I played through the water temple the other day and it was a piece of cake and I found it to be a perfectly fun temple but for years I have been hearing unrestrained vitriol against it and I just can't see why.

Admittedly, I hadn't played through it since I was about 12 and couldn't really remember it very well but I don't remember having trouble with it back then either. If anything, I'd say that the water temple in Majora's Mask was way harder; I remember being stuck in that for ages.

So why does everyone hate it so much?

In the original N64 version, yo had to dig deep into the menus to get the boots that let you sink to the bottom before going back into the same menu do unequip them and then re-equip them for puzzle solving.

Also, it's a god damn water level

I never really had an issue with the water temple either. I think a lot of people's issue with it is what Yanngc33 mentioned. People don't like shuffling through the menu to equip the iron boots only to take them off 5 or less seconds later. I think this was addressed in the 3DS version though, since you can now assign the boots to one of the on-screen buttons and switch them on and off with little effort (at least that is what I have heard).

There's also a glitch in the original version where you can't get access to all the keys in the temple, which if it happens to you, you're fucked.  It happened to me, and after spending HOURS trying to find anything in the temple which could help (with the crappy boots and menu thing and all) I had to admit defeat and I never got to finish the game,

There was a spot in the temple where if you do something wrong then you can completely screw yourself over, and you'll never be able to finish the temple. Can't remember exactly what it was though. I think it was using keys in the wrong order or something?

I didn't have a problem with the temple either. I played it a year or two ago on the Wii (virtual console release).

Which is more than I can say for Wind Waker. I haven't beat that yet.

There's also a glitch in the original version where you can't get access to all the keys in the temple, which if it happens to you, you're fucked.  It happened to me, and after spending HOURS trying to find anything in the temple which could help (with the crappy boots and menu thing and all) I had to admit defeat and I never got to finish the game,

I always forget one or two keys and it just makes my life a living hell. Also the boot menu thing.

I had no problem in the Water Temple. As TC said, Great Bay Temple in MM was far harder (the whole game was harder in general). I did hear of that glitch, however, and I'm grateful that it never happened to me.
 
@the_hiro_abides said:

Which is more than I can say for Wind Waker. I haven't beat that yet.

I always thought the Water Temple difficulty was overblown. It's by no means easy, but it's far from unplayable and unbeatable.

In the original N64 version, yo had to dig deep into the menus to get the boots that let you sink to the bottom before going back into the same menu do unequip them and then re-equip them for puzzle solving.

Also, it's a god damn water level

@TekZero said:

@Yanngc33 said:

In the original N64 version, yo had to dig deep into the menus to get the boots that let you sink to the bottom before going back into the same menu do unequip them and then re-equip them for puzzle solving.

Also, it's a god damn water level

Sorry, but that's a terrible reason.

You enjoy water levels?

The water temple's fine, don't be a bitch.

I agree. People go on about it too much. I found the temples in MM way harder.

It's crazy how just reading about the Water Temple makes me want to go back and play this game again...and that's arguably the worst part of the game.

I've never had much trouble with this temple either.. but it can be easy to miss just one key, and because of the water level gimmick, it can be very difficult to find an area you haven't explored or to skip over one you think you've explored fully. 
The trick is to simply go back to each room with each different water level.  There's definitely much harder dungeons in other games in the series.

I played it when I was 23 and it never bothered me in any way.  It was years later when I learned I had actually had a terrible time.  In contrast, I hated the mini-game to get Epona so much I never finished it.  I played the entire game with no horse.

@YoungFrey said:

I played it when I was 23 and it never bothered me in any way.  It was years later when I learned I had actually had a terrible time.  In contrast, I hated the mini-game to get Epona so much I never finished it.  I played the entire game with no horse.

Is that even possible? What did you do in the part where you have to jump over the bridge in the canyon (towards the thieves area)?

Water Temple killed my father! And raped my mother!

Didn't mind it at all! One of my fondest memories from that game is the shadow Link fight.

The new markings that lead the way to the switches are pretty useful. Back in the day you had to memorize the location of each one, not impossible, but annoying. Also I noticed that when you raise the level of the water inside the central tower, and a hole in the ground is revealed because a floating platform is raised, the camera focuses on the hole. I guess this wasn't in the original, was it? I thought it would be pretty easy to miss if the camera didn't point it out.

I got stuck there when I was little, and I didn't return to Ocarina of Time until years later.

I don't think most people hate it because it was HARD (it wasn't that hard), but because it was the opposite of fun. Slow menus + having to put on/take off boots every five minutes = ffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

Water Temple made me quit playing the original. Greatest game of all time my ass.

Mostly just the length of time it took to equip iron boots and unequip them again along with constantly changing water levels. Got a little repetitive.