Busch Gardens Tampa
vs
Cedar Point

Busch Gardens Tampa and Cedar Point queue about the same on a typical day - 22 minutes against 23 minutes across 11 and 21 tracked rides. Pick on travel time or on which rides you actually want.

See both right now Compare other parks

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.

Busch Gardens Tampa and Cedar Point compared on their typical recorded queue times
Typically	Busch Gardens TampaUnited States	Cedar PointUnited States
Average wait per ride	22 min (best of the two)	23 min
Rides with recorded waits	11	21 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue	Cheetah Hunt47 min	Siren's Curse68 min
Shortest typical queue	Air Grover6 min	Power Tower Shot5 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running	61%	82% (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.

Busch Gardens Tampa and Cedar Point compared on live queue times
Right now	Busch Gardens TampaUnited States	Cedar PointUnited 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 Busch Gardens Tampa and Cedar Point queue about the same on a typical day - 22 minutes against 23 minutes across 11 and 21 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 Busch Gardens Tampa if…

Queue length will not decide it: both parks average around 22 minutes a ride
Cheetah Hunt is on your list - it is Busch Gardens Tampa's longest typical queue at about 47 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Busch Gardens Tampa's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Cedar Point if…

Queue length will not decide it: both parks average around 23 minutes a ride
You want more to do: 21 rides here have recorded wait data against 11 at Busch Gardens Tampa
You would rather not find rides shut: Cedar Point's rides run 82% of opening hours against 61% at Busch Gardens Tampa
Siren's Curse is on your list - it is Cedar Point's longest typical queue at about 68 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Cedar Point's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Busch Gardens Tampa

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay combines a full theme park with a 300-acre zoo, making it one of the largest combined attractions in the US. The coaster line-up is exceptional: Iron Gwazi (one of the world's top-rated roller coasters), SheiKra (a 200-foot dive coaster), Kumba, Montu (an inverted coaster), Cobra's Curse spinning coaster, and the classic Python. African animal exhibits include rhinos, giraffes and tigers.

Florida summer heat drives queue times into early mornings, while Howl-O-Scream, Christmas Town and US school holidays are the busiest periods. Weekdays in September, October and January stay dramatically calmer. Check live wait times for Iron Gwazi and SheiKra the moment you arrive, and use our crowd calendar to pick a midweek date for marathon coaster days.

Busch Gardens Tampa live queue times

Cedar Point

Cedar Point is a legendary coaster park on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio. Founded in 1870, it's one of the oldest operating amusement parks in North America and consistently rated as one of the world's best coaster parks. The line-up is staggering: Steel Vengeance, Millennium Force, Magnum XL-200, Maverick, Gatekeeper, Raptor, Top Thrill 2, and many more across the park's 364 acres.

Cedar Point's season runs May to early November, with US summer school holidays, HalloWeekends and weekend days driving the biggest crowds. Midweek days in May, September and early October are dramatically quieter. Check live wait times for Steel Vengeance and Maverick immediately on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a quieter date for marathon coaster days.

Cedar Point live queue times

05 · Questions

Busch Gardens Tampa or Cedar Point?

Which is better, Busch Gardens Tampa or Cedar Point?

On queues there is nothing in it: both average about 22 minutes a ride on a typical day. Busch Gardens Tampa has 11 rides with recorded waits against 21 at Cedar Point. Cedar Point also runs its rides more reliably - 82% of opening hours against 61%. So pick on travel time, or on which park has the rides you actually want.

Which has shorter queues, Busch Gardens Tampa or Cedar Point?

They are level. Busch Gardens Tampa averages 22 minutes a ride on a typical day and Cedar Point averages 23 - close enough that the day you pick matters more than the park. See Busch Gardens Tampa best time to visit and Cedar Point best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Busch Gardens Tampa and Cedar Point 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 Busch Gardens Tampa and Cedar Point for the full ride lists.

Is Busch Gardens Tampa bigger than Cedar Point?

By rides we track waits for, Cedar Point is the bigger day out: 21 rides against 11. 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.

Busch Gardens Tampa calendar Cedar Point calendar Compare other parks