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Old 08-12-2016, 09:35 AM   #29
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While i can certainly see the complaint from many long time RV'ers, as a New to me world i see no real issue with what i generally pay for a RV "SLOT" at a decent park. My example i use a lot is French quarter park. It is small, well maintained, fenced and security and cost Off season around $85 a night. It is also 4 blocks from Bourbon Street and the French Quarter. A hotel in that area (not even close to everything i have in my RV) is 2 to 3 times that price per night. I gladly pay the $250 for 3 quality nights there and the treat of being close enough to walk or bike the French Quarter. To me Fort Wilderness is the same deal, 12 nights there this coming summer for our trip is about $1000, I could not get even a Disney property for that price and have all the amenities of my coach, much less the room i have for Three of us in one of their rooms. I'll pay the higher price for some venues because that is still way cheaper than a hotel in that venue area. Then like many i enjoy the state parks and national campgrounds which are still relatively cheap to stay in for the Wilderness experience.
I totally agree

It continues to amaze me that there are still people out there that expect 1960 prices for campsites. I can remember when I was in school a graduate engineer was being paid $10,000.00 to $12,000.00 a year. The going minimum wage was $.90 per hour, and a new car sold for less than $2,500.00. The prices of campsites in Michigan ranged from $5.00 per night to $16.00 per night.

Today the average starting salary for a graduate engineer is over $66,000.00, the minimum wage is over $7.00 per hour, and the price of a new car averages around $33,600.00. Today the same campsites in state parks cost $5.00 to $65.00 per night. If you want the same "primitive" site that was available in 1960 for $5.00 it's still available. However if you want a full hookup site with WIFI and all the other amenities that are expected today you'll be paying closer to the $65.00 price tag.

How can you expect a campground owner to make a living charging the same or lees than a site in a state park?
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Old 08-13-2016, 05:23 PM   #30
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It is getting a little on the ridiculous side but as long as we keep paying, there is no reason for campgrounds not to keep raising.
I did not read all the post in the thread but this sums it up............stop paying.

as long as campers keep paying for full hokk ups and wifi (that sucks) water, pools, and cable tv. they will keep jacking the rates
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Old 08-17-2016, 06:42 PM   #31
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Without considering State Parks.....one is Lucky to find decent sites for less than $60/night out the door these days. Of course, there are plenty of "discount" programs that can be utilized is one feels like waggling through the "this-night-if the-next-night- is-a-full-moon" sort of thing...... {wink}. The parts of the country we travel are Midwest/ East coast/Florida. MHO



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Old 08-17-2016, 07:09 PM   #32
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Without considering State Parks.....one is Lucky to find decent sites for less than $60/night out the door these days. Of course, there are plenty of "discount" programs that can be utilized is one feels like waggling through the "this-night-if the-next-night- is-a-full-moon" sort of thing...... {wink}. The parts of the country we travel are Midwest/ East coast/Florida. MHO



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Have been RVing for 12 years and have stayed in hundreds of campgrounds and have never paid $60/night.
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Old 08-17-2016, 11:40 PM   #33
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Without considering State Parks.....one is Lucky to find decent sites for less than $60/night out the door these days.
I bet I could find you many very nice sites for under $60. If you're planning on full-timing in the future your money won't last long if you continue to pay $60.
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Old 08-18-2016, 06:49 AM   #34
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As other posters have stated, prices will go up! It is a fact of supply and demand, etc. here in the Midwest land prices go up as farmers look for more to farm, as more rv'ers enjoy the lifestyle, site prices will rise. A number of years ago we stayed in a KOA in the Tetons, a class A next to us paid $100 to park that night(6 people, 2 dogs). He was complaining, but the other side of the coin was that the campground owner said it was the last year of operation. He was selling the place to a developer because he couldn't afford not to! I too cringe at paying more than $35 a night, I like low prices (hence my user name). I enjoy state parks, COE, and USFS, but, when the DW wants to go to a location that costs more, we will have to pay. It takes a bit of searching to find those lower prices, and sometimes they are just not there, but, I'd much rather stay in my 5th wheel than in a motel/hotel where someone else slept the night before.
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Old 08-19-2016, 05:35 AM   #35
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F117pit: Congratulations.
Gypsies: Yes, I will last. Budget allows.

I am not alone in the statement I made. I have found sites less than $60 in my 16 years of RV'ng. Since the "crash" of 2008, there has been a notable increase in sites; this I can compare to sites stayed in the past as well. Perhaps I should have clarified this.....what I said was one is LUCKY ...or perhaps determined....to find decent prices.....the cheap/reasonable sites ARE getting fewer and further between. Someone posted that you get what you pay for. Absolutely true. I have done my share of Walmart stays and boondocking. Not a stranger to the way this works.


