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Park Queue TimesPQT

Disney California Adventure cheat sheet

worked out from 60 days of our own wait data22 rides

Arrive for 08:00 and ride Guardians of the Galaxy - Monsters After Dark, Radiator Springs Racers and Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT! first. The park's queues peak around 19:00 at 32 minutes and are lowest around 08:00.

Before you go

When to go

The days and months this park's rides run quietest

Quietest weekday
Sunday
Busiest weekday
Monday
Quietest month
November
Busiest month
April

Each ride's own quietest and busiest day, tallied and weighted by how long its queue runs. For a dated answer use the crowd calendar, which scores every day of the year.

The shape of the day

Average queue across the park, hour by hour

  1. 08:0012mquietest
  2. 09:0015m
  3. 10:0021m
  4. 11:0023m
  5. 12:0024m
  6. 13:0024m
  7. 14:0025m
  8. 15:0026m
  9. 16:0028m
  10. 17:0030m
  11. 18:0030m
  12. 19:0032mpeak
  13. 20:0028m

Arrive for 08:00. Queues climb to their peak around 19:00 and fall back through the afternoon; the last hour or two is the quietest the headliners get all day.

Ride these first

The headliners: longest queues, worst by late morning

  1. 1Guardians of the Galaxy - Monsters After Dark ~73 min typical · up to 97 at peak · worst around 7pm73m
  2. 2Radiator Springs Racers ~67 min typical · up to 76 at peak · worst around 6pm67m
  3. 3Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT! ~46 min typical · up to 52 at peak · worst around 6pm46m

Straight to these from the gate, in this order. Every minute before the park fills is worth three later.

Fill the gaps with

Walk-ons at any hour, and the single-rider lines

Usually under 10 minutesJessie's Critter Carousel5mJumpin' Jellyfish7mGolden Zephyr7mSilly Symphony Swings7mMater's Junkyard Jamboree8m

Watch-outs

Rides that spend the most of the day not running

  1. 1Luigi's Rollickin' Roadstersrunning 21% of the park's open hours21%
  2. 2Mater's Junkyard Jamboreerunning 21% of the park's open hours21%
  3. 3Luigi's Honkin' Haul-O-Weenrunning 26% of the park's open hours26%
  4. 4Guardians of the Galaxy - Monsters After Darkrunning 36% of the park's open hours36%
  5. 5Mater's Graveyard JamBOOreerunning 36% of the park's open hours36%

If one of these is the reason you came, ride it the first time you see it running rather than saving it. The full picture is on the reliability page.

On the day

Your day-of sheet

The same park, for one date: the forecast, the hours, and your ride order

With a free account you get this sheet for a date: the crowd forecast for the day, its published hours, a ride order worked out against that day's wait curve, and a printable version to take in.

Get the day-of sheet

An account gives you a ride order for your date, with the forecast and the hours, ready to print. Free, and no card needed.

Create a free accountor sign in

  • Your rides, in order

    Sequenced against the wait curve, so the headliners land in their quiet windows.

  • quiet till 111pm · 66m

    Your date, hour by hour

    How the wait climbs on the day you picked, and the window it stays low.

Everything above is each ride's own recorded queue over recent weeks, sampled every few minutes through the park's opening hours - not an opinion. A ride with too little history is left out.