Travis Au Young and daughter Kylee, 2 1/2, did their best to deal with the hectic shopping at Toys R Us in Pearlridge. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

All over O'ahu, stores and malls opened early on what many consider the biggest — or perhaps most hyped — shopping day of the year.

Some lines were long and some lines were really long.

At Circuit City in Pearlridge Center, nearly 3,000 people waited for the doors to open at 6 a.m. while at KB Toys in Ala Moana Center, 150 people were waiting at 4:30 a.m. with half an hour of toe-tapping to go.

Jenna Kaopuiki and two other friends from Makaha got up at 3 a.m. to make the trek to KB Toys. They were among the first people in the store when it opened.

"Our families are big and the sales are good," said Kaopuiki, surrounded by half a dozen large toy-filled bags. "Now, is this going to fit in the car?"

Elizabeth Smith spent an hour and a half going through the store.

"I made it," Smith said to no one in particular as she plopped down two heavy shopping bags on the sidewalk outside KB Toys.

She said there were still plenty of bargains, good news for the rest of the line.

"It was pretty organized, but it is still crazy, yeah," Smith said. "Overall it wasn't too bad."

But she was far from finished.

"No, no, no!" she said.

Down the street at Sports Authority, David Kahoaka arrived at 6:30 a.m. — not 4:30 a.m. like he did the same day last year.

"I didn't see any ads," said the 29-year-old pilot from Papakolea. "Not like last year."

He spent more than $500 last year, buying mountain bikes and fishing poles. The line to get in went out the door and wrapped around the building.

This year the line wasn't so long, workers said, but the deals were still good on items such as canopies, pocket bikes, golf clubs and folding chairs.

This time Kahoaka came without a Christmas list, though he didn't discount buying gifts. He plans to hit Wal-Mart and Comp-USA later today.

"If I see something for someone, I'll buy it," he said. "But I've got nothing in mind."

Some of the most determined shoppers were at Pearlridge Center. People like Rose Lagador and Derek Iha, who stood in line for 8› hours at Toys R Us. They arrived at 8:30 p.m. yesterday so they could be the first people through the front door when the store opened at 5 a.m.

About 500 other shoppers lined up behind them, most ready with their blue carts and nearly all of them on a mission.

The couple camps out almost every year to shop for their three kids. On this year's list: Lego and games for Nintendo's GameBoy Advance.

"It's a thrill," said Lagador, 32. "We come for good deals and good prices."