Guides
Read before
you queue.
Ride orders, the best dates and hours, and how the queue systems work, each written from the wait times we record rather than from a press release.
One day plans
A ride order for the day, built from what the queues actually do.
- A queue-first one day plan for Thorpe Park
Ride Thorpe Park's six big coasters in one day by ordering them by how fast each queue climbs, with typical waits, quietest hours and Hyperia's reliability.
thorpe park8 min read
- Magic Kingdom one day plan built around the wait times
A rope drop to fireworks plan for Magic Kingdom ordered by which lines climb fastest, with typical waits and the quietest hour for every headline ride.
magic kingdom8 min read
- A queue-first one day plan for Europa-Park
Start in Croatia and Iceland at opening, ride Silver Star in the 1pm lull and finish in Iceland at 6pm: a one day Europa-Park plan built on recorded waits.
europa park8 min read
- A queue-first plan for one day at Disneyland Paris
A ride order for a one-park or two-park day at Disneyland Paris, built from recorded queue times: what to ride first, and what to leave until the last hour.
disneyland paris9 min read
- A queue-first one day plan for Alton Towers
Ride Nemesis Reborn, Rita and Th13teen before noon, Wicker Man late, and use the reliability figures on the day. A plan built from Alton Towers queue data.
alton towers8 min read
When to go
Picking the date and the hour, with the numbers behind the advice.
- How to read a theme park crowd calendar
What the crowd percentage and colour bands mean, why weekends and school holidays sit high, and how to choose between two dates using real figures.
8 min read
- The best time of year to visit UK theme parks
September is the quietest month on a normal schedule at most UK parks, August the busiest, and half terms spike hardest. The year month by month, with figures.
alton towersthorpe parkchessington world of adventureslegoland windsorpaultons parkblackpool pleasure beach9 min read
How queues work
Single rider lines, paid skips, breakdowns and the first hour.
- Single rider queues explained, and which rides have them
How single rider queues work, why the saving depends on the seat layout, the etiquette, when they close, and every ride Park Queue Times marks as having one.
9 min read
- Rope drop and why the first park hour is worth more than any other
What rope drop is, which ride to walk to first, when the early advantage runs out and how the last hour mirrors it, with hourly queue figures from four parks.
9 min read
- Ride breakdowns and reliability, explained
What downtime and uptime mean on Park Queue Times, how a breakdown is counted, why rides go down, and how to plan a day around closures.
9 min read
- Are paid queue skips worth it, judged from the queue data
A queue skip is worth exactly the standby time it saves, so here is what headline rides actually cost by hour, day and season, and a rule for deciding.
9 min read
How our numbers are made
Where every figure on the site comes from, and what it cannot tell you.
- How we measure queue times
Where every wait time, crowd level, uptime figure and forecast on Park Queue Times comes from, how each is calculated, and what the numbers cannot tell you.
8 min read