Our sweet boy turned 9 a couple weeks ago and we got to spend the whole day celebrating him. He is definitely my son because all he wanted to do for his birthday was to go on an adventure. He decided on visiting the aquarium in Lotte World Mall in Seoul – and of course I’m always looking for ANY excuse to go to Seoul. And it was the perfect way to spend his birthday – followed by tacos for dinner and my famous chocolate cake, of course.
Lotte World Aquarium in Seoul
We let E bring a couple of friends with us to the aquarium (and I’m grateful to their parents for trusting me with their sweet kids) and he couldn’t have asked for nicer friends. Military kids have it HARD and making friends and leaving those friends (or having those friends leave) has been so challenging. But E really scored when it comes to his friends from church here.
When I was getting Lasik at Lotte World Tower a while back, Brandon took the kids to Lotte World Aquarium. I’ve been wanting to go back since (they have a Beluga Whale so… I wanted to see it), but it’s definitely a little on the pricier side – especially with five kids. Still, E’s birthday seemed like a great time to head back and I’m glad that he chose it. He was choosing between this aquarium, the COEX Aquarium and Aqua Planet 63. He decided to stick with what was familiar, and I wasn’t hating the idea of heading to somewhere with few surprises as far as parking and directions go (IYKYK).
We opted for this specific trip to the aquarium to only bring the three older kids, along with the two friends that E invited. Brandon stayed home with the two youngest girls, which made for a much more carefree visit to the aquarium. The kids loved seeing the different animals (and G and B who joined us had never been to this aquarium before) and were fascinated by the piranhas, the electric eels, the octopus, and all the really weird looking fish.
My favorite part? All the sharks. You may not know that I’ve got a thing for sharks, and I could watch them for literally hours. Of course, I wasn’t able to do that while hanging out with five kids, but I got my shark fill for now. And of course we loved seeing the Beluga Whale too, although he was apparently feeling shy the day we went because he only made one short appearance. Still, it was my first time seeing one in person and it was awesome.
The tanks of fish were incredible – and we could look at them from multiple different sides. Lotte World Aquarium holds 650 different species of animals, so there is something for everyone. They’ve got everything from clown fish and tiger fish, to otters, sealions, and penguins. There was no shortage of creatures for us to see and each of the kids walked away with their own favorites.
Another fun activity was feeing the Koi Fish. For only ₩2,000 you can get a small baby-bottle with carp food in it. (Note that they do not accept cash won and you can only pay with credit card. They did accept my American credit card.) And the Koi Fish will come up and suck the food out of the bottle. It was wild and weird and kind of creepy, but the kids had a blast with it, so I guess it was worth it.
After exploring most of the aquarium, we helped ourselves to DdalGi SaTang (Strawberry Hard Candy) and a frog-shaped cotton candy at the aquarium snack bar… because why not? And then we headed across the street from the mall to Shake Shack for lunch because what the birthday boy wants, the birthday boy gets!
When we exited the aquarium, we spent some time walking around the gift shop. And it was PRICY. It’s not too surprising considering that gift shops are usually pretty unreasonably-priced, but these were next-level expensive. A couple of my kids opted to spend their own money on some small souvenirs, but ultimately we decided that our money was better spent elsewhere.
We had so much fun celebrating our boy at the aquarium. It’s hard to believe he’s been in our family for nine whole years! Time continues to move way too fast and he continues to grow up, despite the fact that I specifically asked him not to multiple times. Still, he gets more fun every single year and we cannot picture our lives without him!
’til next time…
Ash
How to visit Lotte World Aquarium in Seoul
Directions & Parking: If you paste 서울 송파구 신천동 into Naver, it will take you to Gate 4 of the underground parking garage. Follow the signs that say “Lotte World Mall” specifically. It is paid for parking and costs ₩300 every 10 minutes on weekdays and ₩500 every 10 minutes on weekends. We paid ₩11,500 for about 4 hours. If copying and pasting isn’t really you’re thing, you can use this link to use Naver to navigate to Gate 4. The aquarium entrance is located on floor B1 of the mall (follow the signs toward the aquarium and you can’t miss it).
Cost:
Aquarium Admission
Children 3-12 – ₩29,000
Adults – ₩35,000
*Children under 3 years old – FREE
Aquarium and SeoulSky Combo Ticket
Children 3-12 – ₩49,000
Adults – ₩56,000
*Children under 3 years old – FREE
*May need to present proof of age for children under 3 years old.
*Hours: For the most accurate information regarding hours of operation, make sure to visit the Lotte World Aquarium Website. But generally, the hours are as follows.
Monday – Friday
10:00am – 8:00pm
Saturday – Sunday
10:00am – 10:00pm
*Hours of operation may vary by season and day. Please visit the Lotte World Aquarium Website for hours on specific days.
Accessibility: The entire mall, including the aquarium are accessible to both wheelchairs and strollers. Keep in mind, however, that the aquarium is multiple stories tall, so waiting on the elevator may be necessary on busier days. In addition, the escalator that goes in a tunnel through the sealion exhibit is not accessible.
Amenities: There are is a snack bar located on floor B1 of the aquarium. Restrooms are located on both floor B1 and B2. There is a toddler lounge and nursing room/baby station on B1, as well as a gift shop upon exiting the aquarium.
