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Park Queue TimesPQT

Lake Compounce
vs
Silver Dollar City

On a typical day Lake Compounce queues less: about 16 minutes a ride against 22 at Silver Dollar City, a difference of roughly 6 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.

Lake Compounce and Silver Dollar City compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyLake CompounceUnited StatesSilver Dollar CityUnited States
Average wait per ride 16 min (best of the two)22 min
Rides with recorded waits 2528 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue Boulder Dash37 minFire In The Hole45 min
Shortest typical queue Rainbow Riders5 minLadybugs8 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running67%88% (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.

Lake Compounce and Silver Dollar City compared on live queue times
Right nowLake CompounceUnited StatesSilver 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 Lake Compounce queues less: about 16 minutes a ride against 22 at Silver Dollar City, a difference of roughly 6 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 Lake Compounce if…

  • You want shorter queues: Lake Compounce averages 16 minutes a ride against 22 at Silver Dollar City
  • 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

Pick Silver Dollar City if…

  • You will accept a longer queue - 22 minutes a ride here against 16 at Lake Compounce - for what Silver Dollar City has that Lake Compounce does not
  • You want more to do: 28 rides here have recorded wait data against 25 at Lake Compounce
  • You would rather not find rides shut: Silver Dollar City's rides run 88% of opening hours against 67% at Lake Compounce
  • Fire In The Hole is on your list - it is Silver Dollar City's longest typical queue at about 45 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.

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

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

Lake Compounce or Silver Dollar City?

Which is better, Lake Compounce or Silver Dollar City?

If you are judging on queues, Lake Compounce: it averages about 16 minutes a ride on a typical day against 22 at Silver Dollar City, roughly 6 minutes back on every queue you join. Lake Compounce has 25 rides with recorded waits against 28 at Silver Dollar City. Silver Dollar City also runs its rides more reliably - 88% of opening hours against 67%.

Which has shorter queues, Lake Compounce or Silver Dollar City?

Lake Compounce, by about 6 minutes a ride. On a typical day Lake Compounce averages 16 minutes against 22 at Silver Dollar City. Queues still move hour by hour, and a midweek day outside school holidays beats the gap at either park. See Lake Compounce best time to visit and Silver Dollar City best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Lake Compounce 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 Lake Compounce and Silver Dollar City for the full ride lists.

Is Lake Compounce bigger than Silver Dollar City?

By rides we track waits for, Silver Dollar City is the bigger day out: 28 rides against 25. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours - and on those Lake Compounce 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.

Silver Dollar City calendar