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Dorney Park
vs
Six Flags Great Adventure

On a typical day Dorney Park queues less: about 20 minutes a ride against 25 at Six Flags Great Adventure, a difference of roughly 5 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.

Dorney Park and Six Flags Great Adventure compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyDorney ParkUnited StatesSix Flags Great AdventureUnited States
Average wait per ride 20 min (best of the two)25 min
Rides with recorded waits 1323 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue Wild Mouse42 minTHE FLASH™: Vertical Velocity49 min
Shortest typical queue Dominator Red9 minBuccaneer9 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running90%91% (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.

Dorney Park and Six Flags Great Adventure compared on live queue times
Right nowDorney ParkUnited StatesSix 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 Dorney Park queues less: about 20 minutes a ride against 25 at Six Flags Great Adventure, a difference of roughly 5 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 want shorter queues: Dorney Park averages 20 minutes a ride against 25 at Six Flags Great Adventure
  • 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 Six Flags Great Adventure if…

  • You will accept a longer queue - 25 minutes a ride here against 20 at Dorney Park - for what Six Flags Great Adventure has that Dorney Park does not
  • You want more to do: 23 rides here have recorded wait data against 13 at Dorney Park
  • THE FLASH™: Vertical Velocity is on your list - it is Six Flags Great Adventure's longest typical queue at about 49 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.

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

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

Dorney Park or Six Flags Great Adventure?

Which is better, Dorney Park or Six Flags Great Adventure?

If you are judging on queues, Dorney Park: it averages about 20 minutes a ride on a typical day against 25 at Six Flags Great Adventure, roughly 5 minutes back on every queue you join. Dorney Park has 13 rides with recorded waits against 23 at Six Flags Great Adventure.

Which has shorter queues, Dorney Park or Six Flags Great Adventure?

Dorney Park, by about 5 minutes a ride. On a typical day Dorney Park averages 20 minutes against 25 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 Dorney Park best time to visit and Six Flags Great Adventure best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Dorney Park 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 Dorney Park and Six Flags Great Adventure for the full ride lists.

Is Dorney Park bigger than Six Flags Great Adventure?

By rides we track waits for, Six Flags Great Adventure is the bigger day out: 23 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 Dorney 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.

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