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Park Queue TimesPQT

Disneyland Park
vs
Dollywood

Disneyland Park and Dollywood queue about the same on a typical day - 18 minutes against 17 minutes across 33 and 32 tracked rides. Pick on travel time or on which rides you actually want.

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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.

Disneyland Park and Dollywood compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyDisneyland ParkUnited StatesDollywoodUnited States
Average wait per ride 18 min17 min (best of the two)
Rides with recorded waits 33 (best of the two)32
Longest typical queue Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance45 minFireChaser Express ®42 min
Shortest typical queue Mad Tea Party5 minLucky Ducky7 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running88%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.

Disneyland Park and Dollywood compared on live queue times
Right nowDisneyland ParkUnited StatesDollywoodUnited 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 Disneyland Park and Dollywood queue about the same on a typical day - 18 minutes against 17 minutes across 33 and 32 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 Disneyland Park if…

  • Queue length will not decide it: both parks average around 18 minutes a ride
  • You want more to do: 33 rides here have recorded wait data against 32 at Dollywood
  • Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is on your list - it is Disneyland Park's longest typical queue at about 45 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Disneyland Park's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Dollywood if…

  • Queue length will not decide it: both parks average around 17 minutes a ride
  • You would rather not find rides shut: Dollywood's rides run 94% of opening hours against 88% at Disneyland Park
  • FireChaser Express ® is on your list - it is Dollywood's longest typical queue at about 42 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Dollywood's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Disneyland Park

Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California is the original Disney park, opened in 1955 and still built around the hub-and-spoke layout every later castle park copied. It is compact by Disney standards, which means a lot of classic rides in a small space: Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Indiana Jones Adventure, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion and the Matterhorn Bobsleds are all within a few minutes' walk of each other. Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge added Rise of the Resistance and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, and Tiana's Bayou Adventure took over the old Splash Mountain flume.

Because locals visit on annual passes as well as tourists, weekends and school holidays fill the park quickly and queue times at the headline rides can pass an hour by late morning. Check the live wait times before you set off and use the crowd calendar to find the quieter weekdays.

Disneyland Park live queue times

Dollywood

Dollywood is Dolly Parton's theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, tucked into the Smoky Mountain foothills. It's a large park with a strong coaster line-up: Lightning Rod (a wooden-launched coaster, since converted to a steel track), Wild Eagle (the first wing coaster in the USA), Thunderhead (a GCI wooden coaster), and Mystery Mine. Southern-style food, craftsmen and live country music are integral to the park's character.

Dollywood's season runs March to early January, with peak crowds during the Smoky Mountain Christmas event and US summer school holidays. Weekdays in spring and autumn stay far calmer. Check live queue times for Lightning Rod and Wild Eagle on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a quieter date - the mountain weather also affects ride availability day to day.

Dollywood live queue times

05 · Questions

Disneyland Park or Dollywood?

Which is better, Disneyland Park or Dollywood?

On queues there is nothing in it: both average about 17 minutes a ride on a typical day. Disneyland Park has 33 rides with recorded waits against 32 at Dollywood. Dollywood also runs its rides more reliably - 94% of opening hours against 88%. So pick on travel time, or on which park has the rides you actually want.

Which has shorter queues, Disneyland Park or Dollywood?

They are level. Disneyland Park averages 18 minutes a ride on a typical day and Dollywood averages 17 - close enough that the day you pick matters more than the park. See Disneyland Park best time to visit and Dollywood best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Disneyland Park and Dollywood 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 Disneyland Park and Dollywood for the full ride lists.

Is Disneyland Park bigger than Dollywood?

By rides we track waits for, Disneyland Park is the bigger day out: 33 rides against 32. 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.

Disneyland Park calendarDollywood calendarCompare other parks