What Is Maple Attack! with Lotte?

MapleStory is Nexon's side-scrolling online game, first released in Korea in 2003. For its 23rd anniversary, Nexon has teamed up with Lotte Group to spread the game across Jamsil, the district around Lotte World Tower. The story is simple. The game's mushroom monsters have come out into the real world, mistaken Jamsil for Henesys, the game's starter town, and taken it over. Your job is to go and find them.

The event runs from May 22 to June 21. It covers Lotte World Tower, Lotte World Mall, Seokchon Lake, Lotte Cinema and a few shops in the mall. These are the main stops:

• Henesys Mushroom Park on the lawn of World Park at Lotte World Tower. The centerpiece is Henesys Jump King, a trampoline mini-game. You bounce, and a character moves on the screen. It runs daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. If you link the MapleHands+ app, your own in-game character appears on the map. Players get Orange Mushroom popcorn, and Nexon is giving the top scorers Nexon Cash and gaming gear. You don't need a MapleStory account to play.
• Bubble Shower Time on the same lawn, on the hour from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Zombie Mushroom photo zone, where you pose with prop weapons next to mushroom monster figures for a Polaroid. It runs on weekends and public holidays from noon to 6 p.m.
• Art balloons on Seokchon Lake. A giant Orange Mushroom and a Slime sit on the lake's east side, as if summoned through Pink Bean's magic circle. Nexon says the balloon is about the size of the Rubber Duck and Pokémon balloons that floated here before. They are lit from 7 to 10 p.m.

Two missions tie the stops together. The stamp rally runs daily from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. You look for Pink Bean at six spots: the Mushroom Park, the lake balloons, the Pink Carnival pop-up, Lotte Cinema World Tower, Uniqlo Lotte World Mall and the 7-Eleven by the mall's aquarium. Finish it to get an in-game item coupon and a chance to win limited goods. The Treasure Mushroom Hunt is an AR game in set areas around the lake. It runs on holidays from noon to 8:30 p.m., with prize draws that include Lotte World tickets, dining vouchers and Uniqlo gift cards. Both missions only work on site.

If this is your first time in the area, our Lotte World Tower guide covers the observation deck and the building above the lawn.

Pink Carnival: The MapleStory Pop-Up and the Collaborations

Pink Carnival is the MapleStory pop-up store in the atrium on the first floor of Lotte World Mall. It is open from May 22 to June 14, which is a week shorter than the rest of the event. You'll find a giant Pink Bean figure, a small photo zone and shelves of goods: keyrings, plush toys, stickers and stationery.

Nexon is releasing the stock in three waves, so what you can buy depends on the week:

• Week 1 (May 22 to 28): 35 items, including magnetic phone grips, keyrings, mouse pads, big stickers, card stickers and character ID photos
• Week 2: a keyring that plays the game's background music and a good-luck charm doll keyring
• Week 3: a soft Slime plush

If there is one item you really want, go in the week it is released. Pop-up stock in Seoul tends to move fast, the same pattern you see in the Seongsu pop-up scene.

The rest of the mall joins in too:

• Uniqlo: a UTme! custom event at Lotte World Mall and five other stores in Korea. You stamp MapleStory characters onto a T-shirt or tote bag.
• Lotte Wellfood: seven limited MapleStory snacks, including Custard in peanut-butter and milk flavors, Myungga Chaltteok Pie in a Dwaejibar strawberry-cookie flavor and Kkokkalcorn Maple Butter. Each pack has an in-game item coupon printed inside. Look for them at 7-Eleven, GS25 and emart24 convenience stores and at supermarkets. The 7-Eleven on the mall's basement level is also a stamp rally stop.
• Lotte Cinema: the World Tower branch shows character figures and sells limited goods in its seventh-floor Cine Park. Lotte Cinema will also show a live broadcast of MapleStory's summer showcase on June 13, and the animated film Dear My Hero opens exclusively at Lotte Cinema on June 14.

