Six Flags Darien Lake
vs
Six Flags Magic Mountain

On a typical day Six Flags Magic Mountain queues less: about 13 minutes a ride against 22 at Six Flags Darien Lake, a difference of roughly 9 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.

Six Flags Darien Lake and Six Flags Magic Mountain compared on their typical recorded queue times
Typically	Six Flags Darien LakeUnited States	Six Flags Magic MountainUnited States
Average wait per ride	22 min	13 min (best of the two)
Rides with recorded waits	13	37 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue	Brain Drain51 min	Roaring Rapids41 min
Shortest typical queue	Boomerang8 min	Taz’s Tazmanian Train Tours5 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running	67%	94% (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 Magic Mountain compared on live queue times
Right now	Six Flags Darien LakeUnited States	Six Flags Magic MountainUnited 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 Six Flags Magic Mountain queues less: about 13 minutes a ride against 22 at Six Flags Darien Lake, a difference of roughly 9 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 Six Flags Darien Lake if…

You will accept a longer queue - 22 minutes a ride here against 13 at Six Flags Magic Mountain - for what Six Flags Darien Lake has that Six Flags Magic Mountain does not
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 Magic Mountain if…

You want shorter queues: Six Flags Magic Mountain averages 13 minutes a ride against 22 at Six Flags Darien Lake
You want more to do: 37 rides here have recorded wait data against 13 at Six Flags Darien Lake
You would rather not find rides shut: Six Flags Magic Mountain's rides run 94% of opening hours against 67% at Six Flags Darien Lake
Roaring Rapids is on your list - it is Six Flags Magic Mountain's longest typical queue at about 41 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Six Flags Magic Mountain'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 Magic Mountain

Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, holds the world record for most roller coasters at a single park - currently 20 distinct coasters. Highlights include X2 (a 4-D prototype), Twisted Colossus, Tatsu (a flying coaster), Full Throttle, Superman: Escape from Krypton, Goliath, and Wonder Woman Flight of Courage. The park's hilly footprint gives many rides dramatic terrain-following drops.

Magic Mountain's LA-area weekend visits, US school holidays, Fright Fest and Holiday in the Park events drive peak crowds. Weekdays outside school breaks can be dramatically quieter. Check live queue times for X2 and Twisted Colossus on arrival - they build up fastest - and use our crowd calendar to pick a lower-crowd midweek date if you want to ride all 20 coasters in a single day.

Six Flags Magic Mountain live queue times

05 · Questions

Six Flags Darien Lake or Six Flags Magic Mountain?

Which is better, Six Flags Darien Lake or Six Flags Magic Mountain?

If you are judging on queues, Six Flags Magic Mountain: it averages about 13 minutes a ride on a typical day against 22 at Six Flags Darien Lake, roughly 9 minutes back on every queue you join. Six Flags Darien Lake has 13 rides with recorded waits against 37 at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Six Flags Magic Mountain also runs its rides more reliably - 94% of opening hours against 67%.

Which has shorter queues, Six Flags Darien Lake or Six Flags Magic Mountain?

Six Flags Magic Mountain, by about 9 minutes a ride. On a typical day Six Flags Magic Mountain averages 13 minutes against 22 at Six Flags Darien Lake. Queues still move hour by hour, and a midweek day outside school holidays beats the gap at either park. See Six Flags Darien Lake best time to visit and Six Flags Magic Mountain best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Six Flags Darien Lake and Six Flags Magic Mountain 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 Magic Mountain for the full ride lists.

Is Six Flags Darien Lake bigger than Six Flags Magic Mountain?

By rides we track waits for, Six Flags Magic Mountain is the bigger day out: 37 rides against 13. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours - and on those Six Flags Magic Mountain 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.

Six Flags Darien Lake calendar Six Flags Magic Mountain calendar Compare other parks