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Knott's Berry Farm · California · typical hours 10 AM–10 PM
The one-minute version: be at the gate 30–45 minutes before opening and ride HangTime first. Waits peak from late morning to mid-afternoon — do shows and meals then. The final hour is often as quiet as rope drop. There is no headline evening show, so the final operating hour is usually the quietest time to ride.
Worth it on busy days: Fast Lane pays off on Scary Farm nights and summer Saturdays and almost never otherwise.
See today's live waits free Ready-made touring plansQueues here follow a predictable daily shape. Lines are shortest in the first hour and the last, and peak 3 PM–5 PM — that is the window to spend on shows, meals or indoor attractions rather than headliners.
Typical shape of a Knott's Berry Farm day, shown as each hour's share of that day's own peak wait. Actual minutes vary by season and day of week — check today's live waits.
| Hour | Typical wait level |
|---|---|
| 10 AM | 30% of the day's peak |
| 11 AM | 45% of the day's peak |
| 12 PM | 65% of the day's peak |
| 1 PM | 82% of the day's peak |
| 2 PM | 95% of the day's peak |
| 3 PM | 100% of the day's peak |
| 4 PM | 100% of the day's peak |
| 5 PM | 92% of the day's peak |
| 6 PM | 78% of the day's peak |
| 7 PM | 60% of the day's peak |
| 8 PM | 42% of the day's peak |
| 9 PM | 30% of the day's peak |
Be at the gate 30–45 minutes before opening and ride in this order. HangTime and Xcelerator have the slowest throughput; GhostRider's line grows steadily through the morning.
The first hour is the cheapest capacity of the day — no pass, no fee, and typically the shortest waits you will see.
Red = busiest, green = quietest, grey = moderate.
Expect the year's longest waits during the summer holiday and Knott's Scary Farm, which sells out many October nights.
The best value for short lines is January and February weekdays, early May and November outside holidays.
Worth it on busy days
Fast Lane pays off on Scary Farm nights and summer Saturdays and almost never otherwise. Knott's is a locals' park with a very peaky calendar — check a live wait before you buy at the gate.
Price: roughly $50–$150 unlimited wristband. Prices change often and by date — treat this as a range, not a quote.
Maben Parks shows every wait live with a "vs typical" marker, and your magical fairy will run the numbers for your party and date — including telling you to keep your money when the answer is no.
Check today's waits before you buyPlanning ahead? The free Knott's Berry Farm crowd calendar scores every day for the next four months, 1 to 10 — no sign-up.
Median posted wait across the rides we track, on moderate days — the crowd level most visitors get. The shaded band is the middle half of readings at that hour.
Detected automatically from the live feed — each of these reported closed all day, every day, for at least three operating days. Observed through September 8, 2026.
| Attraction | Closed since | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Sky Cabin | August 28, 2026 | 12 operating days |
| Attraction | Was closed from | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Banzai Falls | August 31, 2026 | 5 operating days |
| Beach House Slides | August 31, 2026 | 5 operating days |
| Gremmie Lagoon | August 31, 2026 | 5 operating days |
| Laguna Storm Watch Tower | August 31, 2026 | 5 operating days |
| Malibu Run | August 31, 2026 | 5 operating days |
| Old Man Falls | August 31, 2026 | 5 operating days |
Generated from wait-feed observations, not an operator announcement: a long closure usually means refurbishment, but we report what the feed shows rather than guessing why. Always check the operator's own page before travelling for one specific ride.
Every wait we have recorded here, grouped by how busy the day turned out to be. The bold figure is the middle half of what we saw — a quarter of the time it was shorter, a quarter of the time longer. Read it against today’s crowd level to know whether the number on the sign is good or bad.
| Ride | Lightlevel 1 | Moderatelevel 3 | Packedlevel 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| GhostRider | 5–105 typical | 15–6030 typical | 60–9075 typical |
| Xcelerator The Ride® | 0–50 typical | 5–355 typical | 25–9045 typical |
| HangTime | 5–55 typical | 5–1510 typical | 15–6045 typical |
| Calico River Rapids | 5–55 typical | 5–3010 typical | 5–6010 typical |
| Sierra Sidewinder | 0–50 typical | 0–155 typical | 5–6030 typical |
| Coast Rider | 5–55 typical | 5–55 typical | 5–4515 typical |
| Jaguar! | 0–55 typical | 0–55 typical | 5–4530 typical |
| Pony Express | 0–55 typical | 5–105 typical | 15–4530 typical |
| Silver Bullet | 5–55 typical | 5–55 typical | 5–4530 typical |
| Knott's Bear-y Tales: Return to the Fair | 5–55 typical | 5–155 typical | 10–4525 typical |
| Timber Mountain Log Ride | 0–155 typical | 10–1515 typical | 15–4515 typical |
| La Revolucion | 5–55 typical | 0–55 typical | 5–3015 typical |
| MonteZOOMa: The Forbidden Fortress | 0–55 typical | 5–205 typical | 5–3020 typical |
| Calico Mine Ride | 0–155 typical | 5–1515 typical | 5–2015 typical |
| Supreme Scream | 5–55 typical | 0–55 typical | 0–2015 typical |
| Los Voladores | 0–55 typical | 0–55 typical | 0–155 typical |
| Sol Spin | 0–55 typical | 0–55 typical | 0–155 typical |
| Calico Railroad | 0–00 typical | 0–00 typical | 0–00 typical |
Minutes of posted standby wait, from our own recorded snapshots — up to 7 days per figure. Cells stay blank until a ride has enough observations at that crowd level to be worth printing. Posted waits are what the park displays, which is not always what you queue.
Aim to be at the gate 30–45 minutes before the posted opening time of 10 AM. The first hour consistently has the day's shortest waits, and arriving even 45 minutes late typically costs you two headliners.
10 AM–11 AM and 9 PM–10 PM — the opening hour and the final hour of the operating day. Waits peak 3 PM–5 PM, so plan meals, shows and indoor attractions for that window.
HangTime, then Xcelerator the Ride and GhostRider. HangTime and Xcelerator have the slowest throughput; GhostRider's line grows steadily through the morning.
January, February, May and November — January and February weekdays, early May and November outside holidays. Avoid July, August, September and October, when the summer holiday and Knott's Scary Farm, which sells out many October nights.
Fast Lane pays off on Scary Farm nights and summer Saturdays and almost never otherwise. Knott's is a locals' park with a very peaky calendar — check a live wait before you buy at the gate.