Dollywood
vs
Hersheypark

On a typical day Hersheypark queues less: about 14 minutes a ride against 16 at Dollywood, a difference of roughly 2 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.

Dollywood and Hersheypark compared on their typical recorded queue times
Typically	DollywoodUnited States	HersheyparkUnited States
Average wait per ride	16 min	14 min (best of the two)
Rides with recorded waits	32	50 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue	FireChaser Express ®40 min	Laff Trakk - Dark Coaster48 min
Shortest typical queue	Lemon Twist5 min	Jolly Rancher Remix - Featuring Halloween Overlay5 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running	94% (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.

Dollywood and Hersheypark compared on live queue times
Right now	DollywoodUnited States	HersheyparkUnited 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 Hersheypark queues less: about 14 minutes a ride against 16 at Dollywood, a difference of roughly 2 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 Dollywood if…

You will accept a longer queue - 16 minutes a ride here against 14 at Hersheypark - for what Dollywood has that Hersheypark does not
You would rather not find rides shut: Dollywood's rides run 94% of opening hours against 60% at Hersheypark
FireChaser Express ® is on your list - it is Dollywood's longest typical queue at about 40 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Dollywood's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Hersheypark if…

You want shorter queues: Hersheypark averages 14 minutes a ride against 16 at Dollywood
You want more to do: 50 rides here have recorded wait data against 32 at Dollywood
Laff Trakk - Dark Coaster is on your list - it is Hersheypark's longest typical queue at about 48 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Hersheypark's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Dollywood

Dollywood is Dolly Parton's theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, tucked into the Smoky Mountain foothills. It's a large park with a strong coaster line-up: Lightning Rod (a wooden-launched coaster, since converted to a steel track), Wild Eagle (the first wing coaster in the USA), Thunderhead (a GCI wooden coaster), and Mystery Mine. Southern-style food, craftsmen and live country music are integral to the park's character.

Dollywood's season runs March to early January, with peak crowds during the Smoky Mountain Christmas event and US summer school holidays. Weekdays in spring and autumn stay far calmer. Check live queue times for Lightning Rod and Wild Eagle on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a quieter date - the mountain weather also affects ride availability day to day.

Dollywood live queue times

Hersheypark

Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania was founded in 1906 as a leisure park for Milton Hershey's chocolate factory workers and has grown into one of the best coaster parks in the United States. It runs more than a dozen roller coasters: Skyrush and the racing wooden Lightning Racer, the launched Storm Runner and Fahrenheit, the classic Comet, the newer Candymonium and Wildcat's Revenge, and the Great Bear inverted coaster. The Boardwalk water park is included with admission.

The park is busiest on summer weekends and during Hersheypark in the Dark in October, and because it closes several rides early on some days, the schedule matters as much as the crowds. Check the live wait times before you go and use the crowd calendar to find a weekday when the big coasters run with short queues.

Hersheypark live queue times

05 · Questions

Dollywood or Hersheypark?

Which is better, Dollywood or Hersheypark?

If you are judging on queues, Hersheypark: it averages about 14 minutes a ride on a typical day against 16 at Dollywood, roughly 2 minutes back on every queue you join. Dollywood has 32 rides with recorded waits against 50 at Hersheypark. Dollywood also runs its rides more reliably - 94% of opening hours against 60%.

Which has shorter queues, Dollywood or Hersheypark?

Hersheypark, by about 2 minutes a ride. On a typical day Hersheypark averages 14 minutes against 16 at Dollywood. Queues still move hour by hour, and a midweek day outside school holidays beats the gap at either park. See Dollywood best time to visit and Hersheypark best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Dollywood and Hersheypark 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 Dollywood and Hersheypark for the full ride lists.

Is Dollywood bigger than Hersheypark?

By rides we track waits for, Hersheypark is the bigger day out: 50 rides against 32. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours - and on those Hersheypark 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.

Dollywood calendar Hersheypark calendar Compare other parks