Carowinds
vs
Kings Island

On a typical day Carowinds queues less: about 8 minutes a ride against 32 at Kings Island, 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.

Carowinds and Kings Island compared on their typical recorded queue times
Typically	CarowindsUnited States	Kings IslandUnited States
Average wait per ride	8 min (best of the two)	32 min
Rides with recorded waits	36 (best of the two)	24
Longest typical queue	Fury 32521 min	Flight of Fear69 min
Shortest typical queue	Woodstock Whirlybirds3 min	The Racer (Red)14 min

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.

Carowinds and Kings Island compared on live queue times
Right now	CarowindsUnited States	Kings IslandUnited 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 Kings Island, 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 Carowinds if…

You want shorter queues: Carowinds averages 8 minutes a ride against 32 at Kings Island
You want more to do: 36 rides here have recorded wait data against 24 at Kings Island
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

Pick Kings Island if…

You will accept a longer queue - 32 minutes a ride here against 8 at Carowinds - for what Kings Island has that Carowinds does not
Flight of Fear is on your list - it is Kings Island's longest typical queue at about 69 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Kings Island's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

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

Kings Island

Kings Island is a huge theme park in Mason, Ohio, just north of Cincinnati. It's one of the Cedar Fair (now Six Flags) parks and runs a strong coaster line-up: The Beast (the world's longest wooden coaster, opened 1979), Diamondback, Mystic Timbers, Orion (a giga coaster), Banshee (the world's longest inverted coaster), and Racer. A full water park operates on the same site during summer.

The Ohio summer school break and Halloween Haunt event drive Kings Island's busiest periods, with weekend queue times on Orion and The Beast often exceeding 90 minutes. Weekdays in May, September and October are dramatically quieter. Check live wait times on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a midweek visit if you want to ride everything in a day.

Kings Island live queue times

05 · Questions

Carowinds or Kings Island?

Which is better, Carowinds or Kings Island?

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

Which has shorter queues, Carowinds or Kings Island?

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

Can I visit Carowinds and Kings Island 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 Carowinds and Kings Island for the full ride lists.

Is Carowinds bigger than Kings Island?

By rides we track waits for, Carowinds is the bigger day out: 36 rides against 24. 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.

Carowinds calendar Kings Island calendar Compare other parks