Maple Island at Lotte World Adventure

Maple Attack! is a one-month event. Maple Island is the part that stays. It opened on April 3 on Magic Island, Lotte World Adventure's outdoor half on Seokchon Lake. It covers about 2,000 square meters and took about two years to build. Lotte World calls it a permanent zone, not a one-off festival, and plans to run it for about ten years.

The zone brings three places from the game into the park: Henesys, the mushroom town; Arcana, a spirit forest; and Ludibrium, the toy kingdom. There are three new rides, plus one old favorite in new clothes:

• Stone Express: a roller coaster set in the Arcana forest. The cars are modeled on the game's Stone Spirit.
• Eos Tower: a ride that spins and moves up and down, themed on Ludibrium's toy kingdom.
• Arcana Ride: a forest ride built around the Spirit Tree.
• Pink Bean Gyro Spin: the park's existing Gyro Spin, redone as Pink Bean.

Between the rides, the photo spots are part of the design: a character plaza, a Papulatus statue and the mushroom houses of Henesys. The Maple Store is the goods shop, and Maple Sweets is a snack stand styled like a village from the game. MapleStory goods are also sold at the gift shops in the indoor Adventure area and on Magic Island.

Maple Island has had long lines since it opened. If the coaster is your priority, head to Magic Island as soon as you're through the gates, before the indoor crowd moves outside.

MapleStory Inside the Park: Parade and Photo Times

Lotte World Adventure is in the middle of its spring season, MapleStory in Lotte World, which runs from March 14 to June 14. If you're buying a park ticket during Maple Attack!, these are the times to plan around:

• The parade, daily at 2 p.m. Since April 24, the Let's Play! Lotty's Adventure Parade on the first floor has included a MapleStory unit. Orange Mushroom and Slime lead, followed by dancers dressed as Brown Teddy, Pink Teddy, Bloctopus and the Drumming Bunny. The highlight is a Ludibrium float shaped like a block castle, with Pink Bean riding on top.
• Smile with MapleStory, twice a day. This is a photo time with Pink Bean. It's at 12:30 p.m. in the Meeting Plaza on the first floor of Adventure, and at 5:30 p.m. at the seasonal photo zone across from it.

Both end on June 14, the same day as the Pink Carnival pop-up. If you want the full overlap, with the pop-up, the parade, Maple Island and the lake balloons in one trip, aim for the three weeks between May 22 and June 14. After June 14, the lawn, the lake and the missions carry on until June 21, and Maple Island stays.

Planning Your Jamsil Day: Route, Timing and Tickets

Getting there. Take the subway to Jamsil Station on Line 2 or Line 8. Lotte World Mall and Lotte World Adventure both connect to the station underground, so you can follow the Lotte World signs without going outside. The World Park lawn is on the Lotte World Tower grounds, and the east side of Seokchon Lake, where the balloons float, is a short walk from the mall.

A route that works.

• Morning: start at Lotte World Adventure and go straight to Maple Island for Stone Express.
• Midday: Pink Bean photo time at 12:30 p.m., lunch, then the parade at 2 p.m.
• Late afternoon: walk to the Pink Carnival pop-up in the mall atrium. Uniqlo's UTme! station and the basement 7-Eleven are close by.
• Evening: the Mushroom Park lawn until 9 p.m., then the lake after 7 p.m., when the balloons light up.

If you're skipping the park, the parts of the event outside it fit into an afternoon and an evening: the pop-up, the lawn, the lake and the stamp rally. Pick up a stamp at each stop as you go.

Beating the crowds. Opening weekend and every weekend after it will be the busiest. The AR hunt and the Zombie Mushroom photos only run on weekends and holidays, so if you want those, go early in the day. For everything else, a weekday is calmer. For the pop-up, a weekday morning in the week a product drops is your best chance at the full range.

What it costs. The lawn, the lake, the pop-up and the missions are set in public spaces, so they don't need a park ticket. Maple Island is inside Lotte World Adventure and needs a park ticket. Since April, a full-day adult ticket has been about 67,000 won and an after-4 p.m. ticket about 55,000 won. Online and card discounts are common, so check the official Lotte World site before you buy. If you're weighing a second theme park on the same trip, our Everland guide covers the big park south of Seoul.