What's the best TL plan of attack?

[FiveofusNL]

We hope to be at TL at rope drop on Friday, July 3rd. I know it opens at 10:00 so I thought being there at 9:30 would be good. Is this correct? We have an umbrella table & chairs reserved so I do not have to do a mad dash to find seating. We do, however, have to line up to find out where our seating is and get towels. Hopefully this will not take longer than about 15-20 minutes. Anyone have experience with this during a busy time? Am I way off on this estimate? I am wondering what rides we should hit first to best minimize the wait times overall. From what I have read, it sounds like the whole family will enjoy Crush'n Gusher, Mayday Falls, Gangplank Falls, Keelhaul Falls, Storm Slides, Shark Reef, Surf Pool & Castaway Creek. The other 4 family members will probably like Humunga Kowabunga but I am a big chicken who will bravely watch them participate in the more "thrill" type rides. So, I thought the best order would be:

1. CnG - ride it a couple of times
2. The 3 "falls" raft rides
3. Humunga Kowabunga (for those who decide to do it)
4. Storm Slides
5. Shark Reef
6. Castaway Creek
7. Surf Pool

Would love to get feedback on this strategy. Would you do something differently? If yes, please fill me in! As well, we hope to leave TL around 1:00/1:30. Will we be able to fit all of these rides, along with a little downtime for snacks, etc in by then?

 

[LaurenT]

Sounds awfully busy, but if you're an energetic family you should be ok.
I was at Blizzard Beach on Easter and was very happy that my hunch that it wouldn't be crowded proved correct ... A water park just isn't "Eastery". July 3, however, may be a very different story. How much you'll be able to do will depend on how quickly crowds build. We also had a reserved umbrella, its a very nice extra!
My biggest advice for TL and it's beyond crazy wave pool is summed up in two words:
Pool Shoes!

 

[FiveofusNL]

Sounds awfully busy, but if you're an energetic family you should be ok.
I was at Blizzard Beach on Easter and was very happy that my hunch that it wouldn't be crowded proved correct ... A water park just isn't "Eastery". July 3, however, may be a very different story. How much you'll be able to do will depend on how quickly crowds build. We also had a reserved umbrella, its a very nice extra!
My biggest advice for TL and it's beyond crazy wave pool is summed up in two words:
Pool Shoes!

Thanks for the tip. I had read about how important having pool shoes was, so I picked up some already. We are very energetic, but I was hoping TL would be a little more relaxed than our ususal park pace. To that end, I think I will leave the storm slides off the list, and only go there if we find we have some time. They seem like the regular water slides we can find elsewhere.