Kings Island
vs
Silver Dollar City

On a typical day Silver Dollar City queues less: about 22 minutes a ride against 32 at Kings Island, a difference of roughly 10 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.

Kings Island and Silver Dollar City compared on their typical recorded queue times
Typically	Kings IslandUnited States	Silver Dollar CityUnited States
Average wait per ride	32 min	22 min (best of the two)
Rides with recorded waits	24	28 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue	Flight of Fear69 min	Hugo & Mary's Carousel95 min
Shortest typical queue	The Racer (Red)14 min	Fireman's Flyers9 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running	Not recorded	93%

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 Silver Dollar City compared on live queue times
Right now	Kings IslandUnited States	Silver Dollar CityUnited 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 Silver Dollar City queues less: about 22 minutes a ride against 32 at Kings Island, a difference of roughly 10 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 - 32 minutes a ride here against 22 at Silver Dollar City - for what Kings Island has that Silver Dollar City does not
Flight of Fear is on your list - it is Kings Island's longest typical queue at about 69 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Kings Island's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Silver Dollar City if…

You want shorter queues: Silver Dollar City averages 22 minutes a ride against 32 at Kings Island
You want more to do: 28 rides here have recorded wait data against 24 at Kings Island
Hugo & Mary's Carousel is on your list - it is Silver Dollar City's longest typical queue at about 95 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Silver Dollar City'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

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City is a 1880s-themed park in Branson, Missouri, sitting above the famous Marvel Cave. It mixes a traditional craftsmen village with a strong modern coaster line-up: Outlaw Run (one of the world's best wooden coasters), Time Traveler (a record-breaking spinning coaster), Powder Keg, and the newer Wildfire and Mystic River Falls. Live music and period crafts are core to the park's identity.

Silver Dollar City's peak periods are the US summer break, the extremely popular Pumpkin Nights and Old Time Christmas events, and weekend visits from Branson tourists. Weekdays in May, September and early December stay calmer. Check live queue times for Time Traveler and Outlaw Run first thing, and use our crowd calendar to plan around peak event weekends.

Silver Dollar City live queue times

05 · Questions

Kings Island or Silver Dollar City?

Which is better, Kings Island or Silver Dollar City?

If you are judging on queues, Silver Dollar City: it averages about 22 minutes a ride on a typical day against 32 at Kings Island, roughly 10 minutes back on every queue you join. Kings Island has 24 rides with recorded waits against 28 at Silver Dollar City.

Which has shorter queues, Kings Island or Silver Dollar City?

Silver Dollar City, by about 10 minutes a ride. On a typical day Silver Dollar City averages 22 minutes against 32 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 Silver Dollar City best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Kings Island and Silver Dollar City 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 Silver Dollar City for the full ride lists.

Is Kings Island bigger than Silver Dollar City?

By rides we track waits for, Silver Dollar City is the bigger day out: 28 rides against 24. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours - and on those Silver Dollar City 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 calendar Silver Dollar City calendar Compare other parks