Knott's Berry Farm
vs
Lake Compounce

On a typical day Knott's Berry Farm queues less: about 14 minutes a ride against 16 at Lake Compounce, a difference of roughly 2 minutes on every queue you join.

See both right now

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.

Knott's Berry Farm and Lake Compounce compared on their typical recorded queue times
Typically	Knott's Berry FarmUnited States	Lake CompounceUnited States
Average wait per ride	14 min (best of the two)	16 min
Rides with recorded waits	17	25 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue	GhostRider37 min	Boulder Dash37 min
Shortest typical queue	Los Voladores5 min	Rainbow Riders5 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running	91% (best of the two)	67%

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.

Knott's Berry Farm and Lake Compounce compared on live queue times
Right now	Knott's Berry FarmUnited States	Lake CompounceUnited 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 Knott's Berry Farm queues less: about 14 minutes a ride against 16 at Lake Compounce, a difference of roughly 2 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 Knott's Berry Farm if…

You want shorter queues: Knott's Berry Farm averages 14 minutes a ride against 16 at Lake Compounce
You would rather not find rides shut: Knott's Berry Farm's rides run 91% of opening hours against 67% at Lake Compounce
GhostRider is on your list - it is Knott's Berry Farm's longest typical queue at about 37 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Knott's Berry Farm's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Lake Compounce if…

You will accept a longer queue - 16 minutes a ride here against 14 at Knott's Berry Farm - for what Lake Compounce has that Knott's Berry Farm does not
You want more to do: 25 rides here have recorded wait data against 17 at Knott's Berry Farm
Boulder Dash is on your list - it is Lake Compounce's longest typical queue at about 37 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Lake Compounce's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Knott's 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.

Knott's Berry Farm live queue times

Lake Compounce

Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut, opened in 1846 and is the oldest continuously operating amusement park in North America. Boulder Dash is the standout, a wooden coaster that runs along the side of the mountain, alongside the 1927 Wildcat, the triple-launch Phobia Phear and Thunder N Lightning. The park also has the Crocodile Cove water park, and in the autumn it adds Halloween haunts on select dates.

Summer weekends and the July holiday week are the busiest. Weekdays in June and the autumn weekends before the haunts open are quieter. Check the live queue times before you go and use the crowd calendar to choose a day.

Lake Compounce live queue times

05 · Questions

Knott's Berry Farm or Lake Compounce?

Which is better, Knott's Berry Farm or Lake Compounce?

If you are judging on queues, Knott's Berry Farm: it averages about 14 minutes a ride on a typical day against 16 at Lake Compounce, roughly 2 minutes back on every queue you join. Knott's Berry Farm has 17 rides with recorded waits against 25 at Lake Compounce. Knott's Berry Farm also runs its rides more reliably - 91% of opening hours against 67%.

Which has shorter queues, Knott's Berry Farm or Lake Compounce?

Knott's Berry Farm, by about 2 minutes a ride. On a typical day Knott's Berry Farm averages 14 minutes against 16 at Lake Compounce. Queues still move hour by hour, and a midweek day outside school holidays beats the gap at either park. See Knott's Berry Farm best time to visit and Lake Compounce best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Knott's Berry Farm and Lake Compounce 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 Knott's Berry Farm and Lake Compounce for the full ride lists.

Is Knott's Berry Farm bigger than Lake Compounce?

By rides we track waits for, Lake Compounce is the bigger day out: 25 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 Knott's 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.

Knott's Berry Farm calendar