Skip to main content
Park Queue TimesPQT

Californias Great America
vs
Dorney Park

On a typical day Dorney Park queues less: about 19 minutes a ride against 40 at Californias Great America, a difference of roughly 21 minutes on every queue you join.

See both right nowCompare 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.

Californias Great America and Dorney Park compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyCalifornias Great AmericaUnited StatesDorney ParkUnited States
Average wait per ride 40 min19 min (best of the two)
Rides with recorded waits 1213 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue RailBlazer83 minWild Mouse39 min
Shortest typical queue Whitewater Falls16 minPossessed10 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running89%89%

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.

Californias Great America and Dorney Park compared on live queue times
Right nowCalifornias Great AmericaUnited 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 19 minutes a ride against 40 at Californias Great America, a difference of roughly 21 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 Californias Great America if…

  • You will accept a longer queue - 40 minutes a ride here against 19 at Dorney Park - for what Californias Great America has that Dorney Park does not
  • RailBlazer is on your list - it is Californias Great America's longest typical queue at about 83 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Californias Great America's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Dorney Park if…

  • You want shorter queues: Dorney Park averages 19 minutes a ride against 40 at Californias Great America
  • You want more to do: 13 rides here have recorded wait data against 12 at Californias Great America
  • Wild Mouse is on your list - it is Dorney Park's longest typical queue at about 39 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.

Californias Great America

California's Great America sits in Santa Clara, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley. It's a mid-sized park with a solid coaster line-up: Gold Striker (a highly-rated GCI wooden coaster), RailBlazer (a single-rail raptor coaster), Flight Deck inverted coaster, and The Demon. A Boomerang Bay water park operates on the same site in the summer.

Bay Area locals keep Great America steady year-round, with US school holidays and the WinterFest event driving the biggest crowds. Weekdays in April, May and September are dramatically quieter. Check live wait times for Gold Striker and RailBlazer on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a quieter day - the park has been undergoing ownership and site changes that can affect operating patterns.

Californias Great America 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

Californias Great America or Dorney Park?

Which is better, Californias Great America or Dorney Park?

If you are judging on queues, Dorney Park: it averages about 19 minutes a ride on a typical day against 40 at Californias Great America, roughly 21 minutes back on every queue you join. Californias Great America has 12 rides with recorded waits against 13 at Dorney Park.

Which has shorter queues, Californias Great America or Dorney Park?

Dorney Park, by about 21 minutes a ride. On a typical day Dorney Park averages 19 minutes against 40 at Californias Great America. Queues still move hour by hour, and a midweek day outside school holidays beats the gap at either park. See Californias Great America best time to visit and Dorney Park best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Californias Great America 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 Californias Great America and Dorney Park for the full ride lists.

Is Californias Great America bigger than Dorney Park?

By rides we track waits for, Dorney Park is the bigger day out: 13 rides against 12. 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.

Californias Great America calendarDorney Park calendarCompare other parks