Coaster lineup: IoA or BGT?

[InvertsAreMyJam]

I saw some people on Instagram debating about this. And I wanted to get this site’s opinion. Which of these two parks has the better lineup? For the purposes of this poll, only take the coasters into account. Nothing else about the parks matters here.

 

[Esther7]

In my opinion, Islands of Adventure is a much better park, but if we only take into account the coasters I think Busch Gardens Tampa beats it.

I have to say that VelociCoaster is my favorite coaster right now, and I really love Hagrid's! But Iron Gwazi is incredible and Busch Gardens also has Cheetah Hunt, Montu, Sheikra... so if I only take into account the coasters I'll choose this one.

 

[Dan Nguyen]

IOA only has 4 coasters and BGT has 9. I don't think the comparison is all that fair.

In terms of coasters, BGT pretty much wins by default because it has more coasters to choose from. IOA is the superior park overall though,

 

[InvertsAreMyJam]

IOA only has 4 coasters and BGT has 9. I don't think the comparison is all that fair.

In terms of coasters, BGT pretty much wins by default because it has more coasters to choose from. IOA is the superior park overall though,

See that’s what I thought too. But somehow people on Instagram were saying IoA had the better lineup, and “quality over quantity.” Although I’d argue that all of Busch Garden’s coasters are quality.

I just wanted to get this sites’ opinion. And as I guessed it would be, it’s pretty much unanimous in BGT’s favor.

 

[Dan Nguyen]

Even if it is a quality vs quantity debate, BGT still has both quality and quantity covered because they have so many more coasters than Uni does. The park doesn't really have a "bad" coaster either.

A more even matchup would probably be like BGT vs BGW since both have a similar number of coasters.

 

[Hixee]

Park - IoA
Coasters - BGT

Even on quality vs quantity it's not that far separated I think. Sure, Hagrid and VC are top tier, but Iron Gwazi supported by the best invert and sit-down B&M have ever made isn't a bad combo.

 

[Matt N]

As much as I love Islands of Adventure as an overall park, I’d unquestionably vote Busch Gardens Tampa here if we’re talking just about coasters.

I do rate VelociCoaster more highly than any of Busch’s individual coasters, but Iron Gwazi is not at all far behind as Busch’s highest rating for me; VC is my #2, while Iron Gwazi is my #4. And when you look at what Busch has alongside Iron Gwazi, it just becomes an obvious choice for me. At IOA, you don’t have a lot else beside VC; admittedly, Hagrid’s is also phenomenal and sits in my #5 spot, but then you only have Hulk, a B&M that I rate a fair amount lower than any of Busch’s, and then a Vekoma family coaster. At Busch, you have:

• SheiKra: Phenomenal, and another top 10 coaster for me.
• Montu: An absolutely fantastic inverted coaster that sits comfortably in my top 15.
• Kumba: A thoroughly decent B&M sit down coaster that sits comfortably within my top 25, possibly my top 20 (I can’t remember its exact ranking off the top of my head, but I think it’s somewhere in the low 20s?).
• Cheetah Hunt: While it’s no VelociCoaster, Cheetah Hunt is still a pretty decent Intamin launch coaster that just about sits within my top 25%.

And those are just the coasters at Busch that sit within my top 25%; you also have the likes of Cobra’s Curse and Scorpion.

If you look at the quantity of coasters that sit within my top 25%, it becomes an obvious win for Busch for me. While VelociCoaster at IOA sits higher than any of Busch’s coasters on an individual basis, IOA only has 2 coasters that sit within my top 25% (VC and Hagrid’s), while Busch has 5 (Iron Gwazi, SheiKra, Montu, Kumba and Cheetah Hunt). Both parks have 2 coasters that sit within my top 10, so it’s a pretty even contest at the very top end for me.

Busch may have a greater quantity of coasters than IOA, but it also more than holds its own in the quality department, in my view. Of all the parks I’ve been to, I think Busch Gardens Tampa would be a very strong contender for having the strongest coaster lineup.

I absolutely adore IOA for its overall experience and well-rounded variety of attractions, but on coasters alone, there’s no competition between it and Busch for me. IOA doesn’t even really try to be a hardcore coaster park; it’s more about immersive experiences, some of which happen to be coasters.

 

[Inverting_Thrills]

If were looking strictly at each park's coaster collections, the answer is Busch Gardens Tampa, no doubt. While Velocicoaster, Hulk, and Hagrid's are all good rides that are just as good if not better than most rides at BGT, Busch Gardens simply has over twice as many coasters. That's not to mention that Iron Gwazi is better than anything at IoA, although Velocicoaster is close.