Yeondong indoor theme park with Meotteol Dosa exhibit: Theme Park Toon

I visited Theme Park Toon in Yeondong, a participatory media art space and a great spot to take kids in Jeju.

What is Theme Park Toon? Imagination turned real

Theme Park Toon is a space that doubles as childhood nostalgia for adults and a participatory media art experience where kids get to become cartoon characters. It's about 15 minutes by car from Jeju Airport, so it's fairly close to the airport.

Baechu-dosa and Mu-dosa flying through the clouds, and Meotteol Dosa fighting off goblins by pulling out his hair — these were the regulars on TV during holidays. And I went through my turbulent teenage years devouring comics like Yeolhyeolgangho, Jjang, Shooting, and Hip Hop. The kid who read those comic books grew up, and now Pororo, Bread Barbershop, and Kongsuni have taken their place as the new childhood memories for kids today.

It's a good spot to visit at the start or end of a Jeju trip, and being indoors means you can enjoy it regardless of Jeju's ever-changing weather. Nohyeong Supermarket and Jeju Museum of Art are both about 10 minutes away by car, so pairing them with this visit could be a good option. Also, Hallasu Arboretum sits right behind Theme Park Toon, and if the weather cooperates you can check out the night market along the arboretum path too, worth keeping in mind.

Parking and admission at Theme Park Toon

Theme Park Toon has a large parking lot in front of the building, so parking is easy. Parking is free for the first 2 hours, after which a fee applies. However, if your visit runs long because of the experiences and exhibits, you can ask at the ticket booth for an additional free parking pass.

1st floor: Hotel Terrace

Once you open the door and step into Theme Park Toon, another entrance appears, like stepping into a torn-open comic book. In the first-floor hall, giant characters holding signs greet visitors.

Behind them, in a hotel terrace concept, various characters step out onto the terrace as if welcoming guests. On the first floor there's a café selling simple snacks and drinks, and a shop that makes character T-shirts. Following the path through the entrance opens up into another large space.

Poster Land: become the star of your own comic

Poster Land is a dark, blue-lit space hung with large LED comic posters. Comics that both adults and kids will recognize line the walls, and the sheer size of the space alone is eye-opening.

In the middle of the hall there's a photo booth machine — take a photo and it gets converted into a webtoon-style image and hung on a poster. The placement is random, so there's a fun little hunt in finding your own photo.

Balloon Pop

Balloon Pop is a space with a round, ball-shaped LED screen displaying cartoon characters and geometric patterns. Every surface is mirrored, so the colors from the LED screen reflect and fill the whole space.

Flowers covering the ceiling add to the unique atmosphere matching the room's shifting colors. You can take photos with your favorite characters here, and it makes a great photo zone too.

2nd floor: Character Matching (Inside Out), Twinkle Mirror photo zone and the gift shop

On the 2nd floor of Theme Park Toon there's a character matching space where you can create your own character, take a photo with it, and even buy a T-shirt printed with that photo. You can choose from a wide range of characters, from hip-hop stars to pretty princesses, and take a picture.

This floor is mostly made up of hands-on activity spaces like gacha machines and punching machines. Across from the activity zone there's a gift shop and café, a good spot to browse and rest for a bit.

Drawings that come to life: Draw & Show and Avatar On

A drawing I made runs across a meadow. In this large space there's a table made from a touchscreen monitor. Pick a character on the table and draw it, and it comes to life moving around on the green meadow projected on the wall. Chase the characters roaming the meadow and touch them with your hand, and they shoot up into the sky. Since you can pick your own colors and draw however you like, this was the spot where kids spent the most time.

Right next to it, using motion capture, you can become a character yourself and dance along to upbeat music. For kids feeling shy, a character appears to show them the dance moves directly.

Artist exhibition hall: stepping into the Scene with Meotteol Dosa and Bread Barbershop

The artist exhibition hall recreates scenes from comics. In particular, the interior of Bread Barbershop, a show the kids used to love watching, was recreated in full, and the kids were thrilled.

Beyond that, the nostalgic comic Meotteol Dosa and various other genres of comics with their animal-friend casts were recreated exactly as they appeared.

What could be better: gift shop location and the stairs-only route with a stroller

Overall it was a fun time, but there were some downsides too. I wished the gift shop were on the 3rd or 1st floor instead. At most places I've visited, the gift shop is near the exit, so seeing the gift shop on the 2nd floor made me think the exhibit was basically wrapping up. But the experiences and exhibits continuing on to the 3rd floor actually went on for quite a while longer.

Also, the final exit from the artist exhibition hall leads back to the 2nd floor gift shop via a staircase with no elevator. If you bring a stroller, you'll have to carry it down or backtrack the way you came.

Despite these structural downsides, the mix of hands-on activities — photo taking, punching machines, drawing, dancing — with exhibit spaces was well arranged and quite immersive. And since comics themselves span so many genres and types, I think this is a place worth revisiting again and again if they keep reworking the spaces around different character themes.

Theme Park Toon at a glance

• A hands-on media art space themed around comics
• Hours 09:00 - 19:00 / 2 hours free parking, ask at the ticket booth if your visit runs over 2 hours
• Activities include photo booths, gacha machines, photo zones, drawing, and more
• Photo zones built around media art
• Spaces recreating comic scenes exactly as they appeared
• A place all ages can enjoy