IOA or Busch Gardens while in Orlando

So we're headed to Orlando for a few days. We'll have a full Sunday to do one park. I came across similar threads about whether to do IOA or BG, but they were kinda old. They all seemed to lean towards IOA being the better overall experience. Has anything changed in the last few years to swing opinions towards BG? Thanks for any constructive advice on which park to visit...

Same old story. Look at what both parks have to offer and make your decision based on that. IOA is the better experience while BGA has a couple more rides and a nice zoo. I am staying at the Universal resort for four nights in a few weeks, that's how much I love it there.

I think Sheikra "edges" Busch over IOA. Remember, this may be the last time you will get to visit Busch when it has the beer garden and the Clydesdales.

Can't go wrong with either, but with the pending sale of BGA and all the construction going on at IOA, I'd probably favor Busch. Plus there's free beer there. :)

Can't go wrong with either but it depends on the experience you want. Busch is a botanical garden with a wildlife reserve and three awesome coasters. Gwazi is so so depeneding on when you ride it.IOA is a totally out of this world experience with one AWESOME coaster FIRE and two very good ones, Hulk and ICE the others are ok but the flume, Raft ride, Jurrasic park and even Dragons Q line send this park a little over the top. Possidens fury is a very neat three d experience interactive walk thru and SPiderman is just awesomeIOA, slight advantage to me, If you planned right use the virtual Q system you could get the majority of both parks in one day IOA/UNIVERSAL. Remember these parks open at 9am. If I had had that extra hour I would have done UNIVERSAL as well.Chuck

I think UO is definitely something that, if you have other options, might be best delayed a year. I'm pretty much the ultimate UO fanboy, but with the Potter construction and the new coaster in the studio park coming, Busch might very well be the better choice.

^What he said. ;) Fire indeed kicks in a MAJOR way, but the Potter construction eliminates a significant portion of the charm (along with Flying Unicorn), and Jungala at BGT-A-TDC is completed - have I mentioned how bummed I was to find out adults weren't allowed on the ziplines? But Scorpion is still running...are there really rumblings higher-up the Scorpion is "on the clock"? Sure hope that was shop-talk without merit. Gwazi has better days and worse days, hopefully you'd get both sides - if so, ask for a duel if they're near synching trains. There's the zoo, and arguably the best pair of inverting B&Ms in any park with Montu and Kumba. (I'll remain quiet on the other B&M, hehe. Back over at "the complex" - Rip, Ride, Rocket seems to have little work accomplished other than land-prep, Potterland is much further along. Then again, RRR is "just a coaster" (albeit a really cool one!), so that should be completed quickly in comparison at least to ALL the work that needs to be done.

Busch for sure. Like Jeff and Gator said, the construction is very obtrusive. and according to the "decree" posted everywhere, Potterland isn't opening until 2010. :( While Fire totally owns Montu, Sheikra and Kumba are solid rides that won't disappoint!

If you're going for coasters only, I'd do Busch, but if you're looking for unique rides that you don't find in many other places (Spiderman, Mummy, Jurassic Park, etc), go for Universal.

The Harry Potter construction has sort of (hopefully temporarily) ruined one of the nicer parts of IOA, but it's still a really nice park.

Thanks all, for the quick and honest replies. And "eightdotthree," so sorry to bore you. ;)

I think we're gonna opt for BG for this trip. It's somewhat cheaper for a one day go, and I've been dying to ride some of those coasters.

Any further tips on visiting BG? I'd really appreciate it.

What I really like about BG is that when you get tired of rides, you can go look at animals...and when you get tire of animals, you can go ride some rides. Plus the park is absolutely beautiful.

IOA is a great park, one of the best imo, but with the construction going on, there is even less to do there.

And when you get tired of animals and rides, you can go drink free beer! :)

And do not miss Jungala. Busch really pulled out all the stops to put together a really nicely themed area of the park. Like Gator said, it is too bad the adults cannot do the ziplines. Make sure to check out the tiger exhibit in Jungala, especially the part where you can go under the tiger area and pop up in the middle of it in a glass bubble where the tigers walk right up to you at eye level.