Parking and traffic are huge factors when it comes to the Hard Rock. Someone else said get those parking passes a day early but I would say get them ASAP, those prices become really outrageous really quickly.

Traffic can get pretty bad, but none more so than after the game. I’d say clear your whole schedule for the evening because even if you depart immediately after the game ends, you can expect your transit home to take 2-3x as long. As for before the game, it really depends where you’re coming from. Best practice it to add at least 60 minutes to however long you think it’ll take you, as traffic is incredibly variable depending on which lot you’re trying to access. Also, Hard Rock has a lot of food options so you’ll want some time to look around the stadium.

Make sure you’re only bringing clear bags/bottles to the stadium. I don’t remember if the bottles still need to be sealed or not but they definitely need to be plastic/clear.

At halftime, I usually don’t bother getting out of my seat unless I’m about to piss myself. Food lines are easily over 10 minutes long usually. This might be a bit TMI, but use the bathroom at your place before you go. Not only are the lines for stalls extraordinary at times, but the bathrooms themselves are pretty awful.

I’m not well versed about the tailgating situation, so hopefully someone else can provide some good details.

Last note: really try and get shaded seats. This should be easier because it’s a later-start time game, but it’s very easy for northerns to underestimate the effect of the SoFlo humidity and heat.

Enjoy the game! Hard Rock is a pretty nice stadium (at least relative to the sun life stadium days) and Dolphins fans tend to be a lot less annoying than other fans, so the environment won’t be too hostile.