Pearl Harbor Tour Question

dairyou

DIS Veteran
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Jul 25, 2003
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We are going to Aulani 1/4/15. On our last day back to the airport we are going to Pearl Harbor. I understand there are 2000 free tickets a day. Does anyone know if I get there around 9 or 10, will there still be free tickets?

Thanks!
Deb
 
I agree with Jean. I wouldn't take a chance. I'd reserve tickets ahead of time.
 
The other problem is that the tickets are for set times to go out to the memorial. If you are on the way to the airport then it sounds like you may not have the ability to wait around until later afternoon if that is what the available tickets were for. It's better to reserve ahead of time. As was mentioned the tickets are still free but they charge a convenience fee for handling the reservation.
 

thank you everyone! I have 4 young male adults coming with us. I don't know if they would want to do a whole tour. Hubby and I were thinking of going again the next time.

deb
 
thank you everyone! I have 4 young male adults coming with us. I don't know if they would want to do a whole tour. Hubby and I were thinking of going again the next time.

deb

As I mentioned the tickets are only to go over to the USS Arizona itself and isn't a guided tour per se in the way you may be thinking. There is a film to watch ahead of time and then the trip over and back from the memorial. The rest of the exhibits at the WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument are open for you to go thru as you wish and are unguided. Or they do offer headsets for you to rent to walk you thru but if you didn't want to take the boat to the memorial and just wanted to look around then you can stop in anytime and look around for as long as you wish.
 
I would not chance it. Order your tickets ahead of time. They are free except for a $1.50/ticket convenience fee.
http://www.recreation.gov/tourParkDetail.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=72369

Tickets for Jan. 4 aren't available yet. They are available 3 months ahead of time. Earlier times in the morning are better for parking. Parking is free but fill up.

Actually I think reservations open at 6 months because I ordered ours on Feb. 10th for August 10th (I just double checked my confirmation for the date because I knew I ordered them a long time ago).

OP if I were you and I knew I wanted to go at 10:00 then I would just order the tix as soon as possible for the date I wanted. As Jean said, they're free except for the convenience fee. The Arizona itself doesn't really take that long - your "young adult males" should be able to handle 90 mintues or so to visit the memorial which is really all the time you need if you're just doing the Arizona. NOTE tho that you have to show up an hour before your reservation time to check in or you risk forfeiting your tix so choose your tour time according to what time your flight is and what time you really want to get up and out of Aulani. It is a very moving experience - you should definitely go!!
 
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From the website:

Book in advance online at www.recreation.gov to decide what time your tour begins! With a limited number of tickets available online each day, reservations fill quickly. Reservations may be made up to three months in advance. Reserve your tickets early. Reserved tickets must be picked up one hour prior to your USS Arizona Memorial tour. Unclaimed tickets will be reissued to the general public.
 
From the website:

Book in advance online at www.recreation.gov to decide what time your tour begins! With a limited number of tickets available online each day, reservations fill quickly. Reservations may be made up to three months in advance. Reserve your tickets early. Reserved tickets must be picked up one hour prior to your USS Arizona Memorial tour. Unclaimed tickets will be reissued to the general public.

Hummm.:confused3 Maybe ours was a different opening period for reservations because we included the USS Missouri?! All I can say to that is that I have my confirmation printed out and lying right here in front of me right now with a reservation # and barcode dated 02/10/2014 for an 8:45 AM "Passport to Pearl Harbor" on 08/10/2014. It is for 3 confirmed adults @ $55.00 pp + the reservation fees for a total billed to my MC for $169.50. That is definitely 6 months in advance that I reserved it. I am copying it below (xx'ing out my personal info).

Reservation 4-2088324
Date: 02/10/2014


LEEANN XXXXXXXXXX

Access your reservations online at Recreation.gov !

SIGN-IN: ___________________@hotmail.com
CUSTOMER INFO

PHONE: XXX-XXX-XXXX
NAME: LEEANN XXXXXXXXXX
ADDRESS: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
XXXXXXXXX, MD 20XXX
TICKET INFO

PEARL HARBOR HISTORIC SITES (USS Arizona)

Ticket Category: Individual

Tour DATE Tour NAME DELIVERY METHOD STATUS TYPE QTY RATE FEES
08/10/2014 Passport to Pearl Harbor
8:45 AM HST - USS Arizona Memorial
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM HST - Passport
3 Adult Confirmed Adult 3 $55.00 $165.00
Reservation Fee $4.50
Sub Total: $169.50
Total: $169.50
PAYMENT INFORMATION

*IMPORTANT BILLING INFORMATION: Recreation.gov - 888-448-1474 NY

PAST PAID: $ 0.00
PAYMENT TENDERED: $ 169.50
NEW AMOUNT OWING: $ 0.00
PAYMENT:
02/10/2014 MasterCard ************xxxx $ 169.50
DIRECTIONS

For driving directions to the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center, please visit http:// www.nps.gov/valr/planyourvisit.

TOUR NOTES

USS Arizona Memorial:
Tickets must be picked up one (1) hour prior to your tour. Unclaimed tickets will be reissued to walk-in traffic. Parking can be difficult so plan for traffic and allow time to find a parking spot at the Visitor Center.
Bags are prohibited at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center due to strict security measures so please pack lightly. You may store your bags in the storage facility near the Visitor Center entrance for a $3 fee per bag., Attention all teachers and school group coordinators: Please click here and follow the link for answers to FAQs, including what is expected of our student visitors and their chaperones.

Passport to Pearl Harbor:
One-Day Passport Option: A one-day Passport to Pearl Harbor allows you to visit all four Pearl Harbor Historic Sites and includes admission to: the USS Arizona Memorial with Audio Tour , to the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, the Battleship Missouri Memorial, and the Pacific Aviation Museum. Reserved Passports to Pearl Harbor can be picked up at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center's NPS Tickets and Information Desk.



Two-Day Upgrade Option: If you wish to extend your Passport to Pearl Harbor for a second day, you may purchase a $10 upgrade at the Visitor Center's Pearl Harbor Historic Sites' Tickets and Information Desk. The second day is valid for an additional seven days.

Please visit each site's own website for more details on planning your day(s) at Pearl Harbor.
 
We just went 3 weeks ago and we booked ours 6 months in advance as well.

We booked the passport to Pearl harbor which included everything.

The line we saw outside the entrance just before opening was huge. I was amazed at how many people were waiting for standby tickets!

Jim
 
The must have changed the dates. We went in June and I got our tickets 6 months in advance too. I only purchased the free (+service charge) tickets. But the website does now say 3 months.
 
I have a good tip to share :) We just arrived home this morning and were at Pearl Harbor last Thursday. Besides being there at 6:45am and still being about 500th in line (and the line easily multiplied behind us within minutes), we ended up getting tickets for the 11am boat ride to the USS Arizona. My friend and I had our babies with us and spent the almost 4 hours walking around.

At around 10:30 we headed over to the loading cue and discovered there was a standby line! We were so upset; had we known about this, we could have saved some of our sanity with the babies and jumped in this line first thing.

The standby line is up in the cue for the movie and boat launch. You wait and if a boat isn't fully loaded, they will put you on an earlier boat, no ticket even needed (at least they didn't take ours).

Also lucky for us, our movie had technical difficulties and quit halfway through, so they loaded us on the boat and took us to the memorial. We were there only about 10 minutes when the Navy said it was too windy and they were returning everyone to shore. 10 minutes was the perfect amount of time to pay our respects, take a few photos, and not have the babies get fussy.

So do look for the standby line to save yourself some time! :goodvibes
 



















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