Busch Gardens Williamsburg
vs
Carowinds

On a typical day Carowinds queues less: about 8 minutes a ride against 21 at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, a difference of roughly 13 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 Williamsburg and Carowinds compared on their typical recorded queue times
Typically	Busch Gardens WilliamsburgUnited States	CarowindsUnited States
Average wait per ride	21 min	8 min (best of the two)
Rides with recorded waits	10	36 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue	Alpengeist60 min	Fury 32521 min
Shortest typical queue	The Battering Ram7 min	Woodstock Whirlybirds3 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running	91%	Not recorded

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 Williamsburg and Carowinds compared on live queue times
Right now	Busch Gardens WilliamsburgUnited States	CarowindsUnited 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 Carowinds queues less: about 8 minutes a ride against 21 at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, a difference of roughly 13 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 Williamsburg if…

You will accept a longer queue - 21 minutes a ride here against 8 at Carowinds - for what Busch Gardens Williamsburg has that Carowinds does not
Alpengeist is on your list - it is Busch Gardens Williamsburg's longest typical queue at about 60 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Busch Gardens Williamsburg's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

Pick Carowinds if…

You want shorter queues: Carowinds averages 8 minutes a ride against 21 at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
You want more to do: 36 rides here have recorded wait data against 10 at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Fury 325 is on your list - it is Carowinds's longest typical queue at about 21 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Carowinds's own character - the rides, theming and atmosphere described below

04 · The parks

What each one is.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg

Busch Gardens Williamsburg is consistently rated one of the most beautiful theme parks in the world, winning "Most Beautiful Park" industry awards year after year. Set across European-themed villages in Virginia, it runs a top-tier coaster line-up: Alpengeist, Apollo's Chariot, Griffon (a dive coaster), Verbolten, InvadR, and the newer Pantheon - one of the world's fastest multi-launch coasters.

Virginia school holidays, the Howl-O-Scream Halloween event and the famous Christmas Town event drive Busch Gardens Williamsburg's biggest crowds. Weekdays in May, September and early October are dramatically quieter. Check live wait times for Pantheon and Alpengeist first thing on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a lower-crowd date - the park's wooded setting keeps temperatures pleasant.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg live queue times

Carowinds

Carowinds sits directly on the North Carolina / South Carolina state line in Charlotte and is best known for Fury 325 - one of the world's tallest and fastest full-circuit roller coasters at 325 feet. The rest of the line-up is strong too: Copperhead Strike, Intimidator, Afterburn inverted coaster, and the newer Top Gun: The Jet Coaster. A separate Carolina Harbor water park operates in the summer.

Carowinds' peak crowds come during US summer school holidays, Scarowinds (Halloween), and Charlotte-area weekend visits. Weekdays in May, September and October are much quieter. Check live queue times for Fury 325 and Copperhead Strike first thing on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a lower-crowd midweek date for shorter waits across the coaster line-up.

Carowinds live queue times

05 · Questions

Busch Gardens Williamsburg or Carowinds?

Which is better, Busch Gardens Williamsburg or Carowinds?

If you are judging on queues, Carowinds: it averages about 8 minutes a ride on a typical day against 21 at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, roughly 13 minutes back on every queue you join. Busch Gardens Williamsburg has 10 rides with recorded waits against 36 at Carowinds.

Which has shorter queues, Busch Gardens Williamsburg or Carowinds?

Carowinds, by about 13 minutes a ride. On a typical day Carowinds averages 8 minutes against 21 at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Queues still move hour by hour, and a midweek day outside school holidays beats the gap at either park. See Busch Gardens Williamsburg best time to visit and Carowinds best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

Can I visit Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Carowinds 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 Williamsburg and Carowinds for the full ride lists.

Is Busch Gardens Williamsburg bigger than Carowinds?

By rides we track waits for, Carowinds is the bigger day out: 36 rides against 10. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours - and on those Carowinds 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 Williamsburg calendar Carowinds calendar Compare other parks