The close proximity to the parks, the express passes and water taxi are worth it for us. We stayed at the Hard Rock in February of 2022 as a family of four. It is a really nice resort, but we spent our time at the parks, we walked through the resort, saw the pool, ducked into the Rum Club for a minute to check it out, and that was it. We stayed at Sapphire Falls in 2021 for our anniversary trip. Honestly, for the price that Sapphire Falls charges and the few amenities that they provide there, compared to the price that Hard Rock charges and the amenities there, Hard Rock is a much better value. But if you're going for 2 or 3 days and going to both parks, and don't want to wait in lines, you can literally save thousands by staying at hard rock. Not worth $150 or $200 per person for that. Basically just a line skip on Velocicoaster. Considering Hagrid's already ISN'T on express - we don't gain much from getting express passes.

In my case, we are just going to IOA during the day, and only for one day. So yes, while $350 a night sounds extreme compared to $175 a night at Aventura for example - if you want express passes, you're throwing away a ton of money by staying anywhere other than one of the premiere hotels and it's a screaming deal.

So by staying at Hard Rock for one night, you just got $1,600 in free express unlimited passes (2 days x 4 people x $200).

You arrive on a Friday morning, get your room key/express pass, then check out Saturday and go to the parks both days.Įxpress unlimited passes could be $199 per person per day, especially on the weekend. Let's say you and your spouse are sharing a double queen room with another couple. Nothing against Hard Rock - it's just that the financials basically work out where you have to maximize the value of the free express passes for it to be worth it. I always stay at Hard Rock, but this year we decided to stay at Aventura for HHN.

The price difference between where we usually stay, Sapphire Falls, and Hard Rock is… quite significant.

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