slippahs

It's all hit or miss. Tickets are issued by time slots and indicate on the ticket itself what time your slot is. Earlier you go (IIRC the park opens at 7), the earlier your time slot will be. But there's no way to gauge because it could be a really slow day at the park or a bad day. So you could probably swing by the Memorial and pick up tickets on your way out to Ko'olina but there's no guarantee that your tickets will be for the next hour.

KenfromDE

Emailed the Park Service yesterday asking for a GUESS on the last available ticket and surprise, surprise, no answer yet. Will post if received before you leave. Do you normally have good luck? If so, rent the car and drive directly there. All have to go in to get the tickets. (1 per person) No bags are allowed including pocket book or camera bag. As indicated above, if successful you should have time to do your business and return for the tour. And remember, thefts from cars are VERY common.

KenfromDE

Surprise, surprise, who could have seen that coming: No answer from a governmental dept. Not even "I have no idea!" I'd still give it a try. Let us know how lucky you were.

mbreuer

When I was there some years back, around this time in August, I believe they issued the last tickets of the day around 10:00AM.

Also, I think one hour for completion of the timeshare purchase is unrealistic. While I have no idea about the Marriott, essentially, you're closing on a real-estate transaction. If you read the stuff before you sign it (a good idea IMHO), you're probably talking a minimum of 90 minutes, assuming they're on time and uninterrupted.

smithrh

I've been to the memorial (not a park!) 3 times, the most recent being this last January.

Now, I think I was there on a weekday, but I know I arrived sometime after 2 PM and had no problems at all getting a ticket for the next showing in the theater/boat.

None of the 3 times I've been in the last 5 years have had any issue with getting tickets - but I have certainly heard that it can be quite crowded at any one time - especially weekends (as you indicate).

Please do give it a try - it's on your way either to or from the airport. Yes, you certainly have enough time to go through the museum, presentation and visit to the site.

jimjamkc

I was at Pearl last Thursday (8-7-08). My party of 7 arrived about 9 a.m. and got tickets for 10:30. By the time we gone done seeing the memorial and browsing the museum and the gift shop for the last time, all of the tickets were out for the rest of the day. I would estimate that was about 12/12:30. I think the last time they give out is 3 p.m.

We also did the Bowfin and the Missouri after the Arizona and they were incredible, but took us another 4-5 hours, as we really took our time and had already planned on making Pearl a full day event.

rlb

You might check with your timeshare- they might have a escorted tour going in the afternoon- They might be happy to comp. you tickets or sell you tickets- since you must be spending some money- I have heard the escorted tours do not have to wait or have pre-reserved tickets. rlb

Spent_All_My_Miles

Also did Pearl Harbor, Bowfin, Missouri as an nearly all-day event -- arrived on one red-eye from NRT, took off on another red-eye for MSP. You should have plenty of time, just pick up the tickets first.

loomis

Does anyone know what the slowest and busiest days are for the Arizona Memorial? I tried doing some searching on the 'net, but to no avail.

We are going in mid-December. TIA.

rparmfamily

It is busy everyday of the week really. My advice is to show up at about 10am and get tickets. You will have time before you start the tour to visit the other sites around the area.

Or you can hang out with about 200 other people around 7am to get in first at 0800.

studentff

Trip is a mileage run; I'll be in HNL from 8 p.m. on the 6th through 2:30 p.m. on the 7th. First time in Hawaii.

Any thoughts on if it would be a) doable and b) worthwhile to attend the likely commemoration ceremony? Any info on this year's specific events?

I can't find any info on this year's event, but I did find last year's. If the schedule is similar, it looks like I would not be able to do the normal/public Arizona memorial tour (first one was at 10:45--too late), but would be able to attend the commemoration (Expected return to visitor center was 10:00-11:00 a.m.)

I'd need to leave my carry-on bags somewhere nearby to make it work. Will the baggage-storage facility be open early enough to make the bus/boat to the ceremony? Any other logistical problems that would prevent me from doing it?

Will the event be a huge crowd draw, particularly since it's on a Sunday? I don't really like waiting in lines or cramming too much into a trip, but it seems a shame to pass up an opportunity to be there on the anniversary date in one of the last years there will be survivors. I'm tempted to just rent a car and spend the morning driving around sightseeing, but that seems, somehow, disrespectful.

Thoughts appreciated. And yes, I've seen the "less than 12 hrs in HNL" thread, but this seems to be a special case.

clover

This thread popped up in MyFlyerTalk due to today's post and saw mine from July so I thought I would update it with a report on my visit.

The Kitty Hawk was still docked when I arrived at the visitor center, though tours had been suspended since it was to leave later that afternoon. She was a pretty impressive sight with its aircraft parked on the deck. The wait was too long for the Arizona (which I'd done several times before anyway) so I headed directly to the Missouri. I was lucky enough to join a tour with only a couple of other folks, one of which was a former sailor from WWII. He'd served on a destroyer in the Pacific. Our guide was Jim (I think), who served on the Missouri just before it was decommissoned in 1955!

The tour was terrific and Jim was full of stories and even took us to a couple of cabins downstairs that are normally off limits. The tour concluded at the spot on the deck where the Japanese signed their surrender documents. I lingered for a while and noticed that a destroyer across the inlet from the Missouri was being backed out of its "parking place" and preparing to put to sea. As it turned to head out, I was stunned to see the Japanese rising sun flag flying off the stern and Japanese sailors arrayed on the deck in dress whites. And if that wasn't enough, I stayed on deck long enough to see 3 more Japanese destroyers/frigates leaving the harbor the same way.

I caught up to Jim and asked what was going on. He replied that they were here to participate in some exercises with our Navy a hundred miles or so off the Hawaiian coast. It was a pretty surreal sight to be standing on the Missouri's deck at the spot of surrender and see those ships pulling out one after another!

Two days later we were in taxiing to take off from HNL in a little go! airlines plane on our way to Lanai. Pilot turns around and tells us we will be waiting next to the runway for awhile because of a bunch of "arrivals" coming in. We sat on that taxiway for 20 minutes watching the Kitty Hawk's air wing flying in and heading to the hangers. We must have seen 20 or more fighters approaching at steep angles, landing and taxiing right by our position. They included F/A 18 Hornets and Super Hornets and at least one EA-6B Prowler.

It was a very cool sight and a great way to end our stay on Oahu. ^

Asiaorbust

How much time does someone need to get from HNL to the sites and do the sites?

Planning a few hours in HNL, and am hoping to visit pearl harbour and then takeoff.

Also would appreciate the cheapest and quickest way to handle the tour departing HNL.

SixString

I think I may have visited Pearl Harbor on the least busy day of the year. I visited on Dec 5, showed up at 915am and was promptly given a ticket for the 920am show. Even then, the theater was maybe 2/3 full.

The weather was great, the tour was great. I was expecting a huge wait, but thankfully had none at all.

cblaisd

Nice article on the Missouri in the current AAA Hawai`i magazine.