Two of the region's biggest attractions are drawing huge summer crowds, even before the July 4th holiday.

The license plates in just one row of Waldameer's parking lot - from Michigan, Massachusetts, Texas, Virginia, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, and Ohio - tell the story, Erie's summer tourism season is in full swing.

At Water World, it started with that hot, hot week in June, with days of temperatures in the 90's. "That was our busiest water park attendance ever," Waldameer president Steve Gorman said, adding "and I don't know if we'll ever repeat that in June."

The crowds mean long lines when Water World first opens at 11:00 a.m.  But families we talked to weren't complaining. Mom Jac Minor, visiting with her family from Plum Borough, PA said, "So the line was kind of long but it went super quick, we didn't have to wait long. They didn't get anxious or bored or anything."

When the crowds are big and the lines are long for the water park things bog down at the gate, where they check to make sure no one's bringing glass into the park. Gorman has plans to make this go faster starting next year.  "Next year we are going to totally revise that whole process so there'll be multiple gates and there will be a faster access to the park," he said.

At Presque Isle State Park, trail repairs have traffic flow restricted at the park entrance, with a temporary sign to show which beaches are guarded.  With a shortage of lifeguards, only four beaches will be fully staffed for swimming on July 4th - beaches 3, 6, 8 and 11.

Lifeguard Manager Bob North expects big crowds at the guarded beaches.  "I'm sure we'll be at capacity at all those beaches and I wish we had more guards here we have another 20 positions that are open but we don't and that is best we can do."  North has another 5 guards coming on board with about 25 hours left in their 80 hour training regimen.  If possible he'd like to staff at least one additional beach for the holiday.

For Ann Stinson, visiting from Clarion, guarded beaches are a priority for her family.  It's why she chose to spend the day at Presque Isle State Park instead of at Shades Beach. "We have four boys that we're bringing it's always difficult to keep eyes on them when they're in the water playing lots of distractions around when you're at the beach so it's helpful to have the lifeguards to keep an extra eye on the boys."

Beaches 8 and 11 will open for swimming at 10:00 a.m., beaches 3 and 6 will open at noon.

North said the best advice for those planning to swim is to arrive at Presque Isle early for parking and to find a spot on the sand.

If you spend time at a non-guarded beach -- you can bring your dogs to the water's edge, you can fish and you can wade up to your knees, but swimming is off limits.

Water World and Waldameer Park rides and attractions will have matching hours on July 4th, opening at 11:00 a.m. and closing at 7:00 p.m. Gorman said because of bad behavior after dark in the past, the close Waldameer early on the holiday and no longer offer a fireworks display.

The Waldameer ticket booth opens at 10:30 a.m., so once again, arriving early according to Gorman, is a good plan.