Disney California Adventure
vs
Silver Dollar City

On a typical day Silver Dollar City queues less: about 22 minutes a ride against 26 at Disney California Adventure, a difference of roughly 4 minutes on every queue you join.

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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.

Disney California Adventure and Silver Dollar City compared on their typical recorded queue times
Typically	Disney California AdventureUnited States	Silver Dollar CityUnited States
Average wait per ride	26 min	22 min (best of the two)
Rides with recorded waits	21	28 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue	Radiator Springs Racers70 min	Hugo & Mary's Carousel95 min
Shortest typical queue	Jessie's Critter Carousel5 min	Fireman's Flyers9 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running	75%	93% (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.

Disney California Adventure and Silver Dollar City compared on live queue times
Right now	Disney California AdventureUnited States	Silver Dollar 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 Silver Dollar City queues less: about 22 minutes a ride against 26 at Disney California Adventure, 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 Disney California Adventure if…

You will accept a longer queue - 26 minutes a ride here against 22 at Silver Dollar City - for what Disney California Adventure has that Silver Dollar City does not
Radiator Springs Racers is on your list - it is Disney California Adventure's longest typical queue at about 70 minutes, so it is the one to do first

Pick Silver Dollar City if…

You want shorter queues: Silver Dollar City averages 22 minutes a ride against 26 at Disney California Adventure
You want more to do: 28 rides here have recorded wait data against 21 at Disney California Adventure
You would rather not find rides shut: Silver Dollar City's rides run 93% of opening hours against 75% at Disney California Adventure
Hugo & Mary's Carousel is on your list - it is Silver Dollar City's longest typical queue at about 95 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Silver Dollar City's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City is a 1880s-themed park in Branson, Missouri, sitting above the famous Marvel Cave. It mixes a traditional craftsmen village with a strong modern coaster line-up: Outlaw Run (one of the world's best wooden coasters), Time Traveler (a record-breaking spinning coaster), Powder Keg, and the newer Wildfire and Mystic River Falls. Live music and period crafts are core to the park's identity.

Silver Dollar City's peak periods are the US summer break, the extremely popular Pumpkin Nights and Old Time Christmas events, and weekend visits from Branson tourists. Weekdays in May, September and early December stay calmer. Check live queue times for Time Traveler and Outlaw Run first thing, and use our crowd calendar to plan around peak event weekends.

Silver Dollar City live queue times

05 · Questions

Disney California Adventure or Silver Dollar City?

Which is better, Disney California Adventure or Silver Dollar City?

If you are judging on queues, Silver Dollar City: it averages about 22 minutes a ride on a typical day against 26 at Disney California Adventure, roughly 4 minutes back on every queue you join. Disney California Adventure has 21 rides with recorded waits against 28 at Silver Dollar City. Silver Dollar City also runs its rides more reliably - 93% of opening hours against 75%.

Which has shorter queues, Disney California Adventure or Silver Dollar City?

Silver Dollar City, by about 4 minutes a ride. On a typical day Silver Dollar City averages 22 minutes against 26 at Disney California Adventure. Queues still move hour by hour, and a midweek day outside school holidays beats the gap at either park. See Disney California Adventure best time to visit and Silver Dollar City best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Disney California Adventure and Silver Dollar 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 Disney California Adventure and Silver Dollar City for the full ride lists.

Is Disney California Adventure bigger than Silver Dollar City?

By rides we track waits for, Silver Dollar City is the bigger day out: 28 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 Silver Dollar 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.

Disney California Adventure calendar Silver Dollar City calendar Compare other parks