Busch Gardens Tampa: one day or two?

Looking for advice on BGT.

My family of 4 is heading there tomorrow, Friday June 19.

We definately want to ride most everything, including at least 2 rides on each coaster. We'd like to see the highlights of the animal attractions, and whatever other "must-dos" are there.

The park is open 10am to 7pm, and we'll be there the whole time. Forecast calls for about 2 hours of rain.

Is one day enough to do everything we want to do at BGT?

For the same price we can either get a second day there, or a day at the water park. We like water parks and don't know much about theirs.

Thanks for any advice!


I have never needed more than one day for BGT. That said, I usually travel solo or with one, not a family of four.

Even though operations can be spotty at best in terms of efficiency, I have never struggled to see it all in a single day. We last went in April, and outside of a 45 minute wait for Cheetah Hunt and a 30 minute wait for Sheikra, both mainly due to horrible inefficiency, and we were able to do it all and then some. We arrived shortly after a 10am opening and were done and out around 5:30. That was plenty of time to do all the coasters and re-ride several, and see nearly all of the animal exhibits. The train was down for refurbishment at the time, and the SkyRide was mainly a view of construction. But utilize the SkyRide for transportation as the footprint of the park is quite large. And if the train is back up, hop on for some great animal sightings.

I would plan to be in the parking lot by about 9:45 and head right to Cheetah Hunt, as that queue fills up very quickly. After that, enjoy the day. And don't miss Falcon's Fury - an intimidating but amazing drop tower.

Thanks for the great advice BrettV!


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