Welcome to our Busch Gardens Tampa Crowd Calendar page, with a monthly look at estimated crowd levels, park hours, and general tips on crowds throughout the year.
Our crowd calendar for Busch Gardens Tampa is meant as a guide and is only an estimate of anticipated crowd levels. The calendar does not take into account weather, which can have an impact on attendance since most of the attractions at Busch Gardens Tampa are outdoors. Please verify operating hours directly with the park before you visit, as they can change without notice.
General Crowd Info
Saturdays are usually the busiest day of the week at Busch Gardens Tampa. Sundays, holiday weeks, and event days also tend to draw in larger crowds than weekdays through the rest of the year. On those days, avoid arriving at the park between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Instead, arrive earlier (lots open about 30 minutes before the park opens) or come mid-afternoon and you won’t spend as much time waiting in line to enter.
Mid-week visits, regardless of the season, typically have lower crowds than the surrounding weekends. The summer season, spring break, and the weeks around Christmas are generally the busiest times of the year. Winter, late spring, and fall weekdays typically have the lowest crowds.
Because most of the attractions at Busch Gardens Tampa are outdoors, a day with extended inclement weather will often reduce crowd levels. It’s worth keeping an eye on the weather in the days leading up to your visit – a few rainy days in a row will often mean the following day (especially if it’s a Saturday) could end up being busier than usual as guests who put off their visit all come on the same fair weather day.
January 2026 Crowd Calendar
The new year at Busch Gardens Tampa begins with the end of Christmas Town. Expect higher crowds through the first weekend of January as local schools remain on holiday break, and the end of the Christmas travel season wraps up before tourists head home.
Moving beyond the first weekend and the end of Christmas Town, crowds should be light to moderate for most of the remainder of the month. Weekdays with 6 p.m. closings should be especially light with crowds, even with the Real Music Series. Many of the guests who visit for Real Music Series will see shows and view the animals, but most won’t be in line for the park’s thrill rides. Weekends will see more moderate crowds, with a spike in the middle of the month with Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Weekend.
Mardi Gras is scheduled to begin on January 24, but as of this update (1/1/2026), specifics of the event have not been released. It will almost certainly take place on Saturdays & Sundays, but we’ll need to wait for the park to announce details to see if it will also run on Fridays or other weekdays.
See any attraction closures on the park’s mobile app during park hours.
February 2026 Crowd Calendar
February at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay will see low to moderate crowds on most weekdays, and heavy to peak crowds on the weekends.
The Real Music Series continues on weekdays for the first three weeks of the month, but these concerts typically have minimal impact on wait times for thrill rides. They can impact crowds at the entrance around opening and have a minor impact on some restaurants and animal viewing, but many guests for the Real Music Series will concentrate their time on seeing the acts in Stanleyville Theater.
Mardi Gras is the other major event this month, continuing on Saturdays & Sundays. The event takes place mostly in the Bird Gardens area of the park, featuring entertainment, food, and beverages.
Expect Saturdays to be the busiest days overall, with the busiest weekend likely to be around Presidents’ Day in the middle of the month. Local school districts have Friday the 13th and Monday the 16th off, so expect the long weekend to see elevated crowds. The park also has slightly extended hours through the middle of the week, likely expecting a slight bump in attendance as the Spring Break season kicks off in the state.
One other factor that may impact crowds, wait times, and attraction & animal viewing availability at the beginning of the month is the unusually cold weather the Tampa Bay area is forecast to receive. Very low temperatures can reduce crowds, but can also impact the ability for rides to operate when the temperatures are so low. Animals are often given the ability to remain in their indoor areas or removed from habitat altogether for their safety, understandably.
The good news is the park has a weather policy that allows for return tickets when operations are impacted. Normally, that’s for thunderstorms in the Tampa area, but it also applies to other weather-related impacts like the relatively extreme cold for the area. Stop by guest services when you visit for more information.
See any attraction closures on the park’s mobile app during park hours.