What a lively 24-hour snapshot this was for British and American park fans. Between 20 June 14:30 and 21 June 14:30, the biggest wait-time heat came from Florida and California, with a nice handful of UK signals around closing time.
The headline trio: Universal Epic Universe, SeaWorld Orlando and Knott’s Berry Farm all posted meaty averages. Plenty for queue-watchers to chew on!
The busiest parks in the last 24 hours
Universal Epic Universe topped the park averages with 45.51 minutes and a maximum of 175 minutes. SeaWorld Orlando was right behind at 44.98 minutes, peaking at 120 minutes, while Knott’s Berry Farm averaged 42.31 minutes and hit the day’s biggest park-level maximum: 180 minutes.
Also firmly in the busy-but-buzzing camp:
- Universal Studios Hollywood: 41.73 minutes average, max 115.
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 35.16 minutes average, max 100.
- Busch Gardens Tampa: 34.61 minutes average, max 120.
- Universal Volcano Bay: 30.53 minutes average, max 80.
The standout queues: GhostRider and the big Universal hitters
The single biggest average wait belonged to GhostRider at Knott’s Berry Farm: 115.98 minutes on average, with a peak of 180 minutes. That is a proper headliner queue, and it also explains why Knott’s kept popping up in the busy signals.
Universal’s monsters were out in force too. At Universal Islands of Adventure, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure™ averaged 111.67 minutes and reached 170 minutes. Over at Universal Epic Universe, Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry™ averaged 111.44 minutes with a 175-minute peak, while Mine-Cart Madness™ averaged 100.9 minutes and peaked at 150.
A few more fan-watch highlights:
- Mario Kart™: Bowser’s Challenge at Universal Epic Universe averaged 89.79 minutes and peaked at 165.
- DarKoaster® at Busch Gardens Williamsburg averaged 88.13 minutes from 16 samples, peaking at 100.
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT averaged 80.6 minutes.
- X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain averaged 80.26 minutes and reached 150.
UK parks: closing-time clues at LEGOLAND, Alton Towers and Thorpe Park
The UK data was especially fun near closing. These are not official extended openings, but practical queue signals: attractions that had been busy earlier in the day still appeared to have positive waits around or just after scheduled closing.
At LEGOLAND Windsor, a 18:01 signal came one minute after the scheduled 18:00 close. Earlier in the day, Hydra’s Challenge had peaked at 75 minutes, Laser Raiders and Flight of the Sky Lion at 70, and LEGO® City Driving School at 65. Around closing, Hydra’s Challenge and Pirate Falls Treasure Quest still showed waits up to 60 minutes.
At Alton Towers, the same 18:01-style closing signal appeared after a day where Wicker Man peaked at 90 minutes, Galactica at 70, and several thrill rides including Oblivion, The Smiler, Nemesis Reborn and Rita reached at least 50 minutes. By the closing signal, Wicker Man still showed 40 minutes.
At Thorpe Park, the busy names were very on-brand: Hyperia and Storm Surge both peaked at 80 minutes, while Nemesis Inferno reached 70. At 18:01, Hyperia still showed 30 minutes and Storm Surge 40 minutes.
Chessington also joined the club: Chase’s Mountain Mission peaked at 70 minutes, Zuma’s Hovercraft Adventure at 65, and Vampire at 60, with several rides still showing waits around 18:01.
Likely longer evenings in the US
A few parks had data-driven signs that they probably kept queues moving beyond scheduled close because of demand. This is not an official schedule change, but the wait-time pattern is interesting.
- SeaWorld Orlando had an estimated 109 extra open minutes after a scheduled 22:00 close. The evidence attraction was Expedition Odyssey, still showing qualifying post-close waits up to 60 minutes, after a daytime peak of 120. Other busy attractions included Pipeline: The Surf Coaster, Manta, Penguin Trek, Mako® and Infinity Falls®.
- EPCOT showed an estimated 103 extra open minutes after a scheduled 21:00 close, with Test Track as the post-close proof point and a post-close max of 60 minutes. During the day, Test Track reached 115.
- Disney California Adventure Park had a strong high-confidence signal of about 91 extra minutes after a scheduled 22:00 close. Radiator Springs Racers, Soarin’ Over California, Toy Story Midway Mania!, Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT! and Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! all appeared in the post-close evidence.
- Knott’s Berry Farm showed about 46 extra minutes, with GhostRider and HangTime as proof attractions.
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios showed about 43 extra minutes, with post-close signals on Slinky Dog Dash, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Toy Story Mania!, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and Tower of Terror.
A cheerful quiet surprise
Not everything was big queues. Busch Gardens Williamsburg delivered the calmest notable window: between 10:00 and 11:00, six tracked attractions averaged just 2.5 minutes, with a maximum of 2 minutes. That is the kind of start where you feel like the park is giving you a secret handshake.
The planning signals also pointed to sharp swings during the day. Universal Epic Universe went from a very calm 12:00 average of 5 minutes to a 15:00 average of 172.5 minutes. SeaWorld Orlando’s quiet hour was 09:00 at 1.67 minutes, before a 13:00 average of 120 minutes. Knott’s Berry Farm showed 10:00 as the calmest hour at 4.38 minutes, while 22:00 hit 180 minutes on average.
Late starts and maintenance notes
SeaWorld Orlando had several attractions first seen open much later than scheduled: Abby’s Flower Tower, Sky Tower, Flamingo Paddle Boats, Cookie Drop and Sunny Day Carousel were first seen at 14:47 after a 09:00 scheduled opening, a delay of 347 minutes. Slimey’s Slider followed with 207 minutes.
For the UK, Valhalla at Blackpool Pleasure Beach was first seen open at 13:01 after a 10:00 scheduled opening, a 181-minute delay. Autumn’s Riding Adventure at LEGOLAND Windsor opened 141 minutes later than scheduled.
On availability, Little Monsters Wacky Races at Flamingo Land was in maintenance throughout the whole 24-hour window. At Aquatica Orlando, Omaka Rocka, Whanau Way, Tassie’s Underwater Twist and Taumata Racer were also in maintenance for the full measuring period. Separate from maintenance, Carowinds had full-window outages on Gear Spin and The Flying Cobras, Cedar Point on Rougarou and Cedar Creek Mine Ride, and Dorney Park on Revolution and Hydra.
Practical tip for today’s park plan
If you are chasing the big headliners, the data keeps rewarding early starts: SeaWorld Orlando, Knott’s Berry Farm and Universal Epic Universe all had their quietest listed hours early or around midday, before the biggest spikes arrived later. And if you are in a UK park, check the final-hour waits carefully: several parks showed queues still active right around closing, which can make the last lap of the day surprisingly useful.
The day in charts
