Six Flags Darien Lake
vs
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

Six Flags Darien Lake and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom queue about the same on a typical day - 22 minutes against 21 minutes across 13 and 18 tracked rides. Pick on travel time or on which rides you actually want.

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.

Six Flags Darien Lake and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom compared on their typical recorded queue times
Typically	Six Flags Darien LakeUnited States	Six Flags Discovery KingdomUnited States
Average wait per ride	22 min	21 min (best of the two)
Rides with recorded waits	13	18 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue	Brain Drain51 min	WONDER WOMAN Lasso of Truth44 min
Shortest typical queue	Boomerang8 min	Thrilla Gorilla5 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running	67%	84% (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.

Six Flags Darien Lake and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom compared on live queue times
Right now	Six Flags Darien LakeUnited States	Six Flags Discovery KingdomUnited 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 Six Flags Darien Lake and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom queue about the same on a typical day - 22 minutes against 21 minutes across 13 and 18 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 Six Flags Darien Lake if…

Queue length will not decide it: both parks average around 22 minutes a ride
Brain Drain is on your list - it is Six Flags Darien Lake's longest typical queue at about 51 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Six Flags Darien Lake's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Six Flags Discovery Kingdom if…

Queue length will not decide it: both parks average around 21 minutes a ride
You want more to do: 18 rides here have recorded wait data against 13 at Six Flags Darien Lake
You would rather not find rides shut: Six Flags Discovery Kingdom's rides run 84% of opening hours against 67% at Six Flags Darien Lake
WONDER WOMAN Lasso of Truth is on your list - it is Six Flags Discovery Kingdom's longest typical queue at about 44 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Six Flags Discovery Kingdom's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Six Flags Darien Lake

Six Flags Darien Lake sits in Darien Center, New York, between Buffalo and Rochester. The coaster line-up includes Ride of Steel (a 208-foot hyper coaster from Intamin), Tantrum (a 98-foot Eurofighter), Motocoaster launched coaster, Predator wooden coaster, and the classic Viper stand-up. A Hurricane Harbor water park and a camping resort operate on the same property.

Western New York school holidays, US summer weekends and the Fright Fest event drive Darien Lake's peak crowds. Weekdays in May, September and early October stay dramatically quieter. Check live wait times for Ride of Steel and Tantrum on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a midweek visit - many rides run near walk-on levels on quieter mornings.

Six Flags Darien Lake live queue times

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom sits in Vallejo, California, on San Francisco Bay's northern edge. The park combines a theme park with a marine-animal section, running coasters like Medusa (the West Coast's first floorless), Kong (an inverted coaster), Superman: Ultimate Flight, Joker 4-D Free Fly Coaster, and the newer DC Stunt Coaster. Dolphin, sea lion and bird shows run throughout the day.

Bay Area weekend visits, California school holidays, and the Fright Fest event drive Discovery Kingdom's peak crowds. Weekdays in April, September and October are dramatically quieter, with queue times on most rides staying short. Check live wait times for Medusa and Superman on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a midweek date for shorter waits. The bayside setting makes for pleasant walking even on quieter days.

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom live queue times

05 · Questions

Six Flags Darien Lake or Six Flags Discovery Kingdom?

Which is better, Six Flags Darien Lake or Six Flags Discovery Kingdom?

On queues there is nothing in it: both average about 21 minutes a ride on a typical day. Six Flags Darien Lake has 13 rides with recorded waits against 18 at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom also runs its rides more reliably - 84% of opening hours against 67%. So pick on travel time, or on which park has the rides you actually want.

Which has shorter queues, Six Flags Darien Lake or Six Flags Discovery Kingdom?

They are level. Six Flags Darien Lake averages 22 minutes a ride on a typical day and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom averages 21 - close enough that the day you pick matters more than the park. See Six Flags Darien Lake best time to visit and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Six Flags Darien Lake and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom 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 Six Flags Darien Lake and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom for the full ride lists.

Is Six Flags Darien Lake bigger than Six Flags Discovery Kingdom?

By rides we track waits for, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is the bigger day out: 18 rides against 13. 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.

Six Flags Darien Lake calendar Six Flags Discovery Kingdom calendar Compare other parks