Question to our Snowbirds

[MtManLee]

Have you ever gone to or called an RV park to get reservations or to stay there and they had no spaces available?

Did that irritate you?

Were you bothered by it?


The reason for the question was from trying to find a park to winter in last year and a lot of them were full. And it was irritating and kinda gets me irritated that one cannot find places to stay.
Now the biggest reason for this is the people that have bought the park models or an RV that they permanently leave and are coming down every winter to stay in the parks thus taking up all that extra space. Why not just buy a house or a condo so others can also RV and enjoy the snowbirding experience?
Park models and Permanent location RV is not fulltiming nor is it really RVing in my book. Is like buying a million dollar RV to take primitive camping. Thats not camping in my book.
I'm sorry if I have stepped on some toes here but I have also seen others in the forums complaining about people staying in RV parks in park models that make the RV park look like a ghetto or complain cuz the best sites are always taken by the permanents.
I would like to hear others outtake on this and again I apologize now to anyone who may feel offended.

[MtManLee]

Have you ever gone to or called an RV park to get reservations or to stay there and they had no spaces available?

Did that irritate you?

Were you bothered by it?


The reason for the question was from trying to find a park to winter in last year and a lot of them were full. And it was irritating and kinda gets me irritated that one cannot find places to stay.
Now the biggest reason for this is the people that have bought the park models or an RV that they permanently leave and are coming down every winter to stay in the parks thus taking up all that extra space. Why not just buy a house or a condo so others can also RV and enjoy the snowbirding experience?
Park models and Permanent location RV is not fulltiming nor is it really RVing in my book. Is like buying a million dollar RV to take primitive camping. Thats not camping in my book.
I'm sorry if I have stepped on some toes here but I have also seen others in the forums complaining about people staying in RV parks in park models that make the RV park look like a ghetto or complain cuz the best sites are always taken by the permanents.
I would like to hear others outtake on this and again I apologize now to anyone who may feel offended.

[Moder2]

Lee & Fran,

First off, to answer your question, Yes, we have called places that have been full, and we may have been disappointed, but I can't say I was irritated, or angered by that. The reason we called is to reserve a spot, so we would have a spot.

We feel, in today's age of Cell Phones and Internet, there is really no reason to arrive anywhere without a reservation if the place takes them. From the point of view of a work camper, I find it especially annoying when we have drop in's at the park I work at and I don't have the perfect site for the traveler, and he/she whines about it. It's not my fault you didn't call.

As far as Park Models and Long term'ers... Well, All I gotta say is different stroke's for different folks. It isn't my place to say what a certain park chooses to allow happen. I prefer to be in a more transient park, but destination parks, and even those that cater to longer term residents can be fun too. We are in a situation where we tend to have to be in one spot of extended periods since we are working, and see a need for all types of campers accommodations. My best advice, is if you don't like it, start your engine and move on.

Unfortunately what I think you might be experiencing more-so than parks filling with park models and long term'ers is that the parks in some of the hotter area's of the country are simply closing and forcing a lot of that business in to the remaining parks. FL is a good example of this, where a number of parks were sold to condo developments and are no longer in the RV business. I hate to see this, but I can also sympathize with the owners of the parks who are most likely barely making ends meat with rising utilities, taxes, and a bigger demand for more services from travelers.

Derek and I are seriously looking at someday engaging into an RV Park type business somewhere, and when you start looking at what the costs are and returns for that type of business and the risks involved, you start to understand why many parks welcome long termer's at even drastically reduced rates. Income is Income in many cases, it might just mean survival of that business.

Lastly, no apology is needed, you are just voicing your opinion, even though I share a different one, you are certainly entitled to yours! RVing means many different things to MANY different people, which I think is one reason it has become a very popular pastime/lifestyle.

Safe Travels,

John

[paz]

We sometimes get annoyed when we can't get the reservations we want, but we just figure we will try to plan better next time. Most of our reservation problems occur for weekends during the summer. Holidays (Memorial Day, July 4th weekend, and Labor Day) as well as stays near popular tourist areas have to be reserved well in advance. Sometimes we don't know exactly where we will be well in advance.

Regarding Snowbird areas, most Snowbirds are not full-timers. Most are retirees who have stick houses somewhere in the north (a lot are from Canada) and they go to warmer locations for the winter. Wintering in an RV or park model is a lot less expensive than owning property. Most go to the same location year after year and make their reservations before they leave in the spring. Most of the campgrounds encourage this and even require it to guarantee your spot.

Many Snowbird campgrounds also encourage annual leases by their low off-season rates. This is a plus for the campground for the obvious reason they are guaranteed at least some income for the off-season when they might otherwise be mostly empty. It is also a benefit to the Snowbirds because they can erect a park model and just show up anytime they want and they don't have to worry about driving a large RV a long distance to get there. Even if they don't want the expense of a park model, they can put a storage shed on the lot and leave some of their things there and not have to worry about storing them back home.

That said, last year for the first time we stayed at one location for the entire winter. It was a Snowbird campground with probably less than 25% of the guests being full-timers. We made our reservations a week or two before we wanted to show up. Although the campground is normally booked up solid by the end of the previous season, they frequently have cancellations. We were able to easily get in on one of the cancellations. You can either plan way ahead and make reservations a year in advance or take a chance and try to get in at the last minute.

I agree, having to make reservations way in advance takes away some of the freedom and spontaneity of being a full-timer; but in some instances, it is necessary.

[AFChap]

It does bother me sometimes to see that what used to be RV Parks have become for all intents and purposes trailer parks. A few like that we have seen do at least keep a few sites aside for use by "real RVers" who are passing through.

As someone else mentioned, I suspect it is partically due to other RV parks & trailer parks being bought out/going away. I wonder too if it isn't easier zoning-wise to put in an RV Park vs a trailer park? -- whether or not it is, I'm pretty sure a park model trailer or an old RV of any kind is cheaper for someone with minimum funds to get into than a real trailer house, and even though I've seen some pretty run down RV parks, they do tend to be better than the average trailer park. And for the park operator, having spots full with less turnover makes the income more predictable and requires less paperwork. With land worth what it is in most cities, I don't know that there is any easy answer.

We don't "winter" or "summer" in any one place. We tend to stay no more than a month in on our "long" stops, and a week for most others. We rarely make reservations -- maybe once or twice a year if we know it might be wise and we really want to stay there.

[MtManLee]

Thank you for your responses. I feel better now knowing I am not the only one bothered by lack of places to stay.

[Bob (WA0MQE)]

Lee and Fran...

This is exactly why we purchased a lot of our own near Rockport, Texas. The lot is just across the street from the Mobile Home/RV Park we stayed at last winter. While there we noticed a for sale sign for a group of lots and ended up buying two of them (one was abit to small) to our liking. Anyway now we don't have to worry about reservations for the winter trips to the Gulf Coast. And we don't have to pay the $240 to $250 (maybe more by next season) per month to the RV Park.

[AFChap]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">And we don't have to pay the $240 to $250 (maybe more by next season) per month </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
You can get a place that cheap in that area!?!?!?!