Six Flags Great America
vs
Universal Islands Of Adventure

Six Flags Great America and Universal Islands Of Adventure queue about the same on a typical day - 24 minutes against 25 minutes across 23 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 Great America and Universal Islands Of Adventure compared on their typical recorded queue times
Typically	Six Flags Great AmericaUnited States	Universal Islands Of AdventureUnited States
Average wait per ride	24 min (best of the two)	25 min
Rides with recorded waits	23 (best of the two)	18
Longest typical queue	Wrath of Rakshasa48 min	Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure™68 min
Shortest typical queue	Rue Le Dodge6 min	Storm Force Accelatron®6 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running	74%	89% (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 Great America and Universal Islands Of Adventure compared on live queue times
Right now	Six Flags Great AmericaUnited States	Universal Islands Of AdventureUnited 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 Great America and Universal Islands Of Adventure queue about the same on a typical day - 24 minutes against 25 minutes across 23 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 Great America if…

Queue length will not decide it: both parks average around 24 minutes a ride
You want more to do: 23 rides here have recorded wait data against 18 at Universal Islands Of Adventure
Wrath of Rakshasa is on your list - it is Six Flags Great America's longest typical queue at about 48 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Six Flags Great America's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Universal Islands Of Adventure if…

Queue length will not decide it: both parks average around 25 minutes a ride
You would rather not find rides shut: Universal Islands Of Adventure's rides run 89% of opening hours against 74% at Six Flags Great America
Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure™ is on your list - it is Universal Islands Of Adventure's longest typical queue at about 68 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Universal Islands Of Adventure's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Six Flags Great America

Six Flags Great America sits in Gurnee, Illinois, between Chicago and Milwaukee. The coaster line-up includes Maxx Force (with one of the world's fastest inversions), X Flight wing coaster, Goliath (a Rocky Mountain Construction wooden coaster), Raging Bull, American Eagle duelling wooden coaster, and Batman: The Ride. A Hurricane Harbor water park is included during summer.

Illinois and Wisconsin school holidays, Chicago-area weekend visits, and the popular Fright Fest event drive Six Flags Great America's busiest periods. Weekdays in May, June, September and October are dramatically quieter. Check live wait times for Maxx Force and Goliath on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a lower-crowd midweek date for shorter queues.

Six Flags Great America live queue times

Universal Islands Of Adventure

Universal's Islands of Adventure is widely regarded as one of the best theme parks in the world. Its line-up blends record-breaking coasters with detailed themed lands: Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, VelociCoaster, The Incredible Hulk Coaster, Pteranodon Flyers, and the classic Jurassic Park River Adventure. The Wizarding World's Hogsmeade is the park's most iconic area.

Like its sister Studios park, Islands of Adventure stays busy year-round, with Hagrid's and VelociCoaster consistently posting the longest queues. Peak periods are US school holidays, Halloween Horror Nights and Christmas. Check live wait times immediately on arrival and head to Hagrid's first. Use our crowd calendar to pick the quietest possible date for your trip.

Universal Islands Of Adventure live queue times

05 · Questions

Six Flags Great America or Universal Islands Of Adventure?

Which is better, Six Flags Great America or Universal Islands Of Adventure?

On queues there is nothing in it: both average about 24 minutes a ride on a typical day. Six Flags Great America has 23 rides with recorded waits against 18 at Universal Islands Of Adventure. Universal Islands Of Adventure also runs its rides more reliably - 89% of opening hours against 74%. So pick on travel time, or on which park has the rides you actually want.

Which has shorter queues, Six Flags Great America or Universal Islands Of Adventure?

They are level. Six Flags Great America averages 24 minutes a ride on a typical day and Universal Islands Of Adventure averages 25 - close enough that the day you pick matters more than the park. See Six Flags Great America best time to visit and Universal Islands Of Adventure best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Six Flags Great America and Universal Islands Of Adventure 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 Great America and Universal Islands Of Adventure for the full ride lists.

Is Six Flags Great America bigger than Universal Islands Of Adventure?

By rides we track waits for, Six Flags Great America is the bigger day out: 23 rides against 18. 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 Great America calendar Universal Islands Of Adventure calendar Compare other parks