Just how busy is Buc-ee's in Daytona? The number of visitors is mind-boggling.

DAYTONA BEACH ― Since its opening in March 2021, the Buc-ee's travel convenience superstore here has remained remarkably busy, with most of the 104 fuel pumps at Florida's biggest gas station constantly in use.

Daytona Beach city officials recently conducted an analytics study to find out exactly how busy Buc-ee's is.

They learned it drew an astounding 5.4 million visitors over the 12-month period that ended in October.

That's more than four times the 1.2 million people who visit Daytona International Speedway each year.

And it's nearly one-third of the 17.13 million who visited Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Orlando, the world's top amusement/theme park, in 2022, according to the Themed Entertainment Association's latest global attractions attendance report. (Disney World's four theme parks drew a total of 47 million last year.)

The Daytona Buc-ee's in the past 12 months drew an average of 14,794 visitors a day. That's 616 new customers an hour and more than 10 per minute.

Many make return visits

The City conducted its report with the help of location analytics/foot traffic data service Placer.ai.

Buc-ee's this past year drew 3.6 million "unique visitors" or first-time customers. That means 1.8 million customers were making return visits, according to city spokeswoman Susan Cerbone.

"Most of the visitors came off of the interstate," she wrote in an email responding to an inquiry by The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Lunchtime draws the biggest crowds

"The average 'dwell time' was 30 minutes with the noon hour being the busiest time of day," Cerbone wrote.

Reputation for clean restrooms

Kim Fain and her friends were driving south on Interstate 95 from the Carolinas to board a cruise ship at Port Canaveral on Wednesday when they suddenly needed to take a restroom break.

Instead of stopping the nearest gas station, they drove an extra 56 miles so they could visit the Buc-ee's store here after seeing billboards for it.

It was worth it, they said.

"They have the best bathrooms," said Fain, who lives in Columbia, South Carolina. She and her friends made sure to buy a few things at the travel convenience center, too.

"It's a really cool store to go into," said Fain's friend Joe, of Hickory, North Carolina. His wife Jennifer marveled at the store's two entire walls of jerky.

The four, which included Joe and Jennifer's young daughter Olivia, said they spent about a half-hour at Buc-ee's. They definitely plan to return.

What makes Buc-ee's so popular?

In addition to immaculately clean, spacious restrooms where you never have to wait in line, Buc-ee's offers extremely competitive fuel prices.

Gas price tracking app GasBuddy.com shows Buc-ee's and the members-only Sam's Club gas station across the street had the cheapest gas prices in town on Thursday morning: $2.59 a gallon for regular.

The average price for Daytona Beach on Thursday was $2.93 a gallon, according to AAA Auto Club.

At 53,000 square feet, Daytona's Buc-ee's travel convenience center is bigger than most supermarkets. It's stocked with a vast array of snack foods, beverages and hot barbecue sandwiches and carries a large selection of travel convenience items as well as Buc-ee's branded merchandise.

It's strategically located

The Daytona Buc-ee's is on the northeast corner of the Interstate 95/LPGA Boulevard interchange (I-95 Exit 265).

When the Lake Jackson, Texas-based Buc-ee's Ltd. chain announced its plans in 2017 to expand to Florida, Jeff Nadalo, the company's general counsel, told The News-Journal they chose the location for their Daytona Beach store because the area already had "heavy traffic."

A recent study by the Florida Department of Transportation found that traffic along LPGA Boulevard between Tomoka Farms Road (just west of I-95) and Williamson Boulevard (one block east of Buc-ee's) averaged 44,000 vehicles a day in 2021,

Northbound traffic on I-95 going past the interchange at LPGA Boulevard averaged 85,500 vehicles a day, while southbound traffic averaged 75,830 vehicles a day.

Buc-ee's generates a lot of traffic, too

G.G. Galloway is a commercial Realtor and partner with Coldwell Banker Commercial Benchmark in Ormond Beach. He often stops by Buc-ee's to refuel his vehicle and pick up items in its travel convenience center.

"It's a traffic generator, " he said. "I can tell you that it's not all locals at Buc-ee's. I see license plates from all over the country. It's a destination."

Galloway is not surprised by chain's success here. "One of the first Buc-ee's was a few miles frpm my parents' house in Lake Jackson, Texas," he said.

St. Augustine also has a Buc-ee's

The Daytona Buc-ee's opened one month after the chain opened its first Florida location 59 miles to the north next to World Golf Village in St. Augustine.

Both offer 104 fuel pumps making them tied as the largest gas stations in Florida. Prior to their opening, the Sunshine State's biggest place for motorists to fuel up was the 38-pump Busy Bee truck stop off Interstate 10 in Live Oak.

Bright spot during challenging year

The surprising findings by the City regarding Buc-ee's comes on the heels of a recent report showing a dip in overall tourism visits to Volusia County this year, compared with the two previous years, based on hotel bed-tax revenues.

"Whether it's visitors or locals filling up their gas tanks, grabbing a bite to eat or going on a shopping spree, Buc-ee's has had a positive impact on visitation to Daytona Beach," said Lori Campbell Baker, executive director of the Daytona Beach Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.

"Buc-ee's billboard campaign and name recognition has brought (an) additional spotlight and exposure on the Daytona Beach area and it's always exciting to see attractions and businesses within the destination investing back into their property," Baker wrote.

Buc-ee's recently began site work to add a 235-foot-long car wash next to its Daytona Beach store which is slated to open in either late summer or fall 2024. The project is expected to cost $7.5 million to construct, according to the building permit issued by the City.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Buc-ee's has become one of Daytona's top draws. Here's exactly how big