Pearl Harbor tour: what time?

[sgrap]

What time do people recommend scheduling their Pearl Harbor tour? I know early-ish is better heat-wise. We will be staying in Waikiki the first 2 days, and we will be going to Pearl Harbor on a weekday. Also, how long do I need to plan for traffic from there? How long ahead of time do we need to show up when we reserve tickets online? I need to reserve my tickets on this Thursday morning online, so trying to get all my ducks in a row and do a practice run tomorrow. We are west-coasters, so we won't be up quite as early due to the time change as the east-coasters. We also have 2 slow-to-rise 20-year olds and 1 slow morning moving teenage daughter (plus one morning girl, for now at least! ). So my desire to fight getting them all out of bed super early the first morning of vacation isn't too great. Thanks for any recommendations.

 

[buffettgirl]

Do you have tickets already, or are you going to reserve them? I'm just rereading your post and I am not sure.

So getting out of Waikiki, to the highway, there's always traffic, doesn't matter what time of day as the roads are narrow and traffic lights are the most weirdly timed things, ever. Plan at least 15 min or more to get from your hotel to the actual highway, maybe 30 or more if you're getting to the highway during rush hour. But, once on the highway you'll be fine, as you'll be going opposite most other commuter traffic in the morning. Traffic will be completely clear for the rest of the day until about 3:30 -4:00 or so which is when you'd hit rush hour (in both directions unfortunately)

Your best bet might be anytime after 10. Other than the downtown traffic, which never goes away, you'll get there in about 10 minutes.

As for how far in advance you need to show up, I can't remember, I think it says online. Also, no bags at all.

 

[sgrap]

Do you have tickets already, or are you going to reserve them? I'm just rereading your post and I am not sure.

So getting out of Waikiki, to the highway, there's always traffic, doesn't matter what time of day as the roads are narrow and traffic lights are the most weirdly timed things, ever. Plan at least 15 min or more to get from your hotel to the actual highway, maybe 30 or more if you're getting to the highway during rush hour. But, once on the highway you'll be fine, as you'll be going opposite most other commuter traffic in the morning. Traffic will be completely clear for the rest of the day until about 3:30 -4:00 or so which is when you'd hit rush hour (in both directions unfortunately)

Your best bet might be anytime after 10. Other than the downtown traffic, which never goes away, you'll get there in about 10 minutes.

As for how far in advance you need to show up, I can't remember, I think it says online. Also, no bags at all.

Thanks--I need to get tickets online this Thursday and I'm trying to figure out what time to select. I thought it said online how much ahead of time you have to show up, but I could't find it tonight. Yes, thanks for the reminder about the bags.

 

[buffettgirl]

Ok thanks for clarifying. If you're picking your times, I'd go around 10 or so. Even 9:30 shouldn't be bad. It's really just getting out of Waikiki that's troublesome at that time.

 

[sgrap]

Ok thanks for clarifying. If you're picking your times, I'd go around 10 or so. Even 9:30 shouldn't be bad. It's really just getting out of Waikiki that's troublesome at that time.

OK, great. Thank you!

 

[buffettgirl]

Hope it works out well.

 

[vikequeen]

My question other than traffic is, how much do you intend to tour? if just the Arizona memorial, 10 will be fine. If you want to tour more, you may want to go earlier. We started at 8 and ended up spending about 6 hours there as we toured the Arizona, Bowfin and Missouri

 

[DCPhotoGal]

Thanks--I need to get tickets online this Thursday and I'm trying to figure out what time to select. I thought it said online how much ahead of time you have to show up, but I could't find it tonight. Yes, thanks for the reminder about the bags.

They say that you need to arrive more than 1 hour before your tour to pick up the tickets or they may redistribute them. Not sure if that is really the case. We picked up our tickets just about an hour before our tour and it looked like they weren't ready for us much before that. We did the 9am tour on a Sunday which meant we had to be there at 8 and left Aulani at 7:15. It was an early day! There is a lot you can do between when you pick up the tickets and your tour, though. At 8am there is a flag-rising ceremony which was interesting to view. There are a number of plaques you can read, and there is a museum area where we ended up spending time while we were waiting as well. The free tour takes about an hour, as it includes a movie and then a trip out to the memorial.

 

[sgrap]

My question other than traffic is, how much do you intend to tour? if just the Arizona memorial, 10 will be fine. If you want to tour more, you may want to go earlier. We started at 8 and ended up spending about 6 hours there as we toured the Arizona, Bowfin and Missouri

I think we are just doing the Arizona. My family is giving me no input, so it's hard for me to decide. I have a history major son, whose college graduation we are celebrating, but the rest of the family I think will run out of patience. Thanks for the input!

