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Children's Grand Park

Cherry blossoms along a path in Children's Grand Park

Description

Children’s Grand Park is home to rows and rows of South Korea’s infamous cherry blossom trees, making it a hotspot for people to visit in the blooming early spring season. The park, located in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, has thousands of visitors each year, with its highest influx of people coming for the cherry blossoms and to celebrate Children’s Day, the holiday it was named after. Inside the grounds multiple facilities can be found, ranging from an amusement park and mini zoo, to different sports fields, making it attractive to all audiences.

Design and Layout

Children’s Grand Park has one large road going around the interior perimeter of the park, and 2 main roads through the middle, with many small paths interconnecting the roads and all of the facilities littered around the park. There are 2 ponds, as well as an amusement park, a botanical garden, a zoo, and multiple playgrounds, fountains, stages, animal villages, cafeterias, sports facilities, and gardens. The park also has several patches of flat, grassy fields surrounded by trees with the trees and grass making up 60% of the entirety of the park.

Main gate of Children's Grand Park

When it was first opened in 1973the amusement park was considered one of the representative theme parks in Seoul, along with the one found in Seoul Grand Park. It was the largest amusement park in Seoul until Lotte World Adventure was opened, and Everland afterwards.

Visitors

The park garners the most visitors on the Korean holiday it was named after: Children’s Day. On that day, thousands of families with young children visit the park. Despite the park being open all year and having all kinds of audiences, it receives the most people on Children’s Day, thus its attractions being more oriented towards children, such as the amusement park, the playgrounds situated around it, and the zoo.

History

Planning

After the demise of the Empress Sunmyeong in 1904, her husband, Emperor Sunjong, donated 300,000 pyeong of land owned by the Joseon royal family and later used it for the construction of Gyeongseong Golf Club, which was completed in 1930, in the area that is now Children’s Grand Park. The golf course was wrecked during the Korean War, but later restored and reopened under the name of 'Seoul Country Club Golf Course,' which was suggested by President Rhee Syngman.

Memorial of President Park Chung-hee

President Park Chung-hee frequently used the Gunjari Seoul Country Club, but as Seoul developed, there was a concern with the entrance to the golf course as it was too visible to the general public. Therefore, an additional 18-hole golf course was constructed and moved to Hanyang Country Club; the golf course site was acquired by Seoul Metropolitan Government to create a children's amusement park and opened in time for Children's Day on May 5, 1973.

In 1975, President Park Chung-hee, built it as a grand park. As it was opened before theme parks were very common, it is remembered as a special place for the generation who spent their childhood with Chang Kyung-won (currently Changgyeonggung Palace).

Attractions

Amusement park in Children's grand park

Inside Children’s Grand Park the amusement park, iLand, has various attractions. Despite the park being free for everyone, there are several facilities that have an entrance fee, iLand included.

	Adults	Teens & Kids
Whole Day Ticket (All rides)	27,000₩	23,000₩
5 Rides Ticket	19,000₩	16,000₩
1 Ride Ticket	5,000₩	3,500₩

The rides inside the park include: Wind Castle, Merry-Go-Round, Sky Train, Hurricane, Wave Swing, Apollo, Squirrel Ride, Motorcycle, Ghost Castle, Electronic Combat Fighter, 88 Train Station, Sky Cycle, Space Fighter, Jet Coaster, Viking, Jumper Boat, Fun House, and Mini Light, as well as train rides and bumper cars.

Wildlife

Entrance of the zoo

Otters in the park

Yellow anaconda in exhibit in the park

The park is known as a popular location to see cherry blossom trees blooming in early spring. There are hundreds of the trees scattered throughout the park and lined up on the sides of the paths that lead through the grounds. These trees are a symbolic flora for South Korea, having become a popular background for pictures.

Besides the wildlife in the park, with several stray cats that wander the grounds, there are plenty of animals in the zoo inside Children’s Grand Park. The zoo is divided into multiple facilities and distributed throughout the park. These areas are: Deer Village, Aquatic Animals area; Herbivorous Animals village, Wild Birds Village; Beasts of Prey Village, Petting Zoo; and Tropical Animals Village. The park has more than 600 animals from 106 different species, and more than 5,000 plants from 402 different species (most of these located inside the botanical garden).

Inside these areas are bears, elephants (donated to the zoo by Hun Sen, the current prime minister in Cambodia) (Seoul Sub→urban, 2012), otters, lions, owls, a peacock, etc. Besides the areas of Children’s Grand Park reserved specifically for animals, there are various other animals residing in the park, such as koi fish in the ponds inside the botanical garden and flocks of pigeons around small patches of land between the trees, nearby to where people rest on benches.

Statues of kids in Children's Grand Park

Landmark and Structures

Children’s Grand Park has 11 statues found around the park. It has 11 landscape facilities (3 pond and ecology facilities, 2 fountains, 4 theme gardens, 1 streamlet, 1 flowerbed), 3 pavilions, 3 entertainment facilities (1 amusement park, 2 playgrounds), 8 sports facilities (1 soccer field, 4 health squares [areas with exercise items], 1 tennis court, 1 futsal ground, 1 gate ball field), and an animal playground.

Around the park is also 39 cultural facilities and 24 convenience facilities (including convenience stores, restrooms, drinking fountains, etc), as well as 455 long benches for people to rest at.

Activities

Inside Children's Grand Park there are many activities available for the public to do. Visitors go more often for passive recreational activities, namely sightseeing and walking, than to do exercise. Adding more to the naturalistic environment, the park consists of zoological gardens where animals are placed in spacious places. Each place is reserved for each animal. Even though the park was specifically constructed in the name of the children, there are several facilities for adults such as tennis and soccer fields, as well as a museum. Moreover, Children’s Grand Park is 60% composed of green fields, where visitors often go to spend time with their  relatives, friends or children. Visitors can also experience the amusement park and rides inside, in addition to the animal shows that are presented in the park.

Transportation

Children's Grand Park is located at 216, Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, Korea (Neung-dong). To visit the park tourists can use both buses and subway to arrive at the exact location (편의시설 | 어린이대공원>대공원소개>이용안내>공원안내 지도, 2015).

Subway station infront of children’s grand park

By Bus

Bus No.	Nearest Gate	Bus Stop
302	Main entrance	Children's Grand Park, Exit 3
721, 3216, 4212	Main entrance	Children's Grand Park, Sejong University
2222, 3220	Main entrance	Children’s Grand Park, Hwayang Church
2221, 9301, 9403, 320, 130	Back gate	Children's Grand Park, Back gate, Achasan Station
303, 320, 2221, 9403	Guuimun gate	Guui crossroad

By Subway

Subway Line	Exit	Station
Line no. 7	Exit 1 - Main entrance	Children’s Grand Park Station
Line no. 5	Exit 4 - Back gate	Achasan station