Carnival Magic Phuket

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A Family Night Theme Park in Kamala Beach

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Carnival Magic is a huge nighttime theme park on Kamala Beach, right next to Phuket Fantasea. It opened in 2022 and focuses on lights, parades, and Thai carnival themes. The park claims nine Guinness World Records for things like the largest LED sculpture and the most lights used in a permanent show.

It’s big, bright, and very much designed as a fun playground for selfies! Plan for 4 to 5 hours total if you want to do everything properly: Fun Fair, dinner, the show, and a full walk through the lights. You could rush it in 3 hours, but you’d miss half the fun.

I arrived around 6 pm on a Saturday, timing it so the sky was still that perfect blue hour colour behind all the lit-up buildings. The place was busy but not packed. Most games had no queue, and I could walk around freely without dodging crowds.

We were truly impressed! The place is really immense and lively with visitors and staff in colourful costumes standing at the many activities and stands. The kids, teens and adults seemed to have a lot of fun playing with the many games, or just taking selfies in front of the fun buildings coming straight out of a fantasy dream!

The parade was fun, and there was a crowd on each side of the path to watch and film the many dancers around and on top of a dozen floats.

The park is only open three nights a week (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday), so check the schedule before planning. Once again, be aware that a full visit can take about 4 hours, including dinner and the main show, it was a surprise, but time flew fast!

Carnival Fun Fair

The Carnival Fun Fair is the entrance zone with shops, games, and live performances. Colourful buildings, loud music, carnival games, that kind of thing. The shops sell souvenirs, snacks, and Thai products. Some of the games are the usual tourist-trap style (pay to throw balls at things), but kids seem to enjoy them. This area is free to walk around before the main show, so arrive early if you want to explore without rushing.

Bird of Paradise Buffet

The Bird of Paradise is the buffet restaurant, and it’s massive. Seats 3,000 people. Two giant peacock sculptures guard the entrance, which gives you an idea of the scale they’re going for here.

I grabbed a bit of everything: some Thai dishes and Western options. The food is decent buffet quality, nothing that’ll change your life, but the variety means you won’t go hungry. Over 100 dishes, including vegetarian and Halal options. After walking around the Fun Fair in the heat, sitting down in the cold with a plate of food felt like a reward. The buffet is included in most ticket packages (but optional).

The River Palace (Main Show)

The River Palace is the main event. It’s a massive 16,000 sqm indoor theatre, fully air-conditioned, seating 2,200 people. The show runs about 50 minutes and features 88 parade floats with around 300 performers. Think indoor Christmas parade, but Thai-style and on a much bigger scale.

The floats are genuinely impressive. Some costumes tower 8 metres tall, and the largest float stretches over 70 metres, roughly the length of an Airbus A380. No photography allowed inside, which sounds annoying but actually works in your favour. You’re not watching through phone screens, and every float feels like a surprise.

Is it more spectacle than story? Yes. The narrative is loose, mixing Thai festival themes with fantasy elements. But the scale and the sheer amount of colour and movement keep you watching.

The Kingdom of Lights

After the show, everyone files out into the Kingdom of Lights. This is the part that surprised me. I expected a quick photo area, maybe five minutes of walking. Instead, it took me a good 30 minutes to get through, and I wasn’t stopping much.

Over 40 million LED lights are spread across nine themed zones. Glowing sculptures, lit-up gardens, tunnels of colour. There’s a glow-in-the-dark section that kids go crazy for. The River of Lights is the centrepiece, millions of tiny lights mounted on steel plates stretching into the distance.

If you’re tired or travelling with small kids, there’s a sightseeing tram for 200 Baht. But honestly, walking is better. You’ll want to stop every few metres for photos.

World Records

The park holds nine Guinness World Records: largest popcorn machine, largest LED sculpture, largest papier mache sculpture, most lights in a permanent show, largest outdoor chandelier, and most LED lights on a van, among others. Some of these are gimmicky, but they do add to the “everything is big” theme of the place.

Is Carnival Magic Worth It?

Good for: Families with kids, couples who like photo opportunities, anyone who enjoys big flashy shows, and first-time Phuket visitors looking for evening entertainment.
Maybe skip if: You don’t enjoy crowded tourist attractions, you’ve already been to Phuket Fantasea (similar concept), or you prefer low-key evenings.
Carnival Magic vs Phuket Fantasea: Both are operated by the same company and are next to each other. Fantasea has animal shows and a more traditional Thai culture theme. Carnival Magic is newer, focuses on lights and parades, no animals. If you only have time for one, Carnival Magic is more visually impressive, but Fantasea has been around longer, and some people prefer it. You can do both on different nights if you want.

Tips

Book online in advance, especially for weekend shows
Arrive by 5:30 or 6 pm to explore the Fun Fair before dinner, it’s huge!
The buffet opens around 6 pm, and the show is later in the evening
Shuttle vans pick up from hotels in Kata, Karon, Patong, and Phuket Town

Carnival Magic is a big, polished production aimed at tourists. It’s not subtle or authentic, but it delivers on spectacle. Four hours is enough to see everything without feeling rushed. Whether it’s worth the ticket price depends on how much you enjoy this kind of attraction.