Carowinds
vs
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

On a typical day Carowinds queues less: about 8 minutes a ride against 21 at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, a difference of roughly 13 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 Discovery Kingdom compared on their typical recorded queue times
Typically	CarowindsUnited States	Six Flags Discovery KingdomUnited States
Average wait per ride	8 min (best of the two)	21 min
Rides with recorded waits	36 (best of the two)	18
Longest typical queue	Fury 32521 min	WONDER WOMAN Lasso of Truth44 min
Shortest typical queue	Woodstock Whirlybirds3 min	Thrilla Gorilla5 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running	Not recorded	84%

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 Discovery Kingdom compared on live queue times
Right now	CarowindsUnited States	Six Flags Discovery KingdomUnited 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 21 at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, a difference of roughly 13 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 21 at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
You want more to do: 36 rides here have recorded wait data against 18 at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
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 Discovery Kingdom if…

You will accept a longer queue - 21 minutes a ride here against 8 at Carowinds - for what Six Flags Discovery Kingdom has that Carowinds does not
WONDER WOMAN Lasso of Truth is on your list - it is Six Flags Discovery Kingdom's longest typical queue at about 44 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Six Flags Discovery Kingdom'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 Discovery Kingdom

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom sits in Vallejo, California, on San Francisco Bay's northern edge. The park combines a theme park with a marine-animal section, running coasters like Medusa (the West Coast's first floorless), Kong (an inverted coaster), Superman: Ultimate Flight, Joker 4-D Free Fly Coaster, and the newer DC Stunt Coaster. Dolphin, sea lion and bird shows run throughout the day.

Bay Area weekend visits, California school holidays, and the Fright Fest event drive Discovery Kingdom's peak crowds. Weekdays in April, September and October are dramatically quieter, with queue times on most rides staying short. Check live wait times for Medusa and Superman on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a midweek date for shorter waits. The bayside setting makes for pleasant walking even on quieter days.

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom live queue times

05 · Questions

Carowinds or Six Flags Discovery Kingdom?

Which is better, Carowinds or Six Flags Discovery Kingdom?

If you are judging on queues, Carowinds: it averages about 8 minutes a ride on a typical day against 21 at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, roughly 13 minutes back on every queue you join. Carowinds has 36 rides with recorded waits against 18 at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.

Which has shorter queues, Carowinds or Six Flags Discovery Kingdom?

Carowinds, by about 13 minutes a ride. On a typical day Carowinds averages 8 minutes against 21 at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. 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 Discovery Kingdom best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Carowinds and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom 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 Discovery Kingdom for the full ride lists.

Is Carowinds bigger than Six Flags Discovery Kingdom?

By rides we track waits for, Carowinds is the bigger day out: 36 rides against 18. 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 Discovery Kingdom calendar Compare other parks