You can reserve your tickets online at
www.recreation.gov (search for Pearl Harbor or USS Arizona) 60 days out. They are posted at 7:00 local/Hawaii time. They also post a batch at 7:00 AM the day before. There is the possibility of getting walk up tickets as well. This is less an option if you are going at a busy time. (Summer, weekends, or around December 7). We reserved at exactly 60 days out and also reserved the audio tour. The tickets are free but there is a $1.50/ticket fee online. The audio tour made the trip very worthwhile. It costs $7.50. It is digital so you can do the stops in any order. The audio tour includes taped stories told by actual survivors There is a lot more to see than just the Arizona.
The bag check is $3.00 per bag. Bring one large tote and you can put the smaller bags inside to check them. Cameras are okay but no camera bags. Don't forget your wallet/credit card so you can shop at the gift shop or get snacks. The ladies at the bag check were reminding everyone to take a wallet if they might want to shop. There are lots of volunteers as well as the park rangers to answer questions. DO NOT leave anything inside your car or in the trunk. Lots of break ins have been reported. There are signs to that effect in the parking lot.
We did meet 2 Pearl Harbor survivors who were sitting and greeting folks just outside the gift shop. They let us take pictures with them and answered questions. They also 'signed' autographs with an automatic ink stamp. (Remember these folks are in their 90s and tend to be frail.)
Be aware that if the weather is bad or the wind picks up the boats to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial may be canceled. The boats are operated by the Navy and they will cancel if they think that the wind is too high. This happens more often in the afternoon. (Even though the sailors/marines who run the boats look like they are about 12 years old they are active duty service men/women and this is their assigned duty. So don't mess with them.)
You can also get tickets to see the U.S.S. Bowfin (submarine) and the U.S.S. Missouri (where Japan signed the surrender) as well as the aviation museum. They will bus you to the Missouri and aviation museum because they are on Ford Island which is still an active duty base part of the Joint Base Pearl Harbor. You can see the Missouri from the park. It is moored near the Arizona.
If you are driving leave plenty of time to get there. The traffic into Honolulu is insane on weekday mornings. Stop at the valet desk at Aulani to get directions. They preprinted directions for everywhere you might want to go with the return directions on thee back of the card!
The World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument has a great Facebook page as well as lots of informaiton on
www.nps.gov (the National Park Service website.)
