Hard rock hotel price increase

[disneyfam1986]

Thanksgiving week last year we paid $520 a night for Hard Rock. This year the same dates is $1006 a night. That’s almost double. Do you think these prices are actually going to sell? And that is for the lowest room so it just goes up from there!

 

[Lewisc]

A 2 day, 2 park Express pass Thanksgiving week is $465 per person. The hotel is almost free if you have at least 2 in the room.

Some people book ghost rooms.

Compare rates between Sapphire and Royal Pacific. The difference between the 2 is the included Express Passes. That gives you an idea as to what value customers put on the included Express passes.

The rates might come down BUT the rates won't if famlies are booking the hotel as an alternative to paying $$$ for Express passes

A King room at Portofino is less expensive then 2Q. Express for 2 instead of potentially 4

 

[disneyfam1986]

A 2 day, 2 park Express pass Thanksgiving week is $465 per person. The hotel is almost free if you have at least 2 in the room.

Some people book ghost rooms.

Compare rates between Sapphire and Royal Pacific. The difference between the 2 is the included Express Passes. That gives you an idea as to what value customers put on the included Express passes.

The rates might come down BUT the rates won't if famlies are booking the hotel as an alternative to paying $$$ for Express passes

A King room at Portofino is less expensive then 2Q. Express for 2 instead of potentially 4

I understand what a great deal the express pass is! But that does not explain the nightly room rate for the same room and same nights doubling in just one year!

 

[Lewisc]

I understand what a great deal the express pass is! But that does not explain the nightly room rate for the same room and same nights doubling in just one year!

The rate may come down BUT

an increasing number of internet educated guests are booking Universal Hotels as discounted express passes. What you think is an expensive hotel rooms others think is discounted express passes.

How did Universal charge for Express Passes last year.

 

[disneyfam1986]

The rate may come down BUT

an increasing number of internet educated guests are booking Universal Hotels as discounted express passes. What you think is an expensive hotel rooms others think is discounted express passes.

How did Universal charge for Express Passes last year.

I don’t remember. But I get it we stayed at the Hard Rock in 2023 and 2024 because it gave us express pass. But now with the price per night practically doubled instead of 4 nights there we would probably do 2 get our express pass for 3 days then switch to a Hilton.

 

[FallsChurchDad]

Yep, between Epic and Volcano Bay, Express Pass is useless for a good chunk of even a fully-Universal vacation. Even at IoA, if you rope drop (and skip Hagrid), it's pretty easy to stay ahead of crowds in the morning, such that you can have a very fun day without spending much time in line, without Express Pass.

So at the current prices, it is impossible to justify spending a long stretch of vacation at Royal Pacific, Hard Rock or Portofino. We really only benefit from Express Pass for maybe two days of the trip, if that.

What makes the most sense is to stay in one hotel for the long stretch but get one "throwaway night" at Royal Pacific, for two days of EP.

I guess that's what many people are doing now. It's a shame because those deluxe hotels are really nice, and apart from EP, it's such a luxury to be an easy walk/boat ride from the parks.

 

[tony67]

Thanksgiving week last year we paid $520 a night for Hard Rock. This year the same dates is $1006 a night. That’s almost double. Do you think these prices are actually going to sell? And that is for the lowest room so it just goes up from there!

Don't know your dates and what tickets your are getting but did you price it with an AP rate?

Not sure if your doing a week or two nights but for I week I see it at around $730 a night with an AP rate.

Also with Epic I am not surprised at all - more people are going to Universal than ever. There are dates where Epic is sold out every months for the next several months - just dates here and there - but still far more than I would have expected

I normally pay around 100 a night in October for Dockside on an HHN solo trip - this year its 160.

 

[disneyfam1986]

Don't know your dates and what tickets your are getting but did you price it with an AP rate?

Not sure if your doing a week or two nights but for I week I see it at around $730 a night with an AP rate.

Also with Epic I am not surprised at all - more people are going to Universal than ever. There are dates where Epic is sold out every months for the next several months - just dates here and there - but still far more than I would have expected

I normally pay around 100 a night in October for Dockside on an HHN solo trip - this year it’s 160.

Thanksgiving week Mon- Friday. No I don’t have AP. But if it’s that much of a discount it may be worth getting one!

 

[tony67]

So its 800 a night right now for 2 adults and 2 children at HR for those dates.
(its 658 for RP - of 482 if its 2 adults only)

https://reservations.universalorlan...ls=&ada=0&currid=1&vouchercode=&attendeeCode=


Just keep in mind AP does not currently include Epic.
Also you need a pass that is not blocked for those dates - the power pass starts at 474 I think

 

[pinkxray]

Definitely keep an eye on the annual pass prices. It might be worth it to get one annual pass in your family to get a great rate. Check often. The pricing for the Universal resorts can change daily. We are staying at Royal Pacific the weekend before Thanksgiving and I was able to grab 2 nights there for $475 one night and $350 the other night. I haven’t seen a price that low since I snagged it back in May. The price for our first night right now is close to what I got for 2 nights.

They will most likely lower prices at some point depending on how full the resorts are. I don’t think Epic is having a huge impact. As nice as Helios looks, I think the resorts with expresses are still going to be more popular than Helios if going to the original parks too.

 

[jods]

Thanksgiving week Mon- Friday. No I don’t have AP. But if it’s that much of a discount it may be worth getting one!

I did that for my trip last week. We stayed portofino though. I bought a power pass AP for me and regular tickets for everyone else. Just check the black out dates and get the cheapest pass. I saved like 350-400 a night, the pass more then paid for itself.