Crowds at Busch Gardens Tampa -Xpost

[dspads]

I know this is OT, but I also know people here will know ...

How will the crowds at Busch Gardens Tampa compare to the crowds at WDW on a weekend in June (specefically, the weekend before July4th weekend)? We are considering visiting BG while down visiting my parents this summer. My thought process in planning this is that WDW will be too crowded for us -we usually go in off-peak times like Oct & Dec. But it just occurred to me that BG could be massively packed too, and then maybe we should just go to Disney for a day .

FWIW, we are planning on going to BG on Sat or Sun and maybe returning one day during the week (you get 2 days for the price of 1 w/ BG) and my parents live closer to BG. This visit is mainly for me and the kids to visit my parents, DH is only coming for the weekend. Both money and crowds are a consideration for us, so cheaper and less crowded = better . We got to WDW every 2-3 years and stay at DVC - our next trip is 12/2012.

ANY opinions welcome!

 

[KBF]

WDW parks are always more popular than any Seaworld park, like Seaworld itself or Busch Gardens. Though it may be crowded, BG will have no where near the types of crowds you will find at any Disney park on that particular weekend.

 

[mlgdomino]

My family was at BG in June two years ago, and we were amazed how few people were there, especially compared to Disney! We had very little waiting for anything! Have fun! BG is one of our favorite parks!

 

[LloydyLUFC]

We were there this week and waiting times for the main rides were 45 minutes. The new Cheetah Hunt ride opens next week and the train guy that takes you into the park told us they were expecting 3 times the amount of crowds as normal, i would imagine it will still be very busy in June

 

[kkendle]

I was wondering if the express pass would be needed at Busch Gardens the first couple weeks of June. I thought maybe going on a week day would be less crowded than a Fri-Sun....does anyone know?

If I buy the tickets ahead of time online....I have to choose the day we go if we opt to get the express pass as well...so I am not sure what to do. We will only be at Busch Gardens 1 day so want to make the most of it. If I get there and the lines aren't that bad...I will feel like it was a waste of the extra $30...there are 7 of us going so that really adds up.

Another thing....the first couple of weeks in June, the park is only open until 6 pm through Thursday evening...again, the weekend hours get longer. I am not sure if 6pm is enough time to get everything done. I have never been to Busch Gardens so don't exactly know what to expect.

Any suggestions? Thanks!!

 

[DOOM1001]

Even during the summer which is obviously going to have bigger crowds I would suggest doing Busch Gardens on a weekday as the park gets less tourists than the Orlando parks with more locals creating the bigger crowds on the weekends.With Cheetah Hunt opening next weekend I would expect heavy crowds throughout the summer.

 

[chiamarie]

Something to keep in mind, Cheetah Hunt does open on May 27th. With that, I think a lot of locals will becoming out since that will only be the second weekend that Cheetah Hunt is open. So it might be busier than you'd expect.