Maximizing Time at Busch Gardens Tampa
- coastergirl101
- Nov 10, 2023
- 5 min read
Busch Gardens Tampa is approaching its holiday celebration. This means an increase in crowd levels is expected – an enthusiast's nightmare!
Originally published November 10th, 2023
One of the most important parts of an amusement park visit is maximizing your time riding all the major rides and avoiding lines. Is this goal plausible during an amusement park's holiday celebration?
Busch Gardens Tampa's "Christmas Town" occurs from November 11th to January 7th. Their website promotes Santa's workshop, photo opportunities with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and festive performances.
Of course, from an enthusiast's perspective, this just means more events to draw crowds.
Busch Gardens Tampa's 2022 holiday season saw an average crowd level of 55% in the month of December. I visited on December 23rd and every single line was AT LEAST an hour long - even Scorpion!
Thankfully, November was only at a 36% crowd level. This means that the month of November will be a good time to visit.
With crowd calculations in mind, I can provide a detailed plan on how to maximize ride time at Busch Gardens Tampa. This plan will only include roller coasters, so make sure to save some time for other rides you wish to enjoy.
In terms of my credibility, I've been to this amusement park plenty of times throughout the past couple of years. Over the summer of 2023, I worked as a ride operator for Iron Gwazi. Any advice about park or ride guidelines I have is based on my knowledge as a ride operator.
Days to Attend
When planning a visit to the park, make sure to avoid Saturdays at all costs! Saturdays are the busiest day of the week for any amusement park.
From personal experience, Fridays, Sundays, and Mondays can be hit-or-miss in terms of crowds, so the best days to visit would be Tuesdays through Thursdays.
Preparation
Before any trip to an amusement park, you'll need to make sure you have appropriate gear with you.
Since Florida is closer to the equator than a lot of other states, make sure to apply sunscreen before you visit!
Busch Gardens has a strict loose article policy. The best way to avoid having to rent a locker is to bring a three-pronged fanny pack and wear it around your waist.
Here is a list of things you should store in your fanny pack:
Fully charged phone
Credit cards/Cash
A form of ID
Entrance tickets and other passes (if printed)
Emergency items - i.e. EpiPen, pills
Of course, any other item you consider a necessity should be packed.
Bring a bottle of water to the park. There are free refill stations around the campus, and ride operators allow guest to lay their water bottles at the exit station of the roller coaster queue.
If you have medical items that exceed the size of a fanny pack, bring a bag and state to the ride attendants that it is a medical bag. They are not allowed to question the validity...take that advice as you will!
Finally, make sure all of your tickets are valid on the date of your visit! This includes park entry, parking, and fast passes.
Arrival to the Park
Make sure to arrive at the amusement park around ten minutes before it opens. This will give you enough time to take the tram from the regular parking lot to the entrance of the park.
Once inside the park, open the free Busch Gardens app and go to the map. When you enter the park, you'll be in the Morocco section.
If you have any disabilities, head straight to guest services to fill out an ADA form. The workers will ask questions about your condition. If you meet all the safety guidelines, they will provide you with a medical paper stating all the rides you can safely ride as well as empty slots for ride times. With the form, you can go to ride attendants at the entrances to rides and receive a time to wait outside of the queue house before going through the accessible entrance to the ride.
If you do not need an ADA form, proceed with your visit.
Coaster Lineup
If you are lucky enough to be one of the first people to enter the park, you can head straight to the prize roller coaster: Iron Gwazi. However, if there is already a long line at the entrance of the ride, you should go to a different ride and come back later. Trust me; the line dies down midday.
If you do not ride Iron Gwazi first, the best roller coaster to start with is Sheikra. The roller coasters in Stanleyville and Pantopia tend to open thirty minutes after the park opens (or earlier if morning tests are completed early). The long walk from Morocco to Stanleyville gives you enough time to stop by any animal exhibits and conserve your energy for the rest of the day.
After you ride Sheikra, head towards Tigris. The roller coaster trains are low capacity, so the sooner you ride the coaster the better!
From Stanleyville, enter the Congo section. If you wish to ride Kumba right away, feel free to do so! However, since the ride is at the back of the park, it is never as busy as the other roller coasters. Plus, if you are more sensitive to rougher coasters, it is best to come back to the ride later. Otherwise, get a quick ride on Kumba!
From the Congo, you will take a long walk to Pantopia. If you are reading this article from 2024 and on, you should check out the line for the newest coaster Phoenix Rising. If the line is long due to it being new, return to it later. If it's a similar wait time to other coasters, hop on the ride!
While in Pantopia, head to Scorpion. The line may be longer than expected due to one train operation with low capacity (boo).
Now, my personal advice would be to grab a bite to eat after Scorpion or take a small break. The next batch of rides tend to have longer lines, and the walk from Pantopia to Egypt is a long one.
After your break, go through Nairobi, visit the cute animals, and head towards Cheetah Hunt. This coaster, along with Cobra's Curse, usually has the longest lines in the park since it accommodates younger kids/families.
If these lines seem to be way too long at that moment, head towards Montu. That ride is hit-or-miss when it comes to wait times.
If you follow the guide up to this point, this means you have made it through the entire park! I would suggest going to the roller coasters you may have avoided due to the long lines.
Cheetah Hunt and Cobra's Curse tend to have long lines throughout the whole day. If this is the case on the day of your visit, I suggest visiting Iron Gwazi. The line tends to be shorter than it is in the morning.
This guide is meant to serve as a basis for a trip to Busch Gardens Tampa. If you wish to deviate from the guide and ride different rides at different points, feel free to do so! If you are there on a low-crowd day, you'll most likely be able to ride every roller coaster in a good amount of time. You may even want to ride some coasters more than twice in a row!
Make sure to follow the Busch Gardens app's wait times. The times update every hour.
If you are ever lost, make sure to refer to the map. Worst comes to worst, just ask a worker and they'll be able to help.
Refer to the park map for bathrooms, animal exhibits, and dining. The best places to eat are food stalls since they are cheaper than sit-down establishments.
Busch Gardens Tampa has a unique line-up of coasters. Even though it is a bummer to walk the long park layout, getting to every roller coaster in a decent amount of time is worth the effort.
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