave him a quick snack and told him to wait while I went into the women’s changing room to store my things in a locker. Unfortunately, the kids’ changing room didn’t have any lockers.
I had read online that there’s a path leading directly to the pool from the entrance, but I couldn’t find it. Since Liam had long hair, and in Korea, people always assume he’s a girl, I decided to just boldly walk through the women’s changing room to get to the pool. ><
When we were done, I passed through the women’s changing room again and changed clothes in the kids’ changing room.
There was a lazy river, slides, a kids’ water playground, and more. All children were required to wear life vests here. Liam, who loves to dive, couldn’t dive with the life vest on, and since he wasn’t used to it, it was a bit difficult for him to balance. Also, wearing a swimming cap or a cap was a must!
In the kids’ zone, there were several themed pools with water at Liam’s waist level. There were areas for playing with balls, bubbles, and blocks, among other things. He had a great time going back and forth, playing for a long time.
When we went outside, it felt so cold that it felt like my skin was freezing, but once I got into the hot spring, it was so warm and pleasant.
The outdoor swimming pool was lukewarm, so after soaking in the hot spring and then entering the outdoor pool, it felt cold. Since it was outdoors, it was freezing as soon as we got out of the water, but Liam kept running around here and there, so I had to follow him, braving the cold. 😭
After having so much fun, we came outside and found Dunkin’ Donuts, so we each had a donut for the first time in a long while and then headed home!
Coex Aquarium
The Aquarium at COEX in Seoul is on a whole different level compared to the aquariums I saw in Australia!
How to Use
If you’re a Korean Air SKYPASS member or show a boarding pass (within 7 days), you get a 30% discount for yourself and up to 3 companions.
If you have an Asiana Club membership card or Asiana Airlines boarding pass (within 1 month), you get a 30% discount for yourself and up to 3 companions.
The cheapest option is to use the airline discount!
At the site, show your membership info through the app and buy tickets for around 22,000 KRW per person. (I can’t remember the exact amount…)
Since there are shows and experiences every hour, it’s best to check the schedule to make the most of your visit.
It takes about 2 hours to walk around, enjoy the experiences, and watch the shows if you time it well.
The colorful tropical fish were beautiful, and the rays and sharks, with their front made of transparent glass, were really clear and beautifully displayed.
The highlight was definitely the Little Mermaid show!! It was a beautiful scene, though it felt a bit risky at times… Liam watched intently, but I wasn’t sure why they wouldn’t let us take pictures.
I’ve put together a list of places Liam and I visited around Seoul.
Children’s Grand Park Guide | Best Place to Spend a Fun Day with Kids in Seoul
