Wilderness Permit back up plan

[OliverN]

I am planning a trip to Yosemite for my birthday at the end of July. The Itinerary is as follows.
Day 1: Happy Isles to Little Yosemite Valley
Day 2: Half Dome (BIRTHDAY!!!)
Day 3: Happy Isles to Little Yosemite Valley
I understand that I will need a Wilderness pass for the 2 night stay in Little Yosemite Valley campground. If I don’t get on the Wilderness Pass on lottery day I’ve read that I can possibly get the pass the day before “Day 1” at the Wilderness Permit Station. These are my questions:
1)Is the Wilderness Permit Station for Happy Isles Trailhead at the Yosemite Valley Wilderness Center?
2)What time should I be at the Wilderness Permit Station to better my chances to get the pass??

[AlmostThere]

I think you are confusing two permits. The Half Dome day permit has a lottery, the wilderness permits do not.

When you apply for a wilderness permit reservation, you have a box on the form to check to apply for a Half Dome permit - this is not the same as a day use permit. If you don't get the HD permit on your wilderness pass, you can attempt to get one in the lottery that coincides with your wilderness permit.

Apply 168 days prior to your start date if you wish to reserve. This is coming up soon! To attempt a walk in you need to show up the day before you want to start hiking. They start giving out those slots reserved for walk ins at 11 am on the day BEFORE. If you don't get a walk in, you can come back the following morning and try to get a formerly-reserved but abandoned permit (people often bail out on their own trips, and the permits are nonrefundable so there is no incentive to let the rangers know they are canceling). I believe they still start to give those out at 10 am. If you reserve a permit in advance, you can pick it up the day before or the morning of your backpack trip, but if you are arriving later than 10, you need to call and tell them to hold it, or it is released to the next person asking for it.

The valley office is the one with priority for walk ins for Happy Isles; with a reserved permit you can pick it up at any wilderness office.