Busch Gardens Williamsburg
vs
Kings Island

On a typical day Busch Gardens Williamsburg queues less: about 21 minutes a ride against 32 at Kings Island, a difference of roughly 11 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 Kings Island compared on their typical recorded queue times
Typically	Busch Gardens WilliamsburgUnited States	Kings IslandUnited States
Average wait per ride	21 min (best of the two)	32 min
Rides with recorded waits	10	24 (best of the two)
Longest typical queue	Alpengeist60 min	Flight of Fear69 min
Shortest typical queue	The Battering Ram7 min	The Racer (Red)14 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 Kings Island compared on live queue times
Right now	Busch Gardens WilliamsburgUnited States	Kings IslandUnited 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 32 at Kings Island, a difference of roughly 11 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 32 at Kings Island
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 Kings Island if…

You will accept a longer queue - 32 minutes a ride here against 21 at Busch Gardens Williamsburg - for what Kings Island has that Busch Gardens Williamsburg does not
You want more to do: 24 rides here have recorded wait data against 10 at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Flight of Fear is on your list - it is Kings Island's longest typical queue at about 69 minutes, so it is the one to do first
You want Kings Island'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

Kings Island

Kings Island is a huge theme park in Mason, Ohio, just north of Cincinnati. It's one of the Cedar Fair (now Six Flags) parks and runs a strong coaster line-up: The Beast (the world's longest wooden coaster, opened 1979), Diamondback, Mystic Timbers, Orion (a giga coaster), Banshee (the world's longest inverted coaster), and Racer. A full water park operates on the same site during summer.

The Ohio summer school break and Halloween Haunt event drive Kings Island's busiest periods, with weekend queue times on Orion and The Beast often exceeding 90 minutes. Weekdays in May, September and October are dramatically quieter. Check live wait times on arrival, and use our crowd calendar to pick a midweek visit if you want to ride everything in a day.

Kings Island live queue times

05 · Questions

Busch Gardens Williamsburg or Kings Island?

Which is better, Busch Gardens Williamsburg or Kings Island?

If you are judging on queues, Busch Gardens Williamsburg: it averages about 21 minutes a ride on a typical day against 32 at Kings Island, roughly 11 minutes back on every queue you join. Busch Gardens Williamsburg has 10 rides with recorded waits against 24 at Kings Island.

Which has shorter queues, Busch Gardens Williamsburg or Kings Island?

Busch Gardens Williamsburg, by about 11 minutes a ride. On a typical day Busch Gardens Williamsburg averages 21 minutes against 32 at Kings Island. 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 Kings Island best time to visit to pick a quiet day.

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

Is Busch Gardens Williamsburg bigger than Kings Island?

By rides we track waits for, Kings Island is the bigger day out: 24 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 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.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg calendar Kings Island calendar Compare other parks