Carowinds
vs
Six Flags Frontier City

On a typical day Six Flags Frontier City queues less: about 7 minutes a ride against 11 at Carowinds, a difference of roughly 4 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 Frontier City compared on their typical recorded queue times
Typically	CarowindsUnited States	Six Flags Frontier CityUnited States
Average wait per ride	11 min	7 min (best of the two)
Rides with recorded waits	37 (best of the two)	21
Longest typical queue	Kiddy Hawk24 min	Renegade Rapids11 min
Shortest typical queue	Gyro Force4 min	Tornado5 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running	89%	96% (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 Six Flags Frontier City compared on live queue times
Right now	CarowindsUnited States	Six Flags Frontier CityUnited 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 Six Flags Frontier City queues less: about 7 minutes a ride against 11 at Carowinds, a difference of roughly 4 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 will accept a longer queue - 11 minutes a ride here against 7 at Six Flags Frontier City - for what Carowinds has that Six Flags Frontier City does not
You want more to do: 37 rides here have recorded wait data against 21 at Six Flags Frontier City
Kiddy Hawk is on your list - it is Carowinds's longest typical queue at about 24 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 Frontier City if…

You want shorter queues: Six Flags Frontier City averages 7 minutes a ride against 11 at Carowinds
You would rather not find rides shut: Six Flags Frontier City's rides run 96% of opening hours against 89% at Carowinds
Renegade Rapids is on your list - it is Six Flags Frontier City's longest typical queue at about 11 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Six Flags Frontier City'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 Frontier City

Frontier City sits in Oklahoma City and is the smallest of the Six Flags parks, themed around an Old West town. The coaster line-up includes Steel Lasso, Silver Bullet (a Vekoma corkscrew), Diamond Back (a shuttle-style coaster), Wildcat wooden coaster, and Mystery River Log Flume. A White Water Bay water park operates at a separate nearby site during summer.

Oklahoma school holidays, US summer weekends and the Fright Fest event drive Frontier City's peak crowds. Weekdays outside school breaks stay very quiet, often with walk-on queue times. Check live wait times on arrival and use our crowd calendar to pick a midweek visit - Frontier City pairs well with a road-trip stop rather than a destination-park holiday.

Six Flags Frontier City live queue times

05 · Questions

Carowinds or Six Flags Frontier City?

Which is better, Carowinds or Six Flags Frontier City?

If you are judging on queues, Six Flags Frontier City: it averages about 7 minutes a ride on a typical day against 11 at Carowinds, roughly 4 minutes back on every queue you join. Carowinds has 37 rides with recorded waits against 21 at Six Flags Frontier City. Six Flags Frontier City also runs its rides more reliably - 96% of opening hours against 89%.

Which has shorter queues, Carowinds or Six Flags Frontier City?

Six Flags Frontier City, by about 4 minutes a ride. On a typical day Six Flags Frontier City averages 7 minutes against 11 at Carowinds. 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 Frontier City best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Carowinds and Six Flags Frontier City 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 Frontier City for the full ride lists.

Is Carowinds bigger than Six Flags Frontier City?

By rides we track waits for, Carowinds is the bigger day out: 37 rides against 21. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours - and on those Six Flags Frontier City 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 Frontier City calendar Compare other parks