Skip to main content

Animal Kingdom
vs
Dorney Park

On a typical day Dorney Park queues less: about 20 minutes a ride against 32 at Animal Kingdom, a difference of roughly 12 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.

Animal Kingdom and Dorney Park compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyAnimal KingdomUnited StatesDorney ParkUnited States
Average wait per ride 32 min20 min (best of the two)
Rides with recorded waits 613 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue Avatar Flight of Passage58 minWild Mouse42 min
Shortest typical queue Wildlife Express Train7 minDominator Red9 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running92% (best of the two)90%

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 Dorney Park compared on live queue times
Right nowAnimal KingdomUnited 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 20 minutes a ride against 32 at Animal Kingdom, a difference of roughly 12 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 20 at Dorney Park - for what Animal Kingdom has that Dorney Park 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 Dorney Park if…

  • You want shorter queues: Dorney Park averages 20 minutes a ride against 32 at Animal Kingdom
  • You want more to do: 13 rides here have recorded wait data against 6 at Animal Kingdom
  • Wild Mouse is on your list - it is Dorney Park's longest typical queue at about 42 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.

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

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

Animal Kingdom or Dorney Park?

Which is better, Animal Kingdom or Dorney Park?

If you are judging on queues, Dorney Park: it averages about 20 minutes a ride on a typical day against 32 at Animal Kingdom, roughly 12 minutes back on every queue you join. Animal Kingdom has 6 rides with recorded waits against 13 at Dorney Park. Animal Kingdom also runs its rides more reliably - 92% of opening hours against 90%.

Which has shorter queues, Animal Kingdom or Dorney Park?

Dorney Park, by about 12 minutes a ride. On a typical day Dorney Park averages 20 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 Dorney Park best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

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

Is Animal Kingdom bigger than Dorney Park?

By rides we track waits for, Dorney Park is the bigger day out: 13 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.

v7.17.4