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Universal Studios Hollywood
vs
Valley Fair

Side-by-side queue times, ride counts and opening hours for Universal Studios Hollywood and Valley Fair, with a straight recommendation.

See both right nowCompare other parks

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.

Universal Studios Hollywood and Valley Fair compared on live queue times
Right nowUniversal Studios HollywoodUnited StatesValley FairUnited 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.

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 Universal Studios Hollywood if…

  • Mario Kart™: Bowser’s Challenge is on your list - it is Universal Studios Hollywood's longest typical queue at about 88 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Universal Studios Hollywood's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Valley Fair if…

  • You want Valley Fair's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Universal Studios Hollywood

Universal Studios Hollywood sits in Universal City, California, combining a working film studio with a full theme park. The famous Studio Tour trams run through real backlots, while the park's themed rides include Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Jurassic World – The Ride, Revenge of the Mummy, Transformers, and the newer Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge in Super Nintendo World.

LA and Southern California visitor patterns keep Universal Hollywood busy much of the year, with US summer school holidays, Halloween Horror Nights and Christmas driving the peak. Mid-January and early September are the quietest periods. Check live queue times before committing to long waits, and use our crowd calendar to pick a weekday outside California school breaks for shorter lines.

Universal Studios Hollywood live queue times

Valley Fair

Valleyfair is Minnesota's biggest theme park, sitting in Shakopee about 25 minutes south of Minneapolis. The ride line-up includes Wild Thing (a 207-foot hyper coaster), Renegade (a GCI wooden coaster), Steel Venom impulse coaster, and High Roller - one of the oldest continuously operating wooden coasters still running. A Soak City water park operates on the same site during summer.

Minnesota's short theme-park season pushes most of Valleyfair's attendance into June, July and August. Weekends and US summer school holidays are the busiest, with Halloween ValleySCARE adding October peaks. Midweek visits are usually very relaxed. Check live wait times for Wild Thing and Renegade, and use our crowd calendar to pick a quieter day for shorter queues across the coaster line-up.

Valley Fair live queue times

05 · Questions

Universal Studios Hollywood or Valley Fair?

Which is better, Universal Studios Hollywood or Valley Fair?

Neither is better across the board - it depends whether you are optimising for shorter queues or for the rides you actually want. This page puts live queue times, ride counts and opening hours side by side so you can judge on your own priorities.

Which has shorter queues, Universal Studios Hollywood or Valley Fair?

Queues change hour by hour. The typical figures above are the fair answer for planning; the live table answers today. Mid-week visits outside school holidays give the shortest queues at either park. See Universal Studios Hollywood best time to visit and Valley Fair best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Universal Studios Hollywood and Valley Fair 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 Universal Studios Hollywood and Valley Fair for the full ride lists.

Is Universal Studios Hollywood bigger than Valley Fair?

Park size is less useful than how many rides you can actually get on in a day - that comes down to queue times and opening hours. The comparison above shows ride counts and wait times for both.

Then pick
the quiet day.

Both parks have a crowd calendar with six weeks of forecast and the best day left to go.

Universal Studios Hollywood calendarValley Fair calendarCompare other parks
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