![The original Safari World has reopened after about a year of preparation as a new ecological space—\'Safari World: The Wild\'—that upgrades both animal welfare and the guest experience. [Photo by Ki Su-jeong]](https://contents-cdn.viewus.co.kr/image/2026/04/CP-2023-0070/image-382f4fcc-37c2-4c9f-b042-a7d426c2a69b.jpeg)
Kim Hee-jin, head of Everland’s Creative Team, says this spring’s rollout—so massive and immediate—is the first of its kind in the park’s half-century history. “Our team pulled together like never before. We treated this as a make-or-break moment to show what Korean theme parks can do,” she explains.
The transformation, built on thousands of hours of work, drew an instant response. In just about 10 days after the Tulip Festival opened, attendance jumped more than 30% year over year—about 250,000 guests flocked here.
What pulled in that crowd so fast? We spent a day chasing Everland’s nonstop thrills—from stepping into the raw heart of the wild to a fireworks finale that rents the night sky.
![The original Safari World has reopened after about a year of preparation as a new ecological space—\'Safari World: The Wild\'—that upgrades both animal welfare and the guest experience. [Photo=Everland]](https://contents-cdn.viewus.co.kr/image/2026/04/CP-2023-0070/image-9ecba132-5aec-47cf-871a-6210ecf63b7e.jpeg)
◆ Standing in the wild — All-New Safari World
This season, the buzz is less about roller-coaster thrills and more about the thrill of meeting untamed nature. We made a beeline for the renovation’s headline act: Safari World. The park’s heritage attraction—boasting roughly 90 million cumulative visitors—has reopened as 'Safari World: The Wild' after about a year of careful redesign.
When the heavy iron gate slides open and you glide into the forest, the first thing you notice is the hush. Gone is the diesel tram’s clatter; in its place are quiet, eco-friendly EV buses. The silence lets you hear the snap of dry leaves and the low, reverberating howl of a lion. Huge expedition vehicles—styled with tiger, lion, and bear motifs—slip through the predators’ domain like stealthy safari beasts.
The enclosure spans roughly 34,000 m² (about 365,700 sq ft / 8.4 acres) and is intentionally raw and nature-forward for animal welfare. Waterfalls, ponds, and varied enrichment features let around 50 big predators across eight species—lions, tigers, brown bears, and more—show natural behaviors freely.
Moving from savanna plains to recreated Siberian forest, the landscape is so immersive it adds a cool edge of tension.
After the tour, the exit shop offers a sweet souvenir moment: adopt a plush modeled after the Korean tiger 'Daun' or the lion 'Doba.' It’s a charming way to cap your wild adventure.
![The Four Seasons Garden at Everland in full swing during the tulip festival. [Photo by Ki Su-jeong]](https://contents-cdn.viewus.co.kr/image/2026/04/CP-2023-0070/image-5bf0f05d-c054-44ff-8a78-35ffdac5daf9.jpeg)
◆ Picture-perfect everywhere — a 1.2-million-bloom garden that blurs reality and video
After the predators’ forest, you arrive at the Four Seasons Garden, dressed in about 1.2 million spring blooms. This is Everland’s signature Tulip Festival, running through the 30th of the month.
Everywhere you look feels like a paint-splashed canvas. Some 100 varieties—tulips, daffodils, muscari, and more—stretch across the grounds like a floral carpet, and the sight makes you stop and smile.
“We planted tulips as early as 1992, back when the park was Natural Farm, and helped spark the country’s spring flower festival trend,” says Lee Joon-kyu, the garden project lead. This year, he says, the team moved away from character-driven displays and focused on the pure colors of flowers and trees.
The 'My Spring Palette'–themed garden is dazzlingly vivid. The daytime crowd magnet, the 'Tulip Infinity Garden,' stitches giant LED-screen imagery to actual flower beds, creating an immersive effect that feels almost otherworldly.
If you want to stretch the magic, follow the garden path to the Sky Garden Trail—the metro area’s first plum-blossom theme garden—which offers another gentle, poetic spring scene and extends that lingering glow.
![A scene from Everland’s new circus show, \'Wings of Memory.\' [Photo by Ki Su-jeong]](https://contents-cdn.viewus.co.kr/image/2026/04/CP-2023-0070/image-c0856126-b365-47bd-a5b7-e4ad7b4d475f.jpeg)
◆ Forty breath-held minutes — world-class circus thrills that own the stage
As the sun starts to dip, the 1,000-seat Grand Stage fills with an anticipatory hush. Everland’s new circus, 'Wings of Memory,' is about to begin.
A single pin of light slices the dim stage and artists from Canada’s celebrated Cirque Éloize appear, one by one. The 24 performers—many with Cirque du Soleil pedigrees—follow a story about the protagonist 'L' on a journey through a magical world and deliver jaw-dropping acts.
For 40 nonstop minutes, seven high-risk circus disciplines unfold: from contortion that pushes human form to its most beautiful limits, to aerial poles that cleave the air, to a heart-stopping Russian swing. Every nailed trick draws gasps and thrilled shivers from the audience.
Attendance is by lottery after advance registration: only 900 seats for morning and 900 for afternoon shows (1,800 total per day), so getting in is competitive.
![\'The Guardians of Light,\' a special fireworks show directed by Yang Jung-woong. [Photo=Everland]](https://contents-cdn.viewus.co.kr/image/2026/04/CP-2023-0070/image-ddb574bb-a131-4e89-bdd6-f1c6ca6cd3f5.jpeg)
After dark, Everland turns romantic in a completely different register. The tulip garden becomes a fantastical Night Garden—created with installation artist Bruce Munro—and shimmers with otherworldly light.
The night’s crowning moment is the special fireworks show 'The Guardians of Light.' Directed by Korea’s top showman Yang Jung-woong, the production wows with scale and spectacle.
Thousands of fireworks thread the sky in front of a massive LED screen, and for the first time in Korea, large object drones slice through the darkness. 3D video and laser mapping add cinematic layers, while singer Kwon Jung-yeol of 10CM sings the theme and actor Lee Sang-yoon narrates. The 20-minute multimedia show plays like a mini K-pop stadium finale and leaves a lasting, emotional impression.
Everland opens with the call of wild predators and closes with a shower of fireworks. This relentless, no-breaths-taken April proves why 250,000 people poured in within about 10 days of reopening.
![The \'Tulip Infinity Garden,\' where video on large LED screens and real flower beds flow together seamlessly. [Photo=Everland]](https://contents-cdn.viewus.co.kr/image/2026/04/CP-2023-0070/image-1dde8a3d-0659-42c8-b162-aba1c6eb67cf.jpeg)
![At Safari World: The Wild, eco-friendly EV buses—whose noise and vibration have been dramatically reduced—let guests observe predators with greater immersion. [Photo=Everland]](https://contents-cdn.viewus.co.kr/image/2026/04/CP-2023-0070/image-3add460f-8c27-41c5-9b26-79671e174e5c.jpeg)
