Busch Gardens Tampa
vs
Six Flags Great America

On a typical day Busch Gardens Tampa queues less: about 11 minutes a ride against 27 at Six Flags Great America, a difference of roughly 16 minutes on every queue you join.

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 Six Flags Great America compared on their typical recorded queue times
Typically	Busch Gardens TampaUnited States	Six Flags Great AmericaUnited States
Average wait per ride	11 min (best of the two)	27 min
Rides with recorded waits	11	23 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue	Congo River Rapids18 min	Maxx Force46 min
Shortest typical queue	Air Grover5 min	Chubasco7 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running	73%	79% (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 Six Flags Great America compared on live queue times
Right now	Busch Gardens TampaUnited States	Six Flags Great AmericaUnited 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 11 minutes a ride against 27 at Six Flags Great America, a difference of roughly 16 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 11 minutes a ride against 27 at Six Flags Great America
Congo River Rapids is on your list - it is Busch Gardens Tampa's longest typical queue at about 18 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 Six Flags Great America if…

You will accept a longer queue - 27 minutes a ride here against 11 at Busch Gardens Tampa - for what Six Flags Great America has that Busch Gardens Tampa does not
You want more to do: 23 rides here have recorded wait data against 11 at Busch Gardens Tampa
You would rather not find rides shut: Six Flags Great America's rides run 79% of opening hours against 73% at Busch Gardens Tampa
Maxx Force is on your list - it is Six Flags Great America's longest typical queue at about 46 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Six Flags Great America'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

Six Flags Great America

Six Flags Great America sits in Gurnee, Illinois, between Chicago and Milwaukee. The coaster line-up includes Maxx Force (with one of the world's fastest inversions), X Flight wing coaster, Goliath (a Rocky Mountain Construction wooden coaster), Raging Bull, American Eagle duelling wooden coaster, and Batman: The Ride. A Hurricane Harbor water park is included during summer.

Illinois and Wisconsin school holidays, Chicago-area weekend visits, and the popular Fright Fest event drive Six Flags Great America's busiest periods. Weekdays in May, June, September and October are dramatically quieter. Check live wait times for Maxx Force and Goliath on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a lower-crowd midweek date for shorter queues.

Six Flags Great America live queue times

05 · Questions

Busch Gardens Tampa or Six Flags Great America?

Which is better, Busch Gardens Tampa or Six Flags Great America?

If you are judging on queues, Busch Gardens Tampa: it averages about 11 minutes a ride on a typical day against 27 at Six Flags Great America, roughly 16 minutes back on every queue you join. Busch Gardens Tampa has 11 rides with recorded waits against 23 at Six Flags Great America. Six Flags Great America also runs its rides more reliably - 79% of opening hours against 73%.

Which has shorter queues, Busch Gardens Tampa or Six Flags Great America?

Busch Gardens Tampa, by about 16 minutes a ride. On a typical day Busch Gardens Tampa averages 11 minutes against 27 at Six Flags Great America. 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 Six Flags Great America best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Busch Gardens Tampa and Six Flags Great America 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 Six Flags Great America for the full ride lists.

Is Busch Gardens Tampa bigger than Six Flags Great America?

By rides we track waits for, Six Flags Great America is the bigger day out: 23 rides against 11. 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 calendar Six Flags Great America calendar Compare other parks