Some people swear by removing the timing belt and not loosening the camshaft sprockets at all, and this method works just fine for them and they are able to get the belt off and back on again perfectly the same as it was before.
For me, (and it may have been due to not having the proper Ford alignment tool to start the job out with), I just could not get the slack out of the belt between the pullies. After breaking the cam sprockets loose I was able to get it tensioned perfectly and I completely eliminated the slack in between the top pullies.
I think your plan to pull it back apart and re-tension with the sprockets loose is the way to go. Just so you know I have no tap tapping of the belt going on in my '96.
Make sure you have a good breaker bar of some sort for those sprocket bolts. I had to grab about a 2 foot length of metal pipe and slide it over my socket wrench (sorry socket wrench) to crack those things loose. To make things even more fun, I think they are Torx bolts, so take your time and make sure you have the proper tools for the job. I'm sure you already know this, too, but make sure to use a camshaft sprocket holding tool and not the alignment tool or timing belt to hold the sprocket while you loosen/tighten the bolts.
Good luck!
