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Park Queue TimesPQT

Californias Great America
vs
Hersheypark

Side-by-side queue times, ride counts and opening hours for Californias Great America and Hersheypark, with a straight recommendation.

See both right nowCompare other parks

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 Hersheypark compared on live queue times
Right nowCalifornias Great AmericaUnited StatesHersheyparkUnited 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.

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…

  • RailBlazer is on your list - it is Californias Great America's longest typical queue at about 73 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Californias Great America'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

05 · Questions

Californias Great America or Hersheypark?

Which is better, Californias Great America or Hersheypark?

Neither is better across the board - it depends whether you are optimising for shorter queues or for the rides you actually want. This page puts live queue times, ride counts and opening hours side by side so you can judge on your own priorities.

Which has shorter queues, Californias Great America or Hersheypark?

Queues change hour by hour. The typical figures above are the fair answer for planning; the live table answers today. Mid-week visits outside school holidays give the shortest queues at either park. See Californias Great America best time to visit and Hersheypark best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

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

Is Californias Great America bigger than Hersheypark?

Park size is less useful than how many rides you can actually get on in a day - that comes down to queue times and opening hours. The comparison above shows ride counts and wait times for both.

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 calendarHersheypark calendarCompare other parks