Dorney Park
vs
Knoebels

On a typical day Knoebels queues less: about 7 minutes a ride against 20 at Dorney Park, a difference of roughly 13 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.

Dorney Park and Knoebels compared on their typical recorded queue times
Typically	Dorney ParkUnited States	KnoebelsUnited States
Average wait per ride	20 min	7 min (best of the two)
Rides with recorded waits	13	56 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue	Wild Mouse42 min	Flying Turns25 min
Shortest typical queue	Dominator Red9 min	Umbrella Ride5 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running	90% (best of the two)	43%

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.

Dorney Park and Knoebels compared on live queue times
Right now	Dorney ParkUnited States	KnoebelsUnited 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 Knoebels queues less: about 7 minutes a ride against 20 at Dorney Park, a difference of roughly 13 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 Dorney Park if…

You will accept a longer queue - 20 minutes a ride here against 7 at Knoebels - for what Dorney Park has that Knoebels does not
You would rather not find rides shut: Dorney Park's rides run 90% of opening hours against 43% at Knoebels
Wild Mouse is on your list - it is Dorney Park's longest typical queue at about 42 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Dorney Park's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Knoebels if…

You want shorter queues: Knoebels averages 7 minutes a ride against 20 at Dorney Park
You want more to do: 56 rides here have recorded wait data against 13 at Dorney Park
Flying Turns is on your list - it is Knoebels's longest typical queue at about 25 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Knoebels's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Dorney Park

Dorney Park sits in Allentown, Pennsylvania, about 90 minutes north of Philadelphia. It's a mid-sized theme park with a strong coaster line-up for its size: Steel Force (a 200-foot hyper coaster), Talon (an inverted coaster), Hydra the Revenge (a floorless coaster), and Possessed. A Wildwater Kingdom water park is included with park admission during the summer season.

Dorney Park's season runs May to October, with peak crowds on summer weekends and during the Halloween Haunt. Weekdays in May, September and October are dramatically quieter. Check live queue times for Steel Force and Hydra on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a midweek visit - most of the coasters stay under 15 minutes of wait time on quieter days.

Dorney Park live queue times

Knoebels

Knoebels is a free-admission, pay-per-ride park in Elysburg, Pennsylvania - one of the last major "trolley parks" in America, family-owned since 1926. The park is famous among coaster enthusiasts for two wooden coasters: Phoenix (rebuilt from a 1948 design and widely considered one of the best woodies in the world) and Flying Turns, a rare modern bobsled-style coaster.

Because it's free to enter, Knoebels stays genuinely busy on summer weekends and holidays, with queues building on the signature wooden coasters well before dinnertime. Weekdays are usually very relaxed. Check live wait times before queueing for Phoenix or Flying Turns, and use our crowd calendar to pick a quieter day if you want to re-ride freely.

Knoebels live queue times

05 · Questions

Dorney Park or Knoebels?

Which is better, Dorney Park or Knoebels?

If you are judging on queues, Knoebels: it averages about 7 minutes a ride on a typical day against 20 at Dorney Park, roughly 13 minutes back on every queue you join. Dorney Park has 13 rides with recorded waits against 56 at Knoebels. Dorney Park also runs its rides more reliably - 90% of opening hours against 43%.

Which has shorter queues, Dorney Park or Knoebels?

Knoebels, by about 13 minutes a ride. On a typical day Knoebels averages 7 minutes against 20 at Dorney Park. Queues still move hour by hour, and a midweek day outside school holidays beats the gap at either park. See Dorney Park best time to visit and Knoebels best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Dorney Park and Knoebels 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 Dorney Park and Knoebels for the full ride lists.

Is Dorney Park bigger than Knoebels?

By rides we track waits for, Knoebels is the bigger day out: 56 rides against 13. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours - and on those Knoebels 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.

Dorney Park calendar Knoebels calendar Compare other parks