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Park Queue TimesPQT

Seaworld San Antonio
vs
Six Flags Magic Mountain

On a typical day Six Flags Magic Mountain queues less: about 9 minutes a ride against 15 at Seaworld San Antonio, a difference of roughly 6 minutes on every queue you join.

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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.

Seaworld San Antonio and Six Flags Magic Mountain compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallySeaworld San AntonioUnited StatesSix Flags Magic MountainUnited States
Average wait per ride 15 min9 min (best of the two)
Rides with recorded waits 1437 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue I Know What You Did Last Summer: The Final Catch45 minWest Coast Racers22 min
Shortest typical queue Texas Stingray5 minTaz’s Tazmanian Train Tours5 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running57%86% (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.

Seaworld San Antonio and Six Flags Magic Mountain compared on live queue times
Right nowSeaworld San AntonioUnited StatesSix Flags Magic MountainUnited 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 On a typical day Six Flags Magic Mountain queues less: about 9 minutes a ride against 15 at Seaworld San Antonio, a difference of roughly 6 minutes on every queue you join.

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 Seaworld San Antonio if…

  • You will accept a longer queue - 15 minutes a ride here against 9 at Six Flags Magic Mountain - for what Seaworld San Antonio has that Six Flags Magic Mountain does not
  • I Know What You Did Last Summer: The Final Catch is on your list - it is Seaworld San Antonio's longest typical queue at about 45 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Seaworld San Antonio's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Six Flags Magic Mountain if…

  • You want shorter queues: Six Flags Magic Mountain averages 9 minutes a ride against 15 at Seaworld San Antonio
  • You want more to do: 37 rides here have recorded wait data against 14 at Seaworld San Antonio
  • You would rather not find rides shut: Six Flags Magic Mountain's rides run 86% of opening hours against 57% at Seaworld San Antonio
  • West Coast Racers is on your list - it is Six Flags Magic Mountain's longest typical queue at about 22 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Six Flags Magic Mountain's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Seaworld San Antonio

SeaWorld San Antonio is the largest marine-life theme park in the world by area, sitting on 250 acres in San Antonio, Texas. It combines marine animal shows with a solid coaster line-up: Wave Breaker (a jet-ski themed coaster), Great White (an inverted coaster), Steel Eel (a hyper coaster), Texas Stingray wooden coaster, and the newer Tidal Surge swing ride. A separate Aquatica water park operates next door.

Texas heat drives summer crowds into early mornings and late evenings, with the coolest queue times usually at the start of the day. Halloween Spooktacular, Christmas Celebration and US school holidays are the peak periods. Check live wait times for Texas Stingray and Wave Breaker on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a midweek day for shorter queues.

Seaworld San Antonio live queue times

Six Flags Magic Mountain

Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, holds the world record for most roller coasters at a single park - currently 20 distinct coasters. Highlights include X2 (a 4-D prototype), Twisted Colossus, Tatsu (a flying coaster), Full Throttle, Superman: Escape from Krypton, Goliath, and Wonder Woman Flight of Courage. The park's hilly footprint gives many rides dramatic terrain-following drops.

Magic Mountain's LA-area weekend visits, US school holidays, Fright Fest and Holiday in the Park events drive peak crowds. Weekdays outside school breaks can be dramatically quieter. Check live queue times for X2 and Twisted Colossus on arrival - they build up fastest - and use our crowd calendar to pick a lower-crowd midweek date if you want to ride all 20 coasters in a single day.

Six Flags Magic Mountain live queue times

05 · Questions

Seaworld San Antonio or Six Flags Magic Mountain?

Which is better, Seaworld San Antonio or Six Flags Magic Mountain?

If you are judging on queues, Six Flags Magic Mountain: it averages about 9 minutes a ride on a typical day against 15 at Seaworld San Antonio, roughly 6 minutes back on every queue you join. Seaworld San Antonio has 14 rides with recorded waits against 37 at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Six Flags Magic Mountain also runs its rides more reliably - 86% of opening hours against 57%.

Which has shorter queues, Seaworld San Antonio or Six Flags Magic Mountain?

Six Flags Magic Mountain, by about 6 minutes a ride. On a typical day Six Flags Magic Mountain averages 9 minutes against 15 at Seaworld San Antonio. Queues still move hour by hour, and a midweek day outside school holidays beats the gap at either park. See Seaworld San Antonio best time to visit and Six Flags Magic Mountain best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Seaworld San Antonio and Six Flags Magic Mountain 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 Seaworld San Antonio and Six Flags Magic Mountain for the full ride lists.

Is Seaworld San Antonio bigger than Six Flags Magic Mountain?

By rides we track waits for, Six Flags Magic Mountain is the bigger day out: 37 rides against 14. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours - and on those Six Flags Magic Mountain is the quicker park.

Then pick
the quiet day.

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

Seaworld San Antonio calendarSix Flags Magic Mountain calendarCompare other parks