 

[sgrap]

They say that you need to arrive more than 1 hour before your tour to pick up the tickets or they may redistribute them. Not sure if that is really the case. We picked up our tickets just about an hour before our tour and it looked like they weren't ready for us much before that. We did the 9am tour on a Sunday which meant we had to be there at 8 and left Aulani at 7:15. It was an early day! There is a lot you can do between when you pick up the tickets and your tour, though. At 8am there is a flag-rising ceremony which was interesting to view. There are a number of plaques you can read, and there is a museum area where we ended up spending time while we were waiting as well. The free tour takes about an hour, as it includes a movie and then a trip out to the memorial.

Great, thank you!

 

[sgrap]

I did a practice run this morning to try to reserve tickets for June 6th. I got on before 10 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time so that I would be ready to order them right at 10 a.m., which is 7 a.m. Hawaii time. However, at 9:55 a.m. PDT, ( so 6:55 a.m. Hawaii time), it was already open and most of the tickets were gone. What time zone of 7 a.m. does it actually open? Now I am nervous about what time to start trying tomorrow, since obviously 7 a.m. Hawaii time/10:00 Pacific Daylight time is not correct.

 

[DCPhotoGal]

When I reserved mine a couple of months ago, they became available at noon EST. But that was before daylight savings time. Hawaii doesn't do DST, so it would be an hour different now (I think 1pm EST).

 

[vikequeen]

I think we are just doing the Arizona. My family is giving me no input, so it's hard for me to decide. I have a history major son, whose college graduation we are celebrating, but the rest of the family I think will run out of patience. Thanks for the input!

FYI, my kids are 8 and 11. We planned on only seeing the Arizona as well. I thought 2 hours max. Once we got there, they loved it and we stayed for 6 hours. (And my kids frankly stayed more engaged than I did . . .) So you might find you want to be there longer than you originally planned.

 

[vikequeen]

I did a practice run this morning to try to reserve tickets for June 6th. I got on before 10 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time so that I would be ready to order them right at 10 a.m., which is 7 a.m. Hawaii time. However, at 9:55 a.m. PDT, ( so 6:55 a.m. Hawaii time), it was already open and most of the tickets were gone. What time zone of 7 a.m. does it actually open? Now I am nervous about what time to start trying tomorrow, since obviously 7 a.m. Hawaii time/10:00 Pacific Daylight time is not correct.

I don't totally understand how these tickets work. We were able to reserve tickets 1 - 2 days before we arrived. We had to pay the "convenience fee" of $2 per ticket. But there was plenty of availability. And this was over spring break 2 weeks ago.

 

[WolfpackFan]

I don't really understand it either. We went to Pearl Harbor a few years ago and just bought the tickets when we got there. I guess they have gotten a lot more popular.

 

[twodogs]

They release 25 tickets per hour 60 days in advance. They release lots more tickets at 7am Hawaii time one day before. They have walk up tickets for day-of, but you may need to get there very early and still end up with a later time (and risk boats being shut down due to wind, surf). So you can get them many ways, but if you want to be sure you will get a certain day and time in advance, you need to book at 60 days.

I posted my experience booking at 60 days out this weekend on the other thread. It was 1pm EST or noon my time CST, as OP said. But that would be 10am PST so not sure what was going on for you today??

 

[twodogs]

There is a $1.50 fee per ticket, even when booked 60 days in advance.

 

[sgrap]

Update: the tickets were available at 10 a.m. PDT. Strange, most of the slots that were supposed to open today were not showing that they would be available even yesterday. Maybe they have tours or something that already took those slots? There was only 7 a.m., 8 a.m., 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., plus some later slots. The 15 minute increments did not open at all. But I was able to get my 6 tickets by signing on early and then the second it turned 10:00, I clicked and got them. I have no clue why they opened up before 10 a.m. PDT yesterday. I tried at 9 a.m. today just in case and they weren't available yet. Strange, I guess it will stay a mystery! Thank you all for your input.

 

[twodogs]

sgrap, So glad you got your tickets. I have been checking for a while, and usually it is only the "On the hour" tickets for the morning. The only ones I have ever seen offered that were not right on the hour were the ones later in the day (after 2pm maybe). Maybe they hold the other tickets for same-day release? In any case, I only had the option of 8am, 9am, etc as well this weekend when I booked mine.

 

[NancyDVC]

Remember the no bags rule. There is locker storage for a $3.00 fee.
Has anyone done the audio tour? It sounds interesting for a history nerd like me. I am the one who reads ALL the signs and has to have as much information before I go as possible! Not to mention that I pick up pamphlets all the time.