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Old 08-20-2016, 06:15 AM   #36
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis Dean View Post
While i can certainly see the complaint from many long time RV'ers, as a New to me world i see no real issue with what i generally pay for a RV "SLOT" at a decent park. My example i use a lot is French quarter park. It is small, well maintained, fenced and security and cost Off season around $85 a night. It is also 4 blocks from Bourbon Street and the French Quarter. A hotel in that area (not even close to everything i have in my RV) is 2 to 3 times that price per night. I gladly pay the $250 for 3 quality nights there and the treat of being close enough to walk or bike the French Quarter. To me Fort Wilderness is the same deal, 12 nights there this coming summer for our trip is about $1000, I could not get even a Disney property for that price and have all the amenities of my coach, much less the room i have for Three of us in one of their rooms. I'll pay the higher price for some venues because that is still way cheaper than a hotel in that venue area. Then like many i enjoy the state parks and national campgrounds which are still relatively cheap to stay in for the Wilderness experience.
Fort Wilderness is a good deal if you do not use the park. Using a park hopper for three of us and the campground was about 2,300, plus an offsite golf cart this summer for us.
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Old 08-20-2016, 07:24 AM   #37
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Every time I read one of these costs of 'camping' is priced out of sight threads, I get huge laugh. That laugh is especially loud when I see what so many of these gloom and doomers are 'camping (glamping?) with - 6 figure RVs. It's OK to pay 150-750,000 bucks or more plus the cost of whatever you are hauling behind it but it isn't worthwhile for a campground owner to earn himself a reasonable living, pay his taxes, employ some help, maintain and upgrade his property and perhaps a make a few bucks for his investors, particularly if his season is short and/or weather driven. I don't want all of the amenities, but many folks do - so we all end up paying for them if we want that location - which we all know is a driving force for where we stay. I don't like paying big bucks beyond what I've mentioned either. I do try to do some homework so I don't have to help fund that location, location, location or that Olympic size swimming pool or mini golf course I wont use or...... As someone else said above, years back things were cheaper - but were they really in comparison to your income or personal wealth?
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Old 08-20-2016, 07:08 PM   #38
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I don't complain about the costs...but the prices have increased over the last 4 years since we started full timing. We had expected, based upon blogs and observations in this forum site, one could expect prices of 25-30 a night, discounts for staying week or longer, use of Passport America (especially during the week), some boon docking, etc etc.

Not exact, but IMHO prices have on average increased 15-25% on average. This is no doubt due to demand, based upon the number of people entering the lifestyle. State parks are going up too, particularly in those states that hire reservation firms to manage their reservations (again, increasing costs to the $35-45 range, and in many cases, with no discounts for longer stays).

One way to combat costs is to control costs through ownership in places where you want to Summer or Winter. That is the path we chose; then we travel 3-4 months a year from those two home bases to places we want to see during the "hump" seasons when there are less crowds, particularly foreign visitors (no issue here, so don't read anything into this, but when multiple tour buses roll in, things get crowded). Many times this is when the places you want to see are their most beautiful.

So my bottom lie, find a solution that works for you...and enjoy your depreciating asset. It is depreciating much faster than campsites are going up. And when your going to a "hot" tourist area, relish in the thought that you're paying less than a hundred a night when some folks are paying $300 for a hotel room. FWIW, we had great time in Nashville at a campground that was $60/night with a shuttle that took you downtown for $10 both ways. Had a ball and likely save $300 a night versus a downtown hotel.
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Old 08-20-2016, 07:25 PM   #39
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There are many ways to save if you don't need a lot of amenities. Join the Elks, The Moose, etc. Stay at Fairgrounds and City / County Parks.

Buy a Passport America discount card.
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Old 08-20-2016, 07:34 PM   #40
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I started a similar thread (site costs) because we were shocked at a $500 quote for two nights at the Nemacolin resort in PA (laurel highlands / ohiopyle / falling water area). Weekend / high season - but come on, it's rural PA! We stayed less than 5 miles away for less than $50 per night. State park campgrounds would have been even less, but I think our rig would have trouble with the twisties, hills, small sites, and low trees.
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Old 08-20-2016, 08:25 PM   #41
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State park campgrounds would have been even less.
Those in this thread who have posted about State parks and COE campgrounds must not have tried to book sites at these places recently during the summer season, particularly for any sites with hookups. Getting a FHU site at a State park or COE site over a weekend has been nearly impossible unless you booked months in advance. The same goes for Canadian national parks and improved sites in US national parks.

My wife and I don't pretend that we are camping. We look for pleasant FHU sites whenever possible. Lately, this has meant planning our trips far more in advance to secure reservations at the parks we wanted. And that's with the assumption that the average park is now ~$45 (with tax) with some being significantly higher.

Fortunately, as others have mentioned, we have purchased a winter site in TX so we can stay for ~6-7 months on our own property with an electric rate of ~9 cents/kWh.
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Old 08-21-2016, 02:46 PM   #42
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Wow! Our S&B is just north of San Diego. Who is getting $150 for two nights? That is outrageous. When we have visiting friends, I recommend Santee Lakes (In Santee, CA). It is very centrally located. The SD Zoo or the beach are just 20-30 minutes away. Their rates are $43-$53 per night week days. Another friend stays at the Del Mar Fair Campground. It is 5 minutes from the Pacific Ocean. It is just a parking lot with 30a FHU's. I think he pays$40/night. Lastly, I've stayed at Pechanga RV a Resort. It is 40 minutes north of San Diego. Very clean. Adjacent to the Pechanga Casino, a spectacular golf course (Journey), and the vineyards of Temecula. I hope that you enjoy your visit to San Diego. There is so much to see and do here. PM me if you have any questions. I will do what I can to answer them.
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