We had 2 day tickets, we chose to go at 4 and hit the water rides in the heat of the day and stay later during the extended hours. But... how it worked was at 5 pm you can get in for 25 bucks orr basically 5 bucks an hour.
We got lucky, it was cloudy in the mornings we were in Branson and the highs were kept down a bit compared to before and after. I couldn't imagine what it was like this past week. It was 109 here at the house today In Fayetteville.