Weekend feeding tour with a niece at Artis Theme Park, Hwaseong

Indoor animal park in Hwaseong, Artis Theme Park

With my sister in the postpartum care center, it was my turn to babysit my niece for the day. I racked my brain over what to do with her — it was hot out and taking her outside felt like a lot, so I went searching for indoor things to do in Dongtan and found Artis Theme Park. The moment I saw you could interact with and feed animals directly, I booked without a second thought.

Artis Theme Park location, hours, and parking

• Name: Artis Theme Park
• Address: 10 Dongtan-daero 19-gil, Sinyu Medi Plaza 9F, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• Hours: Weekdays 13:00–19:00 / Weekends & holidays 12:00–19:00 (last entry 18:00, open year-round)
• Parking: Underground parking B1–B3 (free for 3 hours)

An ecological education experience theme park

Artis Theme Park is an ecological education experience theme park where you can enjoy an aquarium and an animal park together in one place. It's not just about watching from a distance — it's designed so kids can naturally learn about ecology by seeing, touching, and observing directly.

Being located on the 9th floor of Sinyu Medi Plaza in Dongtan was also a plus — no need to travel far. Since it's an indoor space, weather isn't a factor, so we could take our time looking around with a kid, and best of all, parking is free for up to 3 hours, which made things so much more relaxed haha ☺️

How long is the wait on a weekend lunchtime?

We visited around lunchtime on a weekend and only waited about 5 minutes before getting in. When our turn came, they sent a KakaoTalk notification and called our name too, so we didn't have to keep checking our place in line while waiting — very convenient.

Admission + 7-type feeding experience full set reservation

We booked admission along with the feeding experience, and it included an adult drink too, which made it feel like pretty good value for the price. Booking through Naver gets you a discounted price, so if you're planning to visit, I'd recommend reserving ahead!

It's an indoor animal park — but what about the smell?

My first impression of Artis Theme Park was "more pleasant than expected." With an indoor animal park, the smell is always the first worry, but once inside there was almost no animal odor at all 🐰 Artis Theme Park in Dongtan apparently keeps air purifiers and ventilation systems running constantly, along with regular cleaning and disinfection. Since it's a space you spend a long time in with a kid, the fact that it's kept clean and tidy was what I liked most.

A variety of themed experience sections

Artis Theme Park is an indoor ecological experience theme park designed around the motif of the five oceans and six continents. There's an aquarium zone themed around the five oceans, and on the other side, an animal zone divided into jungle, desert, and rainforest themes representing the six continents. There's even a kids' café, so once you're in, you can easily spend 2-3 hours getting your money's worth.

In total, you can apparently meet around 200 species of animals in one space — from familiar ones like rabbits, guinea pigs, and hamsters that kids know well, to creatures you don't usually get to see up close, like pelicans, stingrays, lizards, and starfish 🐚

The 7-type feeding experience — how did my niece react?

The feeding experience was even more fun because you get to scoop the feed yourself piece by piece. ⚠️Feeding experience recommended⚠️ In particular, feeding carrots to the guinea pigs was my niece's favorite moment.

Watching her tiny hands hold out a carrot while giggling away made me feel happy too.

Because we timed our visit well, we also got to watch the stingray feeding and pelican feeding, and got to touch lizards and starfish directly too.

Unlike just watching animals with your eyes, feeding and touching them directly made my niece observe with much more focus. It's an experience where you naturally get to know animals through touching and feeding them, so I could really feel the learning effect too. If you visit Artis Theme Park, definitely add the feeding experience!

How was it as a place to visit with kids in Dongtan?

I visited without much expectation since it's an indoor animal park, but my niece had so much fun at Artis Theme Park. You can meet a variety of animals in a pleasant indoor space, and it was a great place to spend special time with a kid, from feeding to hands-on touching experiences.

Above all, since the structure lets kids directly interact with animals and naturally learn along the way, it felt like an even more meaningful time. If you're looking for a place to visit with kids in Dongtan, I'd definitely recommend giving Artis Theme Park a try~