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Busch Gardens vs. Islands of Adventure


motormouth46259

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I would say Islands of Adventure is the best. It actually has theming and every ride is fun..especially the 3 water rides during the summer . A good time to go would be middle of the week or on a Sunday/Monday because any adults there would have to go to work on Monday...

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Well it depends on what you look for in a park. Both parks have their good and bad's.

 

IOA- Has 5 coasters if you count both the dragons seperate as I do. Their themeing is out of this world amazing. Their food is decent, but can get super crowded!

 

BGT- Has 8 coasters. All different in their own right. The zoo part is great too, wondering around an African safari is way cool. There are decent crowds during the summer, most wait times don't reach an hour. (Except SheiKra and how many trains they are running on it that day). I had good food at BGT last time I was there.

 

Both parks are pretty expensive when it comes to drinks/food. You have to watch both of those aspects. My opinion if its during the summer I would go to BGT. Just more of an experience to me. Hope you have fun!

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Witch theme park would you have to say is more fun to go to on vaction?

 

Normally, I'd say I could spend a week at Universal without getting board, and maybe 2 days tops at Busch Gardens. However, things have been shifting a bit, and while I still prefer Islands, my last couple visits to BGT have been awesome.

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You need to experience both, but if I had a choice, I'd definitely tell you to go to Busch. Recently, my IOA visits have been getting worse, while my Busch Gardens Tampa visit was absolutely amazing. Let's compare:

 

IOA

 

Friday - 5/19/06

 

Fast operations on Hulk and Dragons

Spiderman, Jurassic Park, Dudley Do-Right closed

Horrid lines

Express pass given only to paying customers/hotel guests

20 minutes to get food

Two windows out of four open when the food line is FULL

No shady seats

Crowded even towards the end of the day

Five rides in seven hours

 

Busch Gardens

 

Friday - 5/5/06

 

Fast operations on everything but Gwazi Lion

Nothing closed

Longest line was Sheikra - half an hour

No express pass at all

2 minutes to get food

All windows open

All seats covered

Crowds disappered during the last hour of the park's opening

Insane # of rides in six hours

 

It's quite obvious that Busch is the winner here.

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How much can you really fault the park for being busy though?

 

Though I really do admit that the tides are shifting, Universal is still more of a vacation park, IMO.

 

Good point about shading at IOA, there is a lot of open areas. However, a lot of their queues are not just covered, but enclosed (unlike Busch Gardens), and Busch Gardens also has its share of open areas...

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I would recommend Busch Gardens. Montu, Kumba, and sheikra are all amazing. I never quite understood why people loved IOA. I found Hulk surprisingly rough, I was let down with many other aspects of the park too.

 

Have a great time.

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As stated above: if you're in it for the coasters, BGA in a heartbeat. Montu, Kumba, and SheiKra are all world class rides, and there are, depending on your tastes, at least a couple of other worthy coasters (Scorpion, Cheetah Chase, and, if you hit them on a good day, the Gwazis). The zoo aspect has been toned down a little in the last few years - no more alligators under coasters - but is still a great selling point if you like that sort of thing.

 

IoA is more of an all-around experience, though. Amazing theming, great variety of rides/shows, great food, and great rides, including two awesome water rides. It does tend to get incredibly crowded in the summer, though; much moreso than Busch Gardens, in my experience, and I really try to avoid Universal/IoA until the fall even though I live <2 hrs. away.

 

If you're planning a one-time visit to the area in the summer, I'd honestly lean towards BGA - lighter crowds, better coasters, more shade, free booze if you're legal...for a spring/fall trip, I'd probably suggest IoA, or better yet, a couple of days (at least) split between Universal/IoA/Sea World.

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