The 2026 Theme Park Crowd Report
The 2026 Theme Park Crowd Report: The Quietest and Busiest Parks, Ranked
We graded the crowds at 15 parks across 3,666 park-days in 2026. Six Flags Over Georgia came out the quietest at a 4.0 average. Dollywood ran the busiest at 5.8. And the cheapest day to walk in the gate, almost everywhere, is a Tuesday.
Key findings
- Six Flags Over Georgia is the quietest park of 2026 with a 4.0 average crowd level. Dollywood is the busiest at 5.8.
- Tuesday is the best day to visit, industry-wide, averaging a 4.3. Saturday is the worst at 5.5.
- Busch Gardens Williamsburg has the steepest weekend tax: weekends run 1.3 levels busier than its weekdays (5.1 vs 3.8).
- Epic Universe barely changes by day of week. Its weekend premium is just 0.2, the flattest of any park.
- The busiest stretch of 2026 is the week of December 28 to 31, averaging a 7.4 across every park that's open.
- The quietest summer week is June 1 to 7, averaging a 3.5 before school lets out.
- Kings Island during Halloween Haunt is the single biggest crowd spike we measured: a 10.0 average, 4.8 levels above its baseline.
1. The quietest and busiest parks of 2026
Average a full year of daily crowd levels and the parks separate cleanly. Six Flags Over Georgia sits at the bottom with a 4.0, which makes it the easiest big-coaster park to walk onto in 2026. Dollywood tops the chart at 5.8, with Epic Universe right behind at 5.4. Busy isn't bad here. A high average usually means a park people genuinely want to be at, so the number is a planning tool, not a grade.
2. The weekend tax, and where it disappears
Busch Gardens Williamsburg has the biggest gap between weekends and weekdays of any park we tracked. Saturdays and Sundays average 5.1 against a 3.8 on weekdays, a 1.3-level swing. Shift your visit to a Tuesday and you skip most of the line.
The opposite extreme is Epic Universe, where the weekend premium is just 0.2 (5.5 on weekends, 5.3 on weekdays). A brand-new destination park pulls steady out-of-town crowds all week, so there's no quiet weekday to hide in. If you're going, our Epic Universe summer 2026 guide walks through the better windows.
3. The busiest week, and the summer's quietest
The single busiest stretch of 2026 is the week between Christmas and New Year, December 28 to 31, averaging a 7.4 across every park that's open. That's holiday crowds stacking on top of warm-weather Florida parks at the same time.
If you want summer coasters without the summer wall of people, target the week of June 1 to 7. It averages a 3.5, the quietest week of the whole June-to-August window, because most school districts haven't let out yet. The crowds arrive a week or two later.
4. The events that pack the place
Seasonal events move crowds more than any holiday. The biggest spike we measured is Kings Island during Halloween Haunt, which averages a 10.0 across its 12 event days. That's 4.8 levels above the park's 5.2 baseline, a maxed-out calendar. If a park you love runs a fall fright event, treat those Saturdays as the hardest days of its year and plan around them. The Kings Island strategy guide has the workarounds.
5. The best weekday in the industry
Pool every park together and the day-of-week pattern is consistent: Tuesday is the calmest day at a 4.3 average, with Wednesday and Thursday tied right behind. Saturday is the worst at 5.5, and Friday is the day the weekend starts to build at 5.2. Sunday lands in the middle at 4.6. The rule is simple: midweek beats the weekend almost everywhere, and Tuesday beats them all.
The full 2026 ranking
| Park | 2026 avg | Quietest month | Busiest month | Weekend premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Six Flags Over Georgia* | 4.0 | May | October | +0.4 |
| Busch Gardens Tampa | 4.2 | May | December | +0.8 |
| Six Flags Great Adventure* | 4.3 | July | October | +0.2 |
| Busch Gardens Williamsburg | 4.3 | February | November | +1.3 |
| Carowinds | 4.3 | June | October | +0.5 |
| Universal Studios Florida | 4.4 | May | October | +0.6 |
| SeaWorld Orlando | 4.4 | May | December | +0.6 |
| Islands of Adventure | 4.5 | May | December | +0.5 |
| Kings Dominion* | 4.9 | June | October | +0.5 |
| Cedar Point* | 4.9 | June | October | +0.4 |
| Canada's Wonderland* | 4.9 | May | August | +0.7 |
| Kings Island* | 5.2 | June | December | +0.4 |
| Six Flags Great America* | 5.2 | June | October | +0.2 |
| Epic Universe | 5.4 | May | October | +0.2 |
| Dollywood | 5.8 | May | December | +0.2 |
* Seasonal park. Its 2026 data starts when the season opens, so the average covers operating days only: Six Flags Over Georgia from March 14, Kings Dominion from March 21, Six Flags Great Adventure from March 27, Kings Island from April 17, Six Flags Great America from April 23, Canada's Wonderland from April 26, and Cedar Point from May 9.
Methodology
Every number here is derived from observed ride wait times across 15 parks and 3,666 park-days in 2026, scored on a 1-to-10 crowd level where 1 is a walk-on day and 10 is a wall-to-wall day. Forecast days refresh nightly as new wait data lands, and 82% of our forecasts come within 2 crowd levels of the day that actually shows up. Seasonal parks are measured over their operating calendar only, so a short season doesn't get penalized for the months it's closed.