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Park Queue TimesPQT

Alton Towers
vs
Flamingo Land

On a typical day Flamingo Land queues less: about 14 minutes a ride against 18 at Alton Towers, a difference of roughly 4 minutes on every queue you join.

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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.

Alton Towers and Flamingo Land compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyAlton TowersUnited KingdomFlamingo LandUnited Kingdom
Average wait per ride 18 min14 min (best of the two)
Rides with recorded waits 39 (best of the two)24
Longest typical queue Wicker Man44 minHero34 min
Shortest typical queue The Gardens5 minGallopers5 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running78%79% (best of the two)

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.

Alton Towers and Flamingo Land compared on live queue times
Right nowAlton TowersUnited KingdomFlamingo LandUnited Kingdom
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 Flamingo Land queues less: about 14 minutes a ride against 18 at Alton Towers, a difference of roughly 4 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 Alton Towers if…

  • You will accept a longer queue - 18 minutes a ride here against 14 at Flamingo Land - for what Alton Towers has that Flamingo Land does not
  • You want more to do: 39 rides here have recorded wait data against 24 at Flamingo Land
  • Wicker Man is on your list - it is Alton Towers's longest typical queue at about 44 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Alton Towers's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Flamingo Land if…

  • You want shorter queues: Flamingo Land averages 14 minutes a ride against 18 at Alton Towers
  • Hero is on your list - it is Flamingo Land's longest typical queue at about 34 minutes, so it is the one to do first

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Alton Towers

Alton Towers is the UK's largest theme park, set in 910 acres of Staffordshire woodland surrounding a gothic country house. The ride line-up is unusually varied: Nemesis and Oblivion pioneered inverted and vertical-drop coasters in Europe, Wicker Man brought a major wooden coaster back to Britain, and Galactica, Smiler and Rita cover everything from flying to 14-inversion thrills. The park also has two full hotels and a Waterpark on site.

Because the park sits in a rural valley with limited paths and only a few coaster duplicates, queue times build quickly on busy days. Use our crowd calendar to pick a quieter Tuesday or Wednesday, and check live wait times in the morning to plan your route - the north side (Galactica, Smiler) often stays quieter than Forbidden Valley early on.

Alton Towers live queue times

05 · Questions

Alton Towers or Flamingo Land?

Which is better, Alton Towers or Flamingo Land?

If you are judging on queues, Flamingo Land: it averages about 14 minutes a ride on a typical day against 18 at Alton Towers, roughly 4 minutes back on every queue you join. Alton Towers has 39 rides with recorded waits against 24 at Flamingo Land.

Which has shorter queues, Alton Towers or Flamingo Land?

Flamingo Land, by about 4 minutes a ride. On a typical day Flamingo Land averages 14 minutes against 18 at Alton Towers. Queues still move hour by hour, and a midweek day outside school holidays beats the gap at either park. See Alton Towers best time to visit and Flamingo Land best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Alton Towers and Flamingo Land in the same trip?

Yes - both parks are in United Kingdom, 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 Alton Towers and Flamingo Land for the full ride lists.

Is Alton Towers bigger than Flamingo Land?

By rides we track waits for, Alton Towers is the bigger day out: 39 rides against 24. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours - and on those Flamingo Land 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.

Alton Towers calendarFlamingo Land calendarCompare other parks