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Park Queue TimesPQT

Carowinds
vs
Lake Compounce

On a typical day Carowinds queues less: about 13 minutes a ride against 16 at Lake Compounce, a difference of roughly 3 minutes on every queue you join.

See both right now

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 Lake Compounce compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyCarowindsUnited StatesLake CompounceUnited States
Average wait per ride 13 min (best of the two)16 min
Rides with recorded waits 36 (best of the two)25
Longest typical queue Fury 32529 minBoulder Dash37 min
Shortest typical queue Charlie Brown’s River Raft Blast5 minRainbow Riders5 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running66%67% (best of the two)

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 Lake Compounce compared on live queue times
Right nowCarowindsUnited StatesLake CompounceUnited 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 13 minutes a ride against 16 at Lake Compounce, a difference of roughly 3 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 13 minutes a ride against 16 at Lake Compounce
  • You want more to do: 36 rides here have recorded wait data against 25 at Lake Compounce
  • Fury 325 is on your list - it is Carowinds's longest typical queue at about 29 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Carowinds's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Lake Compounce if…

  • You will accept a longer queue - 16 minutes a ride here against 13 at Carowinds - for what Lake Compounce has that Carowinds does not
  • Boulder Dash is on your list - it is Lake Compounce's longest typical queue at about 37 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Lake Compounce'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

Lake Compounce

Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut, opened in 1846 and is the oldest continuously operating amusement park in North America. Boulder Dash is the standout, a wooden coaster that runs along the side of the mountain, alongside the 1927 Wildcat, the triple-launch Phobia Phear and Thunder N Lightning. The park also has the Crocodile Cove water park, and in the autumn it adds Halloween haunts on select dates.

Summer weekends and the July holiday week are the busiest. Weekdays in June and the autumn weekends before the haunts open are quieter. Check the live queue times before you go and use the crowd calendar to choose a day.

Lake Compounce live queue times

05 · Questions

Carowinds or Lake Compounce?

Which is better, Carowinds or Lake Compounce?

If you are judging on queues, Carowinds: it averages about 13 minutes a ride on a typical day against 16 at Lake Compounce, roughly 3 minutes back on every queue you join. Carowinds has 36 rides with recorded waits against 25 at Lake Compounce.

Which has shorter queues, Carowinds or Lake Compounce?

Carowinds, by about 3 minutes a ride. On a typical day Carowinds averages 13 minutes against 16 at Lake Compounce. 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 Lake Compounce best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Carowinds and Lake Compounce 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 Lake Compounce for the full ride lists.

Is Carowinds bigger than Lake Compounce?

By rides we track waits for, Carowinds is the bigger day out: 36 rides against 25. 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