Author Topic: Yeosu Expo high, low, and in between (Read 2658 times)

bb · « **on:** May 21, 2012, 12:57:43 PM »

Hit the Expo this weekend. Thought people who went might wanna share good points and not so good points for the benefit of others planning to go.

Everyone is different but_ Here's my high and low:

High was without question the musical performance in the Vietnamese building. Awesome. As far as I know it is 10:30, 2:30, an 5:30 daily.

Low was the Japan exhibit which required waiting a good 45 minutes in line to see a phenomenally sappy movie about a boy who loses his family in the earthquake and has his faith in reality restored by riding a flying bicycle over a rebuildig Japan.

Other good exhibits that wer good and didn't require much waiting: Singapore and...oddly enough_ the "history of world expos" exhibit was interesting and a lot less kid oriented than some of the others. Robot exhibit and aqua-city exhibit were not without their charms but pretty heavily kid-centric.

codetornado · « **Reply #1 on:** May 21, 2012, 03:03:26 PM »

Thank you for this. I will be heading out after the peak times. (So late June/ early July) and was wondering what was a must see.

I also heard that a lot of pavilions were not open on the first day and some still aren't? Is this true?

yeti08 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 21, 2012, 03:43:16 PM »

I also just went and my wife and I really weren't sure what to expect. She went to Daejon years ago and said they could only see 1 or 2 exhibits due to the immense lines. Yeosu wasn't bad with lines on most the exhibits. We skipped Japan, Russia, and Germany because the lines were just too long.

The ones I liked. Switzerland -- They had neat light things and a cool mirrored room with the alps, just a neat little exhibit. USA was actually decent and I agree with Singapore and Vietnam. My wife liked Sweden, but it was just meh for me.

The worst in my opinion were Holland -- Quick line, but you got in and they let Koreans cue in a room with prints of famous paintings then hoped that Koreans would act respectful and make their own line to go into the rest of the exhibit. HA...we all know what this led to I am sure. Needless to say we jettisoned as soon as the pushing and shoving began.
India & Turkey were only concerned with their gift shops. And Monaco had all Koreans speaking Korean and running you through a mini tour. Bah.

The food available was either typical Korean fast food or way over priced stuff in the exhibits.
Starbucks didn't have drip coffee which rubbed me in a very wrong way. Not to mention the baristas could barely speak English, not a problem for me aside from the fact that all the other foreigners made the line almost unbearable. I digress though, just put me in a salty mood.

If you want to do the Korean exhibit and/or the Aquarium either get there as early as possible or try to reserve them over the internet. We couldn't do either and arrived at 11am.

One more note -- There really isn't a whole lot of places to stay in Yeosu....weird, so plan accordingly. We drove so we drove up near Jirisan and stayed in a quaint little minbak, which I left my brand new expensive glasses in.....no worries the woman is mailing them to me.

I enjoyed it overall that being said, and the only real negatives were the occasional stereotypical pushy Koreans and Starbucks. Good job Yeosu.

PS - Also there are a ton of very helpful volunteers.

johntbacon · « **Reply #3 on:** May 21, 2012, 04:12:13 PM »

45 minutes? Is that the longest line people have waited in so far?

I went to the Expo in Shanghai two years ago in September and the MINIMUM wait at worthwhile pavilions was at least 2 hours in the afternoon ???. Granted, Shanghai is a huge metropolis and Yeosu is a quaint fishing town but 45 minutes sounds like a breeze.

How are people getting to the Expo from Seoul/Gyeonggi? I've heard a little about taking a train there, but I don't believe it's as fast as the KTX. I'm more concerned about abominable traffic if I were to take a bus.

yeti08 · « **Reply #4 on:** May 21, 2012, 04:15:46 PM »

Quote from: johntbacon on May 21, 2012, 04:12:13 PM

45 minutes? Is that the longest line people have waited in so far?

I went to the Expo in Shanghai two years ago in September and the MINIMUM wait at worthwhile pavilions was at least 2 hours in the afternoon ???. Granted, Shanghai is a huge metropolis and Yeosu is a quaint fishing town but 45 minutes sounds like a breeze.

How are people getting to the Expo from Seoul/Gyeonggi? I've heard a little about taking a train there, but I don't believe it's as fast as the KTX. I'm more concerned about abominable traffic if I were to take a bus.

Yeah man Shanghai and Yeosu aren't even in the same ballpark. The traffic actually was a breeze. I drove and we really didn't run into much traffic at all. Though we left at 6:45am on Saturday morning.
The KTX would be the best bet for anyone in the Seoul area for sure.

bb · « **Reply #5 on:** May 21, 2012, 05:11:12 PM »

I also heard that a lot of pavilions were not open on the first day and some still aren't? Is this true?
[/quote]

Yes. India was incomplete. Nigeria was not yet open. Several other smaller exhibits as well were as yet incomplete.

The gift shops in the Pacific Island Pavillion had items on display but were not yet selling which was a bummer as they had actual stuff I would have bought.

A note on eating. Several countries...Peru, Russia, Singapore, Italy plus others had bar/cafe/eateries as well. A bit more money but infinitely superior to the Korean fare otherwise available (no diss on Korean food, it was just really unremarkable Korean food they were selling there.) I tried the Singapore booth and had lunch in Peru and roti in Malyasia. Nothing that really floored me but all quite good and reasonably priced.

