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Park Queue TimesPQT

Disneyland Park
vs
Kings Island

On a typical day Disneyland Park queues less: about 18 minutes a ride against 35 at Kings Island, a difference of roughly 17 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.

Disneyland Park and Kings Island compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyDisneyland ParkUnited StatesKings IslandUnited States
Average wait per ride 18 min (best of the two)35 min
Rides with recorded waits 34 (best of the two)24
Longest typical queue Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance43 minFlight of Fear57 min
Shortest typical queue Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes5 minThe Racer (Red)14 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running89% (best of the two)60%

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.

Disneyland Park and Kings Island compared on live queue times
Right nowDisneyland ParkUnited StatesKings IslandUnited 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 Disneyland Park queues less: about 18 minutes a ride against 35 at Kings Island, a difference of roughly 17 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 Disneyland Park if…

  • You want shorter queues: Disneyland Park averages 18 minutes a ride against 35 at Kings Island
  • You want more to do: 34 rides here have recorded wait data against 24 at Kings Island
  • You would rather not find rides shut: Disneyland Park's rides run 89% of opening hours against 60% at Kings Island
  • Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is on your list - it is Disneyland Park's longest typical queue at about 43 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Disneyland Park's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Kings Island if…

  • You will accept a longer queue - 35 minutes a ride here against 18 at Disneyland Park - for what Kings Island has that Disneyland Park does not
  • Flight of Fear is on your list - it is Kings Island's longest typical queue at about 57 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Kings Island's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Disneyland Park

Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California is the original Disney park, opened in 1955 and still built around the hub-and-spoke layout every later castle park copied. It is compact by Disney standards, which means a lot of classic rides in a small space: Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Indiana Jones Adventure, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion and the Matterhorn Bobsleds are all within a few minutes' walk of each other. Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge added Rise of the Resistance and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, and Tiana's Bayou Adventure took over the old Splash Mountain flume.

Because locals visit on annual passes as well as tourists, weekends and school holidays fill the park quickly and queue times at the headline rides can pass an hour by late morning. Check the live wait times before you set off and use the crowd calendar to find the quieter weekdays.

Disneyland Park live queue times

Kings Island

Kings Island is a huge theme park in Mason, Ohio, just north of Cincinnati. It's one of the Cedar Fair (now Six Flags) parks and runs a strong coaster line-up: The Beast (the world's longest wooden coaster, opened 1979), Diamondback, Mystic Timbers, Orion (a giga coaster), Banshee (the world's longest inverted coaster), and Racer. A full water park operates on the same site during summer.

The Ohio summer school break and Halloween Haunt event drive Kings Island's busiest periods, with weekend queue times on Orion and The Beast often exceeding 90 minutes. Weekdays in May, September and October are dramatically quieter. Check live wait times on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a midweek visit if you want to ride everything in a day.

Kings Island live queue times

05 · Questions

Disneyland Park or Kings Island?

Which is better, Disneyland Park or Kings Island?

If you are judging on queues, Disneyland Park: it averages about 18 minutes a ride on a typical day against 35 at Kings Island, roughly 17 minutes back on every queue you join. Disneyland Park has 34 rides with recorded waits against 24 at Kings Island. Disneyland Park also runs its rides more reliably - 89% of opening hours against 60%.

Which has shorter queues, Disneyland Park or Kings Island?

Disneyland Park, by about 17 minutes a ride. On a typical day Disneyland Park averages 18 minutes against 35 at Kings Island. Queues still move hour by hour, and a midweek day outside school holidays beats the gap at either park. See Disneyland Park best time to visit and Kings Island best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Disneyland Park and Kings Island 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 Disneyland Park and Kings Island for the full ride lists.

Is Disneyland Park bigger than Kings Island?

By rides we track waits for, Disneyland Park is the bigger day out: 34 rides against 24. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours - and on those Disneyland Park 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.

Disneyland Park calendarKings Island calendarCompare other parks