What times are the park entrances most crowded?

[StaciMay]

Just curious what time the majority of people arrive at the parks? At opening? 10am? 11am?, etc? Or a better question is what time do the park entrance crowds die down? I'm usually a rope drop kind of person, but almost always my family gives out and can't make it until night time. We have even tried rope drop, then going home for a rest but my family seems to never want to go back to the parks later. I'm considering arriving at the parks later in the day so that my family might could actually last later into the night and we could watch some the night time shows. Just curious when the entrance crowds die down. Thanks!

 

[BrianL]

Well, the majority of guests arrive after rope drop, but they arrive as a trickle throughout the day. The entrance will always be most crowded at rope drop. Once everyone is processed in, the crowds disperse. Usually they start to scan people early and then hold at an area inside. If it's MK you have all of Main Street and the hub, so people line up at the ropes to the various lands. Unless it is a tremendously busy day, there won't be crowds of people entering all at once after that initial wave of people. You may encounter short lines, but that's it.

 

[Klayfish]

Well, the majority of guests arrive after rope drop, but they arrive as a trickle throughout the day. The entrance will always be most crowded at rope drop. Once everyone is processed in, the crowds disperse. Usually they start to scan people early and then hold at an area inside. If it's MK you have all of Main Street and the hub, so people line up at the ropes to the various lands. Unless it is a tremendously busy day, there won't be crowds of people entering all at once after that initial wave of people. You may encounter short lines, but that's it.

Yep, exactly. The biggest crowds at the entrance points are around rope drop. We never "rope drop" in the traditional sense...get there 45 minutes early. But sometimes we do show up within 15 minutes of park open, and that's always the largest crowd we encounter. If you're an hour or so after park open, the lines have usually gone way down. However, I have to say that even for MK at 9:00am, we have never waited more than maybe 10 minutes to get in. They do a great job.

 

[TandLMommy28]

We usually rope drop and head out by lunch for a break... Our experience has always been seeing incredibly long lines of people trying to get into the parks as we leave. Usually around 11:30 or so. At MK, at least. The other parks not so much.