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Park Queue TimesPQT

Disneyland Park
vs
Six Flags Magic Mountain

On a typical day Six Flags Magic Mountain queues less: about 12 minutes a ride against 18 at Disneyland Park, a difference of roughly 6 minutes on every queue you join.

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 Six Flags Magic Mountain compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyDisneyland ParkUnited StatesSix Flags Magic MountainUnited States
Average wait per ride 18 min12 min (best of the two)
Rides with recorded waits 3436 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance43 minFull Throttle28 min
Shortest typical queue Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes5 minTaz’s Tazmanian Train Tours5 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running89% (best of the two)86%

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 Six Flags Magic Mountain compared on live queue times
Right nowDisneyland ParkUnited StatesSix Flags Magic MountainUnited 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 Magic Mountain queues less: about 12 minutes a ride against 18 at Disneyland Park, a difference of roughly 6 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 will accept a longer queue - 18 minutes a ride here against 12 at Six Flags Magic Mountain - for what Disneyland Park has that Six Flags Magic Mountain does not
  • You would rather not find rides shut: Disneyland Park's rides run 89% of opening hours against 86% at Six Flags Magic Mountain
  • 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 Six Flags Magic Mountain if…

  • You want shorter queues: Six Flags Magic Mountain averages 12 minutes a ride against 18 at Disneyland Park
  • You want more to do: 36 rides here have recorded wait data against 34 at Disneyland Park
  • Full Throttle is on your list - it is Six Flags Magic Mountain's longest typical queue at about 28 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Six Flags Magic Mountain'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

Six Flags Magic Mountain

Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, holds the world record for most roller coasters at a single park - currently 20 distinct coasters. Highlights include X2 (a 4-D prototype), Twisted Colossus, Tatsu (a flying coaster), Full Throttle, Superman: Escape from Krypton, Goliath, and Wonder Woman Flight of Courage. The park's hilly footprint gives many rides dramatic terrain-following drops.

Magic Mountain's LA-area weekend visits, US school holidays, Fright Fest and Holiday in the Park events drive peak crowds. Weekdays outside school breaks can be dramatically quieter. Check live queue times for X2 and Twisted Colossus on arrival - they build up fastest - and use our crowd calendar to pick a lower-crowd midweek date if you want to ride all 20 coasters in a single day.

Six Flags Magic Mountain live queue times

05 · Questions

Disneyland Park or Six Flags Magic Mountain?

Which is better, Disneyland Park or Six Flags Magic Mountain?

If you are judging on queues, Six Flags Magic Mountain: it averages about 12 minutes a ride on a typical day against 18 at Disneyland Park, roughly 6 minutes back on every queue you join. Disneyland Park has 34 rides with recorded waits against 36 at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Disneyland Park also runs its rides more reliably - 89% of opening hours against 86%.

Which has shorter queues, Disneyland Park or Six Flags Magic Mountain?

Six Flags Magic Mountain, by about 6 minutes a ride. On a typical day Six Flags Magic Mountain averages 12 minutes against 18 at Disneyland Park. 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 Six Flags Magic Mountain best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Disneyland Park and Six Flags Magic Mountain 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 Six Flags Magic Mountain for the full ride lists.

Is Disneyland Park bigger than Six Flags Magic Mountain?

By rides we track waits for, Six Flags Magic Mountain is the bigger day out: 36 rides against 34. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours - and on those Six Flags Magic Mountain 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.