DawnCt

We ahve been to Pearl Harbor and the Arizona (1998) but would like to return. I read a post recently concerning a family who arrived at 8 a.m. to find that all of the passes for the Arizona had been distribued for the day. Is this now typical or was it because it was near Memorial Day. What can we expect in the latter part of July? Thanks,

Carol47

Dawn,
I got me worried when I read your post, as we are spending one day in Honolulu just to see Pearl Harbour and so I called some numbers I found online to ask about this. It may not help you much, but she said that the Arizona opens at 7:30 am and the tickets are free on a first come first served basis. Nothing in advance. So I think we will get there plenty early. The Missouri tickets do not have a 'cap' so they are never sold out, and can be purchased in advance, online only. If you are AAA you can get 2 in for 1 price, but only at the gate. Thanks for the heads up on this as it helps my planning!

Kid74

Hi,

Just got back from Oahu (see my report) thought I'd offer a bit more. The parking lot actually opens at 7am and people get there that early and start lining up. My wife and I made it by 8:30am on a wednesday but it was packed. So we went to the swap market instead and came back the next day at 7:30am and it was fine. We waited about 20-30 minutes. Mahalo!

DawnCt

Thanks for the suggestions. I think with the busy summer season, a 7:30am arrival makes sense. We will do it on the first day while my internal clock is still set to EST.

KTinTX

OK, you guys have me "slightly" concerned about our trip now. We will be on Oahu for approx 12 hours on the last day of our trip (June 26). We arrive from Kauai at 8 a.m. and the plan is to pick up our rental car and go see the Arizona first thing. I would sure hate that to fall through. Any additional experiences/comments would be nice. Thanks.

KTinTX

Spokaneman

My expeience says that your timing is marginal. If you arrive at 8:00 am, by the time you get your bags, your car find your way out of the airport, and get to the parking lot, you will be getting there at 9;30 best case, 10:00 more than likely. The tickets could very well be fully distributed by then.

Any chance of going over the night before?

Carol47

The night before? Do you mean that they will distribute tickets for the next day, the night before? I could do that!

DawnCt

I think the poster meant that you should arrive in HNL the night before so you can be at Pearl Harbor by 7:30 am.

KTinTX

Spokaneman...

No chance of going over the night before, as that is only 2 weeks away and everything is booked (hotels/cars/planes...). Our plan will be to go and see, as that is the only item we have planned for the day, and be flexible but disappointed if we can't get in. We have a couple of friends that have done this exact plan on their last day while flying home in the past year....and our flight arrives earlier than theirs did, so I'll keep my chin up and hope for the best.

We can always drive over to Diamond Head, Pali lookout, etc to kill a few hours if things don't work out optimally.

KTinTX

mclaught

There's no reason to worry about it because it's something you can't control. Either the tickets will sell out early, or they won't. Sometimes they are gone by 9, sometimes you can show up at 2:30 and get a ticket. Nobody knows if tickets will be there on your day, so just get there as early as you can and hope for the best. We went in December, arrived at 9 and were watching the movie by 9:45. But even if all the tickets are gone by the time you get there, you can still walk around the museum and the grounds. I actually found the museum more moving than the memorial, for some reason.

DawnCt

I agree, the museum is equally as moving. When we were there in 1998, there was a survivor talking about his very moving experience. Also, the Missouri is there and we plan to visit that ship.

GenXer

I went to see the Arizona Memorial on Jan. of last year (Hawaii's high season is during the winter months). It was on a Sat. afternoon, there were long lines but didn't have any problems finding tickets. It was the weekend before the Pro Bowl.