Carowinds
vs
Six Flags Darien Lake

On a typical day Carowinds queues less: about 8 minutes a ride against 22 at Six Flags Darien Lake, a difference of roughly 14 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 Six Flags Darien Lake compared on their typical recorded queue times
Typically	CarowindsUnited States	Six Flags Darien LakeUnited States
Average wait per ride	8 min (best of the two)	22 min
Rides with recorded waits	36 (best of the two)	13
Longest typical queue	Fury 32521 min	Brain Drain51 min
Shortest typical queue	Woodstock Whirlybirds3 min	Boomerang8 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running	Not recorded	67%

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 Six Flags Darien Lake compared on live queue times
Right now	CarowindsUnited States	Six Flags Darien LakeUnited 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 22 at Six Flags Darien Lake, a difference of roughly 14 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 22 at Six Flags Darien Lake
You want more to do: 36 rides here have recorded wait data against 13 at Six Flags Darien Lake
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 Six Flags Darien Lake if…

You will accept a longer queue - 22 minutes a ride here against 8 at Carowinds - for what Six Flags Darien Lake has that Carowinds does not
Brain Drain is on your list - it is Six Flags Darien Lake's longest typical queue at about 51 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Six Flags Darien Lake'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

Six Flags Darien Lake

Six Flags Darien Lake sits in Darien Center, New York, between Buffalo and Rochester. The coaster line-up includes Ride of Steel (a 208-foot hyper coaster from Intamin), Tantrum (a 98-foot Eurofighter), Motocoaster launched coaster, Predator wooden coaster, and the classic Viper stand-up. A Hurricane Harbor water park and a camping resort operate on the same property.

Western New York school holidays, US summer weekends and the Fright Fest event drive Darien Lake's peak crowds. Weekdays in May, September and early October stay dramatically quieter. Check live wait times for Ride of Steel and Tantrum on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a midweek visit - many rides run near walk-on levels on quieter mornings.

Six Flags Darien Lake live queue times

05 · Questions

Carowinds or Six Flags Darien Lake?

Which is better, Carowinds or Six Flags Darien Lake?

If you are judging on queues, Carowinds: it averages about 8 minutes a ride on a typical day against 22 at Six Flags Darien Lake, roughly 14 minutes back on every queue you join. Carowinds has 36 rides with recorded waits against 13 at Six Flags Darien Lake.

Which has shorter queues, Carowinds or Six Flags Darien Lake?

Carowinds, by about 14 minutes a ride. On a typical day Carowinds averages 8 minutes against 22 at Six Flags Darien Lake. 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 Six Flags Darien Lake best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Carowinds and Six Flags Darien Lake 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 Six Flags Darien Lake for the full ride lists.

Is Carowinds bigger than Six Flags Darien Lake?

By rides we track waits for, Carowinds is the bigger day out: 36 rides against 13. 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 Six Flags Darien Lake calendar Compare other parks