Confusion about touring USS Arizona
 

We will be visiting Hawaii next spring break, and I am trying to plan out a rough itinerary. Visiting the Pearl Harbor sights is a must, and I plan to buy the tickets online in advance. If I do this, will we still have to wait in this long line I keep reading about? I really do not want to wake up everyone before 6am to get there before the crowds start shuffling in, especially with 2 teenagers:/ Can someone clarify the process for me? Thanks!

When you purchase your tickets "online" you'll be given a specific date and time for your tour. You must pick up your tickets at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center at least 1 hour prior to your "program time". Use the time between when you pick up your tickets and your scheduled "program time" to visit the USS Bowfin, the USS Missouri and other exhibits.

Shortly before your appointed "program time" make your way to the "Arizona Memorial" theater where an announcement will be made asking ticket holders for that particular "program time" to queue up in the line for entrance to the theater for the showing of the orientation film. That's the only time you'll have to wait on a line. after the film, you'll be ushered out to the boats that will take you to the Memorial itself.

Ok, so if I purchase the tickets, and our tour is at 1pm for example, we can get there at noon, pick up the tickets and be ready to go at 1? I have read about people waiting for up to 3 hours, but they have not indicated if they had purchased the tickets online beforehand. Would you mind just clarifying a little more for me? Thanks!

Yes, you'll be given a specific "program time" - say 1PM. Pick up your tickets at least 1 hour prior to that time (you may encounter a short line, maybe 5 or 10 minutes at most, at the ticket pick-up point so factor that into you arrival time at the Visitor Center).

About 10 minutes prior to your "program time" the announcement will be made for you to queue up for entrance to the theater. YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to queue up prior to the announcement.

The long lines waits you hear about for those who arrive without pre-purchased tickets. In those instances a person might arrive at say 9:30AM and get a ticket with a "program time" of say 12:30Pm - thus having a 3 hour "wait".

Thank you for the clarification! I'm sure I'll have more Hawaii questions as I do more research. Looking very forward to this trip!

If you reserve your tickets online, then there is no line to wait for stand-by tickets. Plan at least 3 hours at the memorial to take in all the free exhibits. We preferred to tour the exhibits before the movie and ferry to the memorial to sort of get some historical background and set the tone. So we went about 1.5 hours ahead of time, then after the memorial we we spent another hour there. Enjoy your trip!