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Park Queue TimesPQT

Flamingo Land
vs
Thorpe Park

On a typical day Flamingo Land queues less: about 11 minutes a ride against 20 at Thorpe Park, a difference of roughly 9 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.

Flamingo Land and Thorpe Park compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyFlamingo LandUnited KingdomThorpe ParkUnited Kingdom
Average wait per ride 11 min (best of the two)20 min
Rides with recorded waits 2525
Longest typical queue Mumbo Jumbo26 minHyperia55 min
Shortest typical queue Muddy Duck Tractor Ride5 minMr Monkey's Banana Ride6 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running69%76% (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.

Flamingo Land and Thorpe Park compared on live queue times
Right nowFlamingo LandUnited KingdomThorpe ParkUnited Kingdom
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 Flamingo Land queues less: about 11 minutes a ride against 20 at Thorpe Park, a difference of roughly 9 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 Flamingo Land if…

  • You want shorter queues: Flamingo Land averages 11 minutes a ride against 20 at Thorpe Park
  • Mumbo Jumbo is on your list - it is Flamingo Land's longest typical queue at about 26 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Flamingo Land's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Thorpe Park if…

  • You will accept a longer queue - 20 minutes a ride here against 11 at Flamingo Land - for what Thorpe Park has that Flamingo Land does not
  • You would rather not find rides shut: Thorpe Park's rides run 76% of opening hours against 69% at Flamingo Land
  • Hyperia is on your list - it is Thorpe Park's longest typical queue at about 55 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Thorpe Park's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Flamingo Land

Flamingo Land in North Yorkshire is a theme park and zoo combined, set between Malton and Pickering on the edge of the North York Moors. The coaster line-up is one of the strongest in the north of England: Sik is a ten-inversion looping coaster, Kumali an inverted coaster, Mumbo Jumbo a beyond-vertical drop, Velocity a launched motorbike coaster, and Hero a flying coaster. The zoo side has lions, giraffes, rhinos and the flamingos that give the park its name.

As a day out that draws both coaster fans and families with young children, the park is busiest on fine summer weekends and through the Yorkshire school holidays. Check the live queue times before you set off and use the crowd calendar to pick a quieter day, especially if the big coasters are the reason you are going.

Flamingo Land live queue times

Thorpe Park

Thorpe Park is the UK's premier thrill-ride destination, sitting on a lake-filled 500-acre site in Chertsey, Surrey. Owned by Merlin Entertainments, the park is built around adrenaline: Stealth rockets from 0 to 80 mph in under two seconds, Hyperia stands as Britain's tallest and fastest rollercoaster at 236 feet, and Nemesis Inferno, Saw and Colossus round out one of the most coaster-heavy line-ups in Europe.

Queue times at Thorpe Park swing dramatically with the seasons - quiet in spring and on weekdays, extremely busy during Fright Nights in October and summer weekends. Check live queue times before your ride priorities, and use the crowd calendar to pick a midweek visit if you want to hit every major coaster in a single day.

Thorpe Park live queue times

05 · Questions

Flamingo Land or Thorpe Park?

Which is better, Flamingo Land or Thorpe Park?

If you are judging on queues, Flamingo Land: it averages about 11 minutes a ride on a typical day against 20 at Thorpe Park, roughly 9 minutes back on every queue you join. Flamingo Land has 25 rides with recorded waits against 25 at Thorpe Park. Thorpe Park also runs its rides more reliably - 76% of opening hours against 69%.

Which has shorter queues, Flamingo Land or Thorpe Park?

Flamingo Land, by about 9 minutes a ride. On a typical day Flamingo Land averages 11 minutes against 20 at Thorpe Park. Queues still move hour by hour, and a midweek day outside school holidays beats the gap at either park. See Flamingo Land best time to visit and Thorpe Park best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Flamingo Land and Thorpe Park in the same trip?

Yes - both parks are in United Kingdom, 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 Flamingo Land and Thorpe Park for the full ride lists.

Is Flamingo Land bigger than Thorpe Park?

They track the same number of rides here - 25 each. Acreage matters less than how many of those you can actually get on in a day, which comes down to queues and opening hours, and there Flamingo Land is ahead.

Then pick
the quiet day.

Both parks have a crowd calendar with six weeks of forecast and the best day left to go.

Flamingo Land calendarThorpe Park calendarCompare other parks