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Busch Gardens Williamsburg
vs
Hollywood Studios

On a typical day Busch Gardens Williamsburg queues less: about 21 minutes a ride against 41 at Hollywood Studios, a difference of roughly 20 minutes on every queue you join.

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 Hollywood Studios compared on their typical recorded queue times
TypicallyBusch Gardens WilliamsburgUnited StatesHollywood StudiosUnited States
Average wait per ride 21 min (best of the two)41 min
Rides with recorded waits 10 (best of the two)9
Longest typical queue Alpengeist60 minSlinky Dog Dash66 min
Shortest typical queue The Battering Ram7 minStar Tours – The Adventures Continue8 min
Average ride uptime Share of opening hours a ride is running91%97% (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 Williamsburg and Hollywood Studios compared on live queue times
Right nowBusch Gardens WilliamsburgUnited StatesHollywood StudiosUnited 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 Williamsburg queues less: about 21 minutes a ride against 41 at Hollywood Studios, a difference of roughly 20 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 want shorter queues: Busch Gardens Williamsburg averages 21 minutes a ride against 41 at Hollywood Studios
  • You want more to do: 10 rides here have recorded wait data against 9 at Hollywood Studios
  • 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 Hollywood Studios if…

  • You will accept a longer queue - 41 minutes a ride here against 21 at Busch Gardens Williamsburg - for what Hollywood Studios has that Busch Gardens Williamsburg does not
  • You would rather not find rides shut: Hollywood Studios's rides run 97% of opening hours against 91% at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
  • Slinky Dog Dash is on your list - it is Hollywood Studios's longest typical queue at about 66 minutes, so it is the one to do first
  • You want Hollywood Studios'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

Hollywood Studios

Disney's Hollywood Studios is the movie-themed park at Walt Disney World, opened in 1989. Its major attractions are some of Disney's most technically ambitious rides: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Slinky Dog Dash, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, Tower of Terror, and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. Galaxy's Edge and Toy Story Land are the two most popular themed lands.

Hollywood Studios often posts the longest queue times of any Disney park, with Rise of the Resistance and Slinky Dog Dash routinely over 90 minutes. US school holidays and special events drive the biggest crowds. Check live wait times immediately on arrival and head for Rise of the Resistance first. Use our crowd calendar to pick a lower-crowd date for your visit.

Hollywood Studios live queue times

05 · Questions

Busch Gardens Williamsburg or Hollywood Studios?

Which is better, Busch Gardens Williamsburg or Hollywood Studios?

If you are judging on queues, Busch Gardens Williamsburg: it averages about 21 minutes a ride on a typical day against 41 at Hollywood Studios, roughly 20 minutes back on every queue you join. Busch Gardens Williamsburg has 10 rides with recorded waits against 9 at Hollywood Studios. Hollywood Studios also runs its rides more reliably - 97% of opening hours against 91%.

Which has shorter queues, Busch Gardens Williamsburg or Hollywood Studios?

Busch Gardens Williamsburg, by about 20 minutes a ride. On a typical day Busch Gardens Williamsburg averages 21 minutes against 41 at Hollywood Studios. 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 Hollywood Studios best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

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

Is Busch Gardens Williamsburg bigger than Hollywood Studios?

By rides we track waits for, Busch Gardens Williamsburg is the bigger day out: 10 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 Busch Gardens Williamsburg 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.

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