Disney California Adventure
vs
Six Flags Great Adventure

On a typical day Disney California Adventure queues less: about 21 minutes a ride against 30 at Six Flags Great Adventure, a difference of roughly 9 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.

Disney California Adventure and Six Flags Great Adventure compared on their typical recorded queue times
Typically	Disney California AdventureUnited States	Six Flags Great AdventureUnited States
Average wait per ride	21 min (best of the two)	30 min
Rides with recorded waits	22	23 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue	Radiator Springs Racers58 min	THE FLASH™: Vertical Velocity52 min
Shortest typical queue	Jessie's Critter Carousel5 min	Buccaneer11 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running	85%	89% (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 Six Flags Great Adventure compared on live queue times
Right now	Disney California AdventureUnited States	Six Flags Great AdventureUnited 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 Disney California Adventure queues less: about 21 minutes a ride against 30 at Six Flags Great Adventure, a difference of roughly 9 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 want shorter queues: Disney California Adventure averages 21 minutes a ride against 30 at Six Flags Great Adventure
Radiator Springs Racers is on your list - it is Disney California Adventure's longest typical queue at about 58 minutes, so it is the one to do first

Pick Six Flags Great Adventure if…

You will accept a longer queue - 30 minutes a ride here against 21 at Disney California Adventure - for what Six Flags Great Adventure has that Disney California Adventure does not
You want more to do: 23 rides here have recorded wait data against 22 at Disney California Adventure
You would rather not find rides shut: Six Flags Great Adventure's rides run 89% of opening hours against 85% at Disney California Adventure
THE FLASH™: Vertical Velocity is on your list - it is Six Flags Great Adventure's longest typical queue at about 52 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Six Flags Great Adventure's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Six Flags Great Adventure

Six Flags Great Adventure sits in Jackson, New Jersey, and has long been one of Six Flags' flagship coaster parks. The line-up is exceptional: El Toro (one of the world's top-rated wooden coasters), Nitro, Jersey Devil Coaster, Superman: Ultimate Flight, Batman: The Ride, Skull Mountain, and Green Lantern stand-up. Kingda Ka was the park's signature ride until its closure; a Safari Off Road Adventure drive-through exhibit also operates on the property.

NJ and NYC school holidays, Fright Fest and US summer weekends drive huge crowds. Weekdays in May, September and October are dramatically calmer. Check live queue times for El Toro and Nitro on arrival - they build up fast - and use our crowd calendar to pick a midweek visit for shorter waits across the whole coaster line-up.

Six Flags Great Adventure live queue times

05 · Questions

Disney California Adventure or Six Flags Great Adventure?

Which is better, Disney California Adventure or Six Flags Great Adventure?

If you are judging on queues, Disney California Adventure: it averages about 21 minutes a ride on a typical day against 30 at Six Flags Great Adventure, roughly 9 minutes back on every queue you join. Disney California Adventure has 22 rides with recorded waits against 23 at Six Flags Great Adventure. Six Flags Great Adventure also runs its rides more reliably - 89% of opening hours against 85%.

Which has shorter queues, Disney California Adventure or Six Flags Great Adventure?

Disney California Adventure, by about 9 minutes a ride. On a typical day Disney California Adventure averages 21 minutes against 30 at Six Flags Great 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 Six Flags Great Adventure best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Disney California Adventure and Six Flags Great Adventure 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 Six Flags Great Adventure for the full ride lists.

Is Disney California Adventure bigger than Six Flags Great Adventure?

By rides we track waits for, Six Flags Great Adventure is the bigger day out: 23 rides against 22. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours - and on those Disney California Adventure 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 Six Flags Great Adventure calendar Compare other parks