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Park Queue TimesPQT

Kings Island
vs
Knotts Berry Farm

On a typical day Knotts Berry Farm queues less: about 17 minutes a ride against 29 at Kings Island, a difference of roughly 12 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.

Kings Island and Knotts Berry Farm compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyKings IslandUnited StatesKnotts Berry FarmUnited States
Average wait per ride 29 min17 min (best of the two)
Rides with recorded waits 24 (best of the two)17
Longest typical queue Flight of Fear54 minGhostRider44 min
Shortest typical queue The Racer (Red)12 minSol Spin8 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running86%92% (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.

Kings Island and Knotts Berry Farm compared on live queue times
Right nowKings IslandUnited StatesKnotts Berry FarmUnited 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 Knotts Berry Farm queues less: about 17 minutes a ride against 29 at Kings Island, a difference of roughly 12 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 Kings Island if…

  • You will accept a longer queue - 29 minutes a ride here against 17 at Knotts Berry Farm - for what Kings Island has that Knotts Berry Farm does not
  • You want more to do: 24 rides here have recorded wait data against 17 at Knotts Berry Farm
  • Flight of Fear is on your list - it is Kings Island's longest typical queue at about 54 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Kings Island's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Knotts Berry Farm if…

  • You want shorter queues: Knotts Berry Farm averages 17 minutes a ride against 29 at Kings Island
  • You would rather not find rides shut: Knotts Berry Farm's rides run 92% of opening hours against 86% at Kings Island
  • GhostRider is on your list - it is Knotts Berry Farm's longest typical queue at about 44 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Knotts Berry Farm's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Kings Island

Kings Island is a huge theme park in Mason, Ohio, just north of Cincinnati. It's one of the Cedar Fair (now Six Flags) parks and runs a strong coaster line-up: The Beast (the world's longest wooden coaster, opened 1979), Diamondback, Mystic Timbers, Orion (a giga coaster), Banshee (the world's longest inverted coaster), and Racer. A full water park operates on the same site during summer.

The Ohio summer school break and Halloween Haunt event drive Kings Island's busiest periods, with weekend queue times on Orion and The Beast often exceeding 90 minutes. Weekdays in May, September and October are dramatically quieter. Check live wait times on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a midweek visit if you want to ride everything in a day.

Kings Island live queue times

Knotts Berry Farm

Knott's Berry Farm sits in Buena Park, Orange County, California, with a long history dating back to Walter Knott's original berry farm and boysenberry jam stand from the 1920s. It's now a full theme park famous for its coaster line-up: HangTime, Silver Bullet, Xcelerator (a hydraulic launch coaster), GhostRider (a large wooden coaster), and the classic Timber Mountain Log Ride.

Southern California locals keep Knott's busy all year round, but peak crowds align with US school holidays, the extremely popular Scary Farm Halloween event, and Knott's Merry Farm at Christmas. Check live wait times for Xcelerator and HangTime on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a weekday outside local school breaks for shorter queues.

Knotts Berry Farm live queue times

05 · Questions

Kings Island or Knotts Berry Farm?

Which is better, Kings Island or Knotts Berry Farm?

If you are judging on queues, Knotts Berry Farm: it averages about 17 minutes a ride on a typical day against 29 at Kings Island, roughly 12 minutes back on every queue you join. Kings Island has 24 rides with recorded waits against 17 at Knotts Berry Farm. Knotts Berry Farm also runs its rides more reliably - 92% of opening hours against 86%.

Which has shorter queues, Kings Island or Knotts Berry Farm?

Knotts Berry Farm, by about 12 minutes a ride. On a typical day Knotts Berry Farm averages 17 minutes against 29 at Kings Island. Queues still move hour by hour, and a midweek day outside school holidays beats the gap at either park. See Kings Island best time to visit and Knotts Berry Farm best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Kings Island and Knotts Berry Farm 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 Kings Island and Knotts Berry Farm for the full ride lists.

Is Kings Island bigger than Knotts Berry Farm?

By rides we track waits for, Kings Island is the bigger day out: 24 rides against 17. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours - and on those Knotts Berry Farm 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.

Kings Island calendarKnotts Berry Farm calendarCompare other parks