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Animal Kingdom
vs
Six Flags Great America

Animal Kingdom and Six Flags Great America queue about the same on a typical day - 26 minutes against 27 minutes across 6 and 23 tracked rides. Pick on travel time or on which rides you actually want.

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 Six Flags Great America compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyAnimal KingdomUnited StatesSix Flags Great AmericaUnited States
Average wait per ride 26 min (best of the two)27 min
Rides with recorded waits 623 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue Avatar Flight of Passage44 minMaxx Force46 min
Shortest typical queue Wildlife Express Train7 minChubasco7 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running91% (best of the two)79%

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 Six Flags Great America compared on live queue times
Right nowAnimal KingdomUnited StatesSix Flags Great AmericaUnited 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 Animal Kingdom and Six Flags Great America queue about the same on a typical day - 26 minutes against 27 minutes across 6 and 23 tracked rides. Pick on travel time or on which rides you actually want.

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…

  • Queue length will not decide it: both parks average around 26 minutes a ride
  • You would rather not find rides shut: Animal Kingdom's rides run 91% of opening hours against 79% at Six Flags Great America
  • Avatar Flight of Passage is on your list - it is Animal Kingdom's longest typical queue at about 44 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Animal Kingdom's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Six Flags Great America if…

  • Queue length will not decide it: both parks average around 27 minutes a ride
  • You want more to do: 23 rides here have recorded wait data against 6 at Animal Kingdom
  • Maxx Force is on your list - it is Six Flags Great America's longest typical queue at about 46 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Six Flags Great America'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

Six Flags Great America

Six Flags Great America sits in Gurnee, Illinois, between Chicago and Milwaukee. The coaster line-up includes Maxx Force (with one of the world's fastest inversions), X Flight wing coaster, Goliath (a Rocky Mountain Construction wooden coaster), Raging Bull, American Eagle duelling wooden coaster, and Batman: The Ride. A Hurricane Harbor water park is included during summer.

Illinois and Wisconsin school holidays, Chicago-area weekend visits, and the popular Fright Fest event drive Six Flags Great America's busiest periods. Weekdays in May, June, September and October are dramatically quieter. Check live wait times for Maxx Force and Goliath on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a lower-crowd midweek date for shorter queues.

Six Flags Great America live queue times

05 · Questions

Animal Kingdom or Six Flags Great America?

Which is better, Animal Kingdom or Six Flags Great America?

On queues there is nothing in it: both average about 26 minutes a ride on a typical day. Animal Kingdom has 6 rides with recorded waits against 23 at Six Flags Great America. Animal Kingdom also runs its rides more reliably - 91% of opening hours against 79%. So pick on travel time, or on which park has the rides you actually want.

Which has shorter queues, Animal Kingdom or Six Flags Great America?

They are level. Animal Kingdom averages 26 minutes a ride on a typical day and Six Flags Great America averages 27 - close enough that the day you pick matters more than the park. See Animal Kingdom best time to visit and Six Flags Great America best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Animal Kingdom and Six Flags Great America 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 Six Flags Great America for the full ride lists.

Is Animal Kingdom bigger than Six Flags Great America?

By rides we track waits for, Six Flags Great America is the bigger day out: 23 rides against 6. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours.

Then pick
the quiet day.

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