Skip to main content
Park Queue TimesPQT

Adventureland
vs
Dorney Park

On a typical day Dorney Park queues less: about 11 minutes a ride against 29 at Adventureland, a difference of roughly 18 minutes on every queue you join.

01 · On a typical day

What you would normally queue.

Averages across recent weeks, so one broken ride or one wet Tuesday cannot decide it. This is the comparison to plan a trip on; the live figures below are the one to act on today.

Adventureland and Dorney Park compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyAdventurelandUnited StatesDorney ParkUnited States
Average wait per ride 29 min11 min (best of the two)
Rides with recorded waits 610 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue Phoenix36 minWild Mouse24 min
Shortest typical queue Storm Chaser18 minSnoopy's Rocket Express7 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is runningNot recorded70%

Averaged across every ride at each park with recorded waits. A ride that never opened is left out, so a park is not flattered by counting a shut ride as a queue of zero.

02 · Right now

Both parks, this minute.

Live queue times at both parks. These fill in as soon as the page loads, and keep updating while you are here.

Adventureland and Dorney Park compared on live queue times
Right nowAdventurelandUnited StatesDorney ParkUnited States
Average wait right now --
Rides open --
Opening hours today --
Longest queue --
Shortest queue --

These keep refreshing while this page is open. A closed park posts no waits, so its rows read as dashes rather than zeroes.

Verdict, on a typical day On a typical day Dorney Park queues less: about 11 minutes a ride against 29 at Adventureland, a difference of roughly 18 minutes on every queue you join.

03 · Choosing

Which one is your day out.

Every line here is earned by one of the figures above - nothing is a generic sentence with a park name dropped into it.

Pick Adventureland if…

  • You will accept a longer queue - 29 minutes a ride here against 11 at Dorney Park - for what Adventureland has that Dorney Park does not
  • Phoenix is on your list - it is Adventureland's longest typical queue at about 36 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Adventureland's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Dorney Park if…

  • You want shorter queues: Dorney Park averages 11 minutes a ride against 29 at Adventureland
  • You want more to do: 10 rides here have recorded wait data against 6 at Adventureland
  • Wild Mouse is on your list - it is Dorney Park's longest typical queue at about 24 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Dorney Park's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Adventureland

Adventureland in Altoona, just outside Des Moines, has been open since 1974 and is Iowa's largest amusement park. Monster is the steel coaster with the beyond-vertical drop, Outlaw and Tornado are the wooden coasters, and Phoenix, Storm Chaser and Draken Falls add more variety, with a large section of family rides. In the autumn it runs Halloween haunts on select dates.

Summer weekends and the weeks around the Fourth of July are the busiest. Weekdays early and late in the season are usually much quieter. Check the live queue times before you go and use the crowd calendar to find a good day.

Adventureland live queue times

Dorney Park

Dorney Park sits in Allentown, Pennsylvania, about 90 minutes north of Philadelphia. It's a mid-sized theme park with a strong coaster line-up for its size: Steel Force (a 200-foot hyper coaster), Talon (an inverted coaster), Hydra the Revenge (a floorless coaster), and Possessed. A Wildwater Kingdom water park is included with park admission during the summer season.

Dorney Park's season runs May to October, with peak crowds on summer weekends and during the Halloween Haunt. Weekdays in May, September and October are dramatically quieter. Check live queue times for Steel Force and Hydra on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a midweek visit - most of the coasters stay under 15 minutes of wait time on quieter days.

Dorney Park live queue times

05 · Questions

Adventureland or Dorney Park?

Which is better, Adventureland or Dorney Park?

If you are judging on queues, Dorney Park: it averages about 11 minutes a ride on a typical day against 29 at Adventureland, roughly 18 minutes back on every queue you join. Adventureland has 6 rides with recorded waits against 10 at Dorney Park.

Which has shorter queues, Adventureland or Dorney Park?

Dorney Park, by about 18 minutes a ride. On a typical day Dorney Park averages 11 minutes against 29 at Adventureland. Queues still move hour by hour, and a midweek day outside school holidays beats the gap at either park. See Adventureland best time to visit and Dorney Park best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Adventureland and Dorney Park in the same trip?

Yes - both parks are in United States, so a two-park trip is realistic over a long weekend. Split the days so you start at whichever opens earliest and drive to the other in the evening.

How many rides does each park have?

See the tables above for ride counts - or jump to Adventureland and Dorney Park for the full ride lists.

Is Adventureland bigger than Dorney Park?

By rides we track waits for, Dorney Park is the bigger day out: 10 rides against 6. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours - and on those Dorney Park is the quicker park.

Then pick
the quiet day.

Both parks have a crowd calendar with six weeks of forecast and the best day left to go.