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Park Queue TimesPQT

Busch Gardens Tampa
vs
Disneyland Park

On a typical day Busch Gardens Tampa queues less: about 12 minutes a ride against 19 at Disneyland Park, a difference of roughly 7 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.

Busch Gardens Tampa and Disneyland Park compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyBusch Gardens TampaUnited StatesDisneyland ParkUnited States
Average wait per ride 12 min (best of the two)19 min
Rides with recorded waits 1734 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue Cheetah Hunt17 minStar Wars: Rise of the Resistance45 min
Shortest typical queue Air Grover5 minDavy Crockett's Explorer Canoes5 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running89% (best of the two)88%

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 Disneyland Park compared on live queue times
Right nowBusch Gardens TampaUnited StatesDisneyland ParkUnited 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 Busch Gardens Tampa queues less: about 12 minutes a ride against 19 at Disneyland Park, a difference of roughly 7 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 Busch Gardens Tampa if…

  • You want shorter queues: Busch Gardens Tampa averages 12 minutes a ride against 19 at Disneyland Park
  • Cheetah Hunt is on your list - it is Busch Gardens Tampa's longest typical queue at about 17 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 Disneyland Park if…

  • You will accept a longer queue - 19 minutes a ride here against 12 at Busch Gardens Tampa - for what Disneyland Park has that Busch Gardens Tampa does not
  • You want more to do: 34 rides here have recorded wait data against 17 at Busch Gardens Tampa
  • 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

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

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

05 · Questions

Busch Gardens Tampa or Disneyland Park?

Which is better, Busch Gardens Tampa or Disneyland Park?

If you are judging on queues, Busch Gardens Tampa: it averages about 12 minutes a ride on a typical day against 19 at Disneyland Park, roughly 7 minutes back on every queue you join. Busch Gardens Tampa has 17 rides with recorded waits against 34 at Disneyland Park.

Which has shorter queues, Busch Gardens Tampa or Disneyland Park?

Busch Gardens Tampa, by about 7 minutes a ride. On a typical day Busch Gardens Tampa averages 12 minutes against 19 at Disneyland Park. Queues still move hour by hour, and a midweek day outside school holidays beats the gap at either park. See Busch Gardens Tampa best time to visit and Disneyland Park best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Busch Gardens Tampa and Disneyland Park 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 Disneyland Park for the full ride lists.

Is Busch Gardens Tampa bigger than Disneyland Park?

By rides we track waits for, Disneyland Park is the bigger day out: 34 rides against 17. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours - and on those Busch Gardens Tampa 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.

Busch Gardens Tampa calendarDisneyland Park calendarCompare other parks