Lessons from Lotte World Magic Pass

Recently, two of my nephews came to visit Seoul. My sister, her two children, and I decided to spend a day at Lotte World. Since they traveled to Seoul on the same day we planned to visit, we could only enter the amusement park in the afternoon. To make the most of our visit, I decided to purchase the Magic Pass.

The Magic Pass allows you to bypass the regular lines and use a special priority lane to board rides more quickly. Think of it as similar to the Fast Track at airports or the Express Pass at Universal Studios. The Magic Pass costs 54,000 KRW (about 40 USD) for 5 uses and 75,000 KRW (about 55 USD) for 7 uses. It must be purchased separately from the admission ticket.

As we used the Magic Pass with my nephews, I found myself reflecting on a few things:

The Kids Understood the System Faster Than I Expected

Even though I had purchased the Magic Pass in advance, I was unsure how to explain it to the kids. Explaining what the Magic Pass is, when it’s best to use it, and how to share the two 5-use passes between the two of them seemed too complicated for a 7-year-old and a 10-year-old to grasp.

How could I explain that their uncle paid for a ticket that allows us to skip the line five times, but because we only have two passes, all four of us can’t skip the line together? Instead, only two people can use it at a time, so maybe the 7-year-old can use it twice with an adult, the 10-year-old can use it twice, and the last two uses can be shared.

In the end, I simply told them that we could skip the line five times, and let the 7-year-old choose two rides, the 10-year-old choose two, and we would decide how to share the last one later.

Once we used the Magic Pass for the first time, the kids quickly understood the system. They realized that we had paid for the privilege of skipping the line. Number of skips were limited, so they needed to be shared. It was fascinating to see how quickly they adapted to the Magic Pass. I started to think that perhaps the Magic Pass was a natural fit for human nature.

Choosing Rides Based on the Length of the Line Rather Than the Fun

Interestingly, my 10-year-old nephew became more interested in skipping the long lines than in the rides themselves. It was as if he enjoyed the experience of bypassing the long queue and being envied by those still waiting. Much like a first-class passenger boarding a plane before others.

When it came to choosing the next ride, he started looking for the ones with the longest wait times on the park’s app. In other words, he began to prioritize using the Magic Pass where it would be most valuable. This confused me a bit. The purpose of visiting an amusement park is to enjoy the rides. Long lines usually indicate popular, and often fun, rides. I initially thought of the Magic Pass as a tool to bypass long waits for rides we really wanted to experience. However, my nephew seemed to take pleasure in the act of skipping the long wait itself.

What Money Can and Can’t Buy

There’s a saying that goes, “If money can’t buy it, you probably just don’t have enough money.” This sentiment is commonly accepted in Korean society. According to Pew Research Center, while most countries rank family and work as the most important aspects of life, South Koreans place the highest importance on money, followed by health.

Among the things we believe money can’t buy are true love, health, time, and other people’s feelings. Time, in particular, is often cited as a resource that can’t be purchased and is equally distributed to everyone. Yet, at Lotte World, by purchasing a Magic Pass, you can reduce a 120-minute wait to just 5 minutes. Is this really right?

Moreover, if we hadn’t bought the Magic Pass, we would have had to find ways to pass the time while waiting for the rides. While waiting for 120 minutes isn’t something anyone looks forward to, it could have been an opportunity for us to talk, play light games, or enjoy a soft-serve ice cream. And although their mother might not approve, they could have brought a portable game console from home to keep them occupied.

I’m not here to argue what’s right or wrong. However, I worry that the concept of waiting, which could have been addressed in other ways, might be misunderstood by the kids as a burden that can be avoided with money, and a hardship that must be endured without it.

Finding Joy With or Without Material Things

Sebastian Junger once said, “Comforts, once gained, become necessities. And if enough of those comforts become necessities, you eventually peel yourself away from any kind of common feeling with the rest of humanity.”

I want my nephews to be happy, but I hope that their happiness comes from their inner strength. As I watch them eagerly suggest buying a 100-use Magic Pass for our next trip to Lotte World, I can’t help but worry that my gift of the Magic Pass might have turned Lotte World into a place where they can no longer find joy without it.