Canonite · « **Reply #6 on:** May 21, 2012, 07:02:24 PM »

wow 45 minutes...do you guys go for just one day or the whole weekend? When you get a ticket, do you get a daypass or is it automatically a multi-entry/weekend pass?

yeti08 · « **Reply #7 on:** May 21, 2012, 07:05:48 PM »

Quote from: Canonite on May 21, 2012, 07:02:24 PM

wow 45 minutes...do you guys go for just one day or the whole weekend? When you get a ticket, do you get a daypass or is it automatically a multi-entry/weekend pass?

I got a day pass which was 32,000 won. I do believe there are weekend passes though. Not all of the exhibits were 45 minutes. Switzerland was 10, USA was 10, while some you just walk into. We got there at 11:30am and stayed till 7pm. Plenty of time.

Ammos Sack · « **Reply #8 on:** May 21, 2012, 10:26:32 PM »

Got train tickets and day passes for this Saturday but no accomodation yet. Surely there are jimjilnags if worst comes to worst?

dmhr25 · « **Reply #9 on:** May 22, 2012, 02:18:21 PM »

I'm having significant difficulty trying to reserve a hotel room. Any advice?

bb · « **Reply #10 on:** May 22, 2012, 02:56:37 PM »

If you're okay w love motels, take the train to Suncheon from the Expo (a 20 minute ride_ tix are about 2 bucks). As you walk outta Suncheon Station there's a motel/jimjilbang directly to the left (Piano Motel) or if you go to the right about 2 blocks there's quite a few motels to choose from.

peasgoodnonsuch · « **Reply #11 on:** May 22, 2012, 03:26:08 PM »

Thanks for making this thread. I'm really only commenting so I can easily keep track of it as people add their experiences.

I dearly hope to go down and visit it with someone at some point! But that's as planned as it gets for now...

codetornado · « **Reply #12 on:** May 22, 2012, 03:29:30 PM »

Quote from: peasgoodnonsuch on May 22, 2012, 03:26:08 PM

Thanks for making this thread. I'm really only commenting so I can easily keep track of it as people add their experiences.

I dearly hope to go down and visit it with someone at some point! But that's as planned as it gets for now...

You obviously did it to get your comment total to 666.

peasgoodnonsuch · « **Reply #13 on:** May 22, 2012, 05:03:57 PM »

Ha! I didn't even notice that...spooky! ??? Short lived spookiness though since this post will put me up to 667. I hope to hit 1000 before my contract is over next march!

Selah · « **Reply #14 on:** May 22, 2012, 05:15:13 PM »

I loved the expo! I agree about the lines, though. Get there early, or reserve online. If you choose the latter option, reservations first then go through the nations' exhibits later, as things seemed to slow down after about 6. Oh, and the food is either

or :o, so bring kimbap ;)

Also, beware of the salesmen in India!

CellarDoor · « **Reply #15 on:** June 04, 2012, 06:26:29 PM »

I'm going to steal peasgoodnonsuch's idea since following threads on this forum is a little tricky. Thanks to those who have taken time to post the info so far. I'd like to attend the expo, but I've heard so many mixed things that I want to do my research first.

Canonite · « **Reply #16 on:** June 04, 2012, 09:02:58 PM »

I haven't gone yet and still on the fence (though leaning towards going)...thanks for the thread, and please keep the posts up, would like to know what people think/suggest...

rsammarco · « **Reply #17 on:** June 05, 2012, 03:01:43 PM »

They have done away with the reservation system now, so it's first come first served to get into the pavilions. From what I hear, the lines aren't excruciatingly long tho. The aquarium is really popular so the lines will be a little longer there. I know it's not really on the same level, but I went to the Shanghai Expo in 2010 and for some of the pavilions the wait was 6 hours. The Yeosu Expo's wait times aren't as long as that.

If you can stay there a little late, I HIGHLY remcommend the Big O show that starts at 9:30pm. After that, the Big O floating stage opens and turns into a dance party.

The food at the international pavilion is great too. Some countries are expensive (Germany, Belgium, Italy, Uruguay) but some have cheaper options too.

If you are going on a day with a concert, you don't need a special ticket. Your entrance for the day covers it.

Low: Accomodation can be tricky and expensive (80,000 for a love motel from what I hear) but I've also heard you get a 10% discount if you show your expo ticket.

BUT the city buses are free, so you could probably ask your hotel how to go take one to the expo.

Another good resource for Expo info is the Unofficial Yeosu Expo Tourism facebook group. People have been adding tips and info about the expo as they come. The link is:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/428126027213496/

Canonite · « **Reply #18 on:** June 05, 2012, 05:51:24 PM »

Interesting (negative..) article on the Expo (not taking sides, just relaying what I've come across):

http://www.cnngo.com/seoul/visit/gallery-what-100000-people-line-see-every-day-yeosu-world-expo-778119?hpt=ias_mid

sidewinder · « **Reply #19 on:** June 21, 2012, 02:05:12 PM »

Wow. Not sure I want to go now. I imagine there will be a bunch of hicks coming in from the neighboring small towns displaying their usual lack of etiquette and pointing and laughing at the foreigners. From that slide show, seems like the only things to come check out will be the aquariums and international food. Think I'll wait for some more feedback on the Expo from other members.

Thanks for starting this thread

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Author Topic: Yeosu Expo high, low, and in between (Read 2658 times)

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