Animal Kingdom
vs
Carowinds

On a typical day Carowinds queues less: about 8 minutes a ride against 32 at Animal Kingdom, a difference of roughly 24 minutes on every queue you join.

See both right now Compare other parks

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.

Animal Kingdom and Carowinds compared on their typical recorded queue times
Typically	Animal KingdomUnited States	CarowindsUnited States
Average wait per ride	32 min	8 min (best of the two)
Rides with recorded waits	6	36 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue	Avatar Flight of Passage58 min	Fury 32521 min
Shortest typical queue	Wildlife Express Train7 min	Woodstock Whirlybirds3 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running	92%	Not recorded

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.

Animal Kingdom and Carowinds compared on live queue times
Right now	Animal KingdomUnited States	CarowindsUnited 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 Carowinds queues less: about 8 minutes a ride against 32 at Animal Kingdom, a difference of roughly 24 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 Animal Kingdom if…

You will accept a longer queue - 32 minutes a ride here against 8 at Carowinds - for what Animal Kingdom has that Carowinds does not
Avatar Flight of Passage is on your list - it is Animal Kingdom's longest typical queue at about 58 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Animal Kingdom's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Carowinds if…

You want shorter queues: Carowinds averages 8 minutes a ride against 32 at Animal Kingdom
You want more to do: 36 rides here have recorded wait data against 6 at Animal Kingdom
Fury 325 is on your list - it is Carowinds's longest typical queue at about 21 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Carowinds's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Animal Kingdom

Disney's Animal Kingdom blends a full theme park with a working zoo. The park sits at Walt Disney World and is the largest of the four by area. Signature attractions include Avatar Flight of Passage, Na'vi River Journey, Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and the Festival of the Lion King show. Pandora – The World of Avatar regularly posts the longest wait times in the park.

Animal Kingdom is usually less crowded than Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios, but Avatar Flight of Passage still routinely exceeds 60-minute queue times. Early mornings are best for the safaris when animals are most active. Check live wait times on arrival and head to Pandora first. Use our crowd calendar to pick a quieter date outside US school holidays for a more relaxed visit.

Animal Kingdom live queue times

Carowinds

Carowinds sits directly on the North Carolina / South Carolina state line in Charlotte and is best known for Fury 325 - one of the world's tallest and fastest full-circuit roller coasters at 325 feet. The rest of the line-up is strong too: Copperhead Strike, Intimidator, Afterburn inverted coaster, and the newer Top Gun: The Jet Coaster. A separate Carolina Harbor water park operates in the summer.

Carowinds' peak crowds come during US summer school holidays, Scarowinds (Halloween), and Charlotte-area weekend visits. Weekdays in May, September and October are much quieter. Check live queue times for Fury 325 and Copperhead Strike first thing on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a lower-crowd midweek date for shorter waits across the coaster line-up.

Carowinds live queue times

05 · Questions

Animal Kingdom or Carowinds?

Which is better, Animal Kingdom or Carowinds?

If you are judging on queues, Carowinds: it averages about 8 minutes a ride on a typical day against 32 at Animal Kingdom, roughly 24 minutes back on every queue you join. Animal Kingdom has 6 rides with recorded waits against 36 at Carowinds.

Which has shorter queues, Animal Kingdom or Carowinds?

Carowinds, by about 24 minutes a ride. On a typical day Carowinds averages 8 minutes against 32 at Animal Kingdom. Queues still move hour by hour, and a midweek day outside school holidays beats the gap at either park. See Animal Kingdom best time to visit and Carowinds best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Animal Kingdom and Carowinds 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 Animal Kingdom and Carowinds for the full ride lists.

Is Animal Kingdom bigger than Carowinds?

By rides we track waits for, Carowinds is the bigger day out: 36 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 Carowinds 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.

Animal Kingdom calendar Carowinds calendar Compare other parks