Skip to main content
Park Queue TimesPQT

Hersheypark
vs
Seaworld San Antonio

Hersheypark and Seaworld San Antonio queue about the same on a typical day - 14 minutes against 14 minutes across 50 and 14 tracked rides. Pick on travel time or on which rides you actually want.

See both right nowCompare 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.

Hersheypark and Seaworld San Antonio compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyHersheyparkUnited StatesSeaworld San AntonioUnited States
Average wait per ride 14 min14 min
Rides with recorded waits 50 (best of the two)14
Longest typical queue Laff Trakk - Dark Coaster48 minI Know What You Did Last Summer: The Final Catch43 min
Shortest typical queue Jolly Rancher Remix - Featuring Halloween Overlay5 minTexas Stingray5 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running60% (best of the two)56%

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.

Hersheypark and Seaworld San Antonio compared on live queue times
Right nowHersheyparkUnited StatesSeaworld San AntonioUnited 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 Hersheypark and Seaworld San Antonio queue about the same on a typical day - 14 minutes against 14 minutes across 50 and 14 tracked rides. Pick on travel time or on which rides you actually want.

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 Hersheypark if…

  • Queue length will not decide it: both parks average around 14 minutes a ride
  • You want more to do: 50 rides here have recorded wait data against 14 at Seaworld San Antonio
  • You would rather not find rides shut: Hersheypark's rides run 60% of opening hours against 56% at Seaworld San Antonio
  • 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

Pick Seaworld San Antonio if…

  • Queue length will not decide it: both parks average around 14 minutes a ride
  • I Know What You Did Last Summer: The Final Catch is on your list - it is Seaworld San Antonio's longest typical queue at about 43 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Seaworld San Antonio's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

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

Seaworld San Antonio

SeaWorld San Antonio is the largest marine-life theme park in the world by area, sitting on 250 acres in San Antonio, Texas. It combines marine animal shows with a solid coaster line-up: Wave Breaker (a jet-ski themed coaster), Great White (an inverted coaster), Steel Eel (a hyper coaster), Texas Stingray wooden coaster, and the newer Tidal Surge swing ride. A separate Aquatica water park operates next door.

Texas heat drives summer crowds into early mornings and late evenings, with the coolest queue times usually at the start of the day. Halloween Spooktacular, Christmas Celebration and US school holidays are the peak periods. Check live wait times for Texas Stingray and Wave Breaker on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a midweek day for shorter queues.

Seaworld San Antonio live queue times

05 · Questions

Hersheypark or Seaworld San Antonio?

Which is better, Hersheypark or Seaworld San Antonio?

On queues there is nothing in it: both average about 14 minutes a ride on a typical day. Hersheypark has 50 rides with recorded waits against 14 at Seaworld San Antonio. Hersheypark also runs its rides more reliably - 60% of opening hours against 56%. So pick on travel time, or on which park has the rides you actually want.

Which has shorter queues, Hersheypark or Seaworld San Antonio?

They are level. Hersheypark averages 14 minutes a ride on a typical day and Seaworld San Antonio averages 14 - close enough that the day you pick matters more than the park. See Hersheypark best time to visit and Seaworld San Antonio best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Hersheypark and Seaworld San Antonio 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 Hersheypark and Seaworld San Antonio for the full ride lists.

Is Hersheypark bigger than Seaworld San Antonio?

By rides we track waits for, Hersheypark is the bigger day out: 50 rides against 14. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours.

Then pick
the quiet day.

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

Hersheypark calendarSeaworld San Antonio calendarCompare other parks