Skip to main content
Park Queue TimesPQT

Busch Gardens Williamsburg
vs
Disneyland Park

On a typical day Disneyland Park queues less: about 18 minutes a ride against 21 at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, a difference of roughly 3 minutes on every queue you join.

See both right nowCompare 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 Disneyland Park compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyBusch Gardens WilliamsburgUnited StatesDisneyland ParkUnited States
Average wait per ride 21 min18 min (best of the two)
Rides with recorded waits 934 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue Le Scoot80 minStar Wars: Rise of the Resistance43 min
Shortest typical queue The Battering Ram7 minDavy Crockett's Explorer Canoes5 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running99% (best of the two)89%

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 Disneyland Park compared on live queue times
Right nowBusch Gardens WilliamsburgUnited 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 Disneyland Park queues less: about 18 minutes a ride against 21 at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, a difference of roughly 3 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 18 at Disneyland Park - for what Busch Gardens Williamsburg has that Disneyland Park does not
  • You would rather not find rides shut: Busch Gardens Williamsburg's rides run 99% of opening hours against 89% at Disneyland Park
  • Le Scoot is on your list - it is Busch Gardens Williamsburg's longest typical queue at about 80 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 Disneyland Park if…

  • You want shorter queues: Disneyland Park averages 18 minutes a ride against 21 at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
  • You want more to do: 34 rides here have recorded wait data against 9 at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
  • Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is on your list - it is Disneyland Park's longest typical queue at about 43 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 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

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 Williamsburg or Disneyland Park?

Which is better, Busch Gardens Williamsburg or Disneyland Park?

If you are judging on queues, Disneyland Park: it averages about 18 minutes a ride on a typical day against 21 at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, roughly 3 minutes back on every queue you join. Busch Gardens Williamsburg has 9 rides with recorded waits against 34 at Disneyland Park. Busch Gardens Williamsburg also runs its rides more reliably - 99% of opening hours against 89%.

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

Disneyland Park, by about 3 minutes a ride. On a typical day Disneyland Park averages 18 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 Disneyland Park best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

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

Is Busch Gardens Williamsburg bigger than Disneyland Park?

By rides we track waits for, Disneyland Park is the bigger day out: 34 rides against 9. Acreage matters less than how many you can actually get on, which comes down to queues and opening hours - and on those Disneyland Park 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 calendarDisneyland Park calendarCompare other parks