I've never heard of this food street Migaro before, near Konkuk University. I wonder what they have and if it is as good as the Chinatown to the south.

I'm standing in the intersection in front of Lotte World, noting the buildings with Lotte written on them. The golden twin towers are a Lotte Castle, and the World Tower to the left is probably not a coincidence.

There's Lotte World Tower, the base of which is now known as Lotte World Mall.

The older Lotte World building is now much less of a shopping mall, as amusement facilities have been expanded.

I just figured out, the horses on top of this dome are directly above the Trevi Fountain replica inside.

Lotte World Adventure seems to be the name specifically for the amusement park.

When I came here in 1996, I specifically remember there being a curved escalator somewhere here. I'm pretty sure it was installed here, and has since been replaced with stairs. Maybe it was too much maintenance. Also, Koreans in the 1990s did not seem comfortable with escalators yet.

I went up higher and found this eerily empty area. Maybe it's used to contain long lines.

Inside the entrance to the folk museum.

I could've taken the elevator instead of the escalator that was temporarily stairs.

Looking back into that room.

The first exhibit in the folk museum is an animatronic dinosaur with a baby skeleton. It was pretty impressive, and I wonder if it's been fixed up much since 1996. The posture of the skeletonised one suggests an older understanding of dinosaurs.

This is a still, but it was moving around.

It was locked in eye contact with these paleolithic Koreans. I guess that means they lived at the same time?

I couldn't quite count all the tails, but not enough for a gumiho.

I have vague memories of this exhibit, but maybe I saw something similar in another museum.

These are ancient roof corner tiles.

THis guy was in the fairly small corner for Gaya. The museum was laid out so you could explore various rooms for all the kingdoms, but the way into the next era was through the one that emerged.

This was a throne room that seemed to invite people to sit, but the white sign on the right warned of COVID-19.

I didn't catch what this was, but probably something Buddhist from Goryeo.

The Joseon section was massive scale models. I remember this, although when I saw it I think we were in a slow-moving line the whole time. This is clearly Gyeongbok Palace, and I suspect Gwanghwamun is detached because of the status of the site at the time of the exhibit's construction (the governor general building was still standing).

I took this picture because I have several different coloured ribbons hanging near the entrance to my home for the cats to play with.

Next stop was the skating rink. The amusement park up on the top level is actually ground level, so I'm on B2. B1 used to be commercial space but it seems to have been consumed by stuff behind the amusement park's paywall. I remember in 2004 there used to be a milkshake restaurant up there that had a huge amount of flavours, and I still crave their grape one.

A look up at the amusement park, including the balloon ride.

Apparently the skylight here is the largest in the world, larger than any of the ones at West Edmonton Mall. I doubt they're lying, but I'd still like to see a newer source than this.

Another panorama attempt. The program made some interesting shading choices in the upper right, and also gave one of the skaters facing me two heads. And there seem to be four copies of one grey-suited white-hatted person skating by, just like the previous one.

Another look at the dome.

And a more off-kilter panorama of the rink. I also recall in 1996, Koreans didn't seem to know how to skate. Now probably everyone out there is better at it than I am.

I found the zambonis.

This one was parked in the hallway.

One slightly more straight panorama.

A tiny Tayo bus.

The dome again.

I captured the monoral and a balloon in the same shot.

During my visit, I think I saw at least three Lotterias. Their weird taco burger is neither a taco nor a burger. I'm afraid to try their military burger.

Near the rink there's a barber shop for young race car drivers.

I stopped by the arcade.

It vaguely reminded me of the ones of my youth. I felt like I should be offering people weed there to complete the experience.

One of the dancing games.

And space bowling.

When I came out, the zamboni had started.

In a mural above the escalator, I saw a mural featuring Lotty and Lorry.

The retail space in the old Lotte World building is mostly confined to this underground floor connecting with the subway station. I think because the ceiling is so low and claustrophobic (opened one year before Sampoong), they decided to put these little sky-coloured portals in the ceiling. It reminded me more of the operating room at Severance Hospital than Bourbon Street in West Edmonton Mall.

One of the typical retail corridors.

Are pretzels that popular in Korea? I had also passed a Butter Finger Pancakes, a Vatos Tacos, and a "Big Guy's Crab" restaurant.

The right side of this part of the mall seemed to be entirely pop-ups.

Some other people blocked my shot of Trevi Fountain.

That's what I was missing.

So here's another attempt.

This was the ceiling as I crossed the space leading to the new tower side.

The retail space here was much different, less boxy.

A statue outside.

And the raccoon mascot.

Here's a look at the park from the bridge.

Here's a wider panorama showing the whole mall including the tower. I think the building cut off on the right frame is another section now under construction. Click for full size.

A closer view of the sign on the building, plus the apartments in the background.

And a look at Lotte World Tower.

I tried to get to a roof, but the first one I tried, I could only get a view in the opposite direction away from Lotte World.

Let's zoom out.

I got down to the edge of the lake to get this.

Finally on my fifth try I got to one roof. Click for full size.

Hard to get the whole thing with both the tower and a close perspective on the park at the same time.

Probably just better to zoom in.

Another look at the tower from a higher perspective.

Closer look at the outdoor part of the amusement park.

This one is the two previous pictures together. Click for full size.

Click for full size.

I found this little outdoor corridor, with of course another Lotteria.

This was a pretty impressive facade. Considering how development has stretched further east, this view is probably not seen as much anymore.

I went further down the street, and looked back to see the tower and decided to go back.

After dark, that same facade really lit up.