RON Parking at Walmarts?

[FL420]

Originally Posted by ThePowells

The only bad part(s) about Quacker Barrel is often the RV spaces are too short for almost anything with a Toad or a mid-large DP.

Every Cracker Barrel I have stopped at has parking in the rear with about a half dozen spaces wider and longer than spaces intended for cars. They are clearly marked with yellow paint and the words "RV-BUS" in each space. They are 45 feet long, the legal maximum for tour busses and RVs.
My 40' long coach is 44' long with the motorcycle carrier on the back and fits nicely. With the tow dolly attached our rig is 51' long and if the toad is on the dolly the rig is 61' long. Too big.
If we plan to eat and run(no, not dine and dash) I look for enough empty spaces against the curb at the back of the property for a quick lunch or dinner. They are usually available.
If we arrive at dinner time and plan on staying overnight I remove the toad from the dolly and the dolly from the coach. I then attach the dolly to the toad and put them both into a car parking space. Most big bubba pickups are longer than our toad with dolly. Backing the dolly has become second nature. The back up camera helps.
We then go in for a nice dinner, have a nice chat with the manager, have a good night's sleep and usually go back in for breakfast before hooking up and hitting the road.

[MRUSA14]

Originally Posted by FL420

Every Cracker Barrel I have stopped at has parking in the rear with about a half dozen spaces wider and longer than spaces intended for cars. They are clearly marked with yellow paint and the words "RV-BUS" in each space.

Except that you will often find cars, vans or pickups parked there making RV parking impossible. Walmarts don’t have this problem.

[FL420]

Originally Posted by MRUSA14

Except that you will often find cars, vans or pickups parked there making RV parking impossible.

So true. What really bugs me is when the RVer's toad is the car using another RV-BUS space making it unavailable for a tired late-arriving RV driver.

[Kurtsara]

Originally Posted by FL420

Every Cracker Barrel I have stopped at has parking in the rear with about a half dozen spaces wider and longer than spaces intended for cars. They are clearly marked with yellow paint and the words "RV-BUS" in each space. They are 45 feet long, the legal maximum for tour busses and RVs.
My 40' long coach is 44' long with the motorcycle carrier on the back and fits nicely. With the tow dolly attached our rig is 51' long and if the toad is on the dolly the rig is 61' long. Too big.
If we plan to eat and run(no, not dine and dash) I look for enough empty spaces against the curb at the back of the property for a quick lunch or dinner. They are usually available.
If we arrive at dinner time and plan on staying overnight I remove the toad from the dolly and the dolly from the coach. I then attach the dolly to the toad and put them both into a car parking space. Most big bubba pickups are longer than our toad with dolly. Backing the dolly has become second nature. The back up camera helps.
We then go in for a nice dinner, have a nice chat with the manager, have a good night's sleep and usually go back in for breakfast before hooking up and hitting the road.

what is a big bubba pickup?

[BarnicleBill]

Joe & Annette, "RON" is a military term "Remain Over Night". When traveling essentially a one night stop!

[BarnicleBill]

Thanks to all who replied. Great info and lots of great recommendations to track which Walmarts do/don't. We plan on utilizing some while adhering to the Walmart etiquette!

[Dom]

Originally Posted by FL420

More like inconsiderate people, regardless of means, often take up a lot more space than they need. Me, I often pull into a Cracker Barrel just to eat. It would be nice to find a space to park when I do that. I have had to pull out and pass on eating at one of our favorite restaurants for that very reason.
Glad to hear you are so socially aware and responsible though.

Ditto, Ditto, Ditto

[FL420]

Originally Posted by Kurtsara

what is a big bubba pickup?

The biggest, widest, longest pickup a bubba can buy loaded with aftermarket bling bought to impress the girls instead of doing an honest day's work. Often found in Walmart parking lots serving as an obstruction to vision for anyone parked near it.

[ThePowells]

Originally Posted by FL420

Every Cracker Barrel I have stopped at has parking in the rear with about a half dozen spaces wider and longer than spaces intended for cars. They are clearly marked with yellow paint and the words "RV-BUS" in each space. They are 45 feet long, the legal maximum for tour busses and RVs.

Florence SC and one on I-75 above Tampa must be the exceptions. I had to D/C the toad and dolly in Fl and used other spaces against the curb in Florence.

[UTTransplant]

Originally Posted by KHBama

generator running at overnight Walmart/Cracker Barrel stays? Is that a big no no? We just bought a toy hauler with onboard generator so this is new to us

It certainly depends on the location. Generally no one will have trouble using a generator but stopping during the time most people sleep, maybe 9 pm to 7 am. However we have stopped overnight in Missouri in late June when the temp was still 90 degrees at 10:00. Everyone in the lot (7 or 8 of us) ran generators (RVs) or engines (semis) all night. Semis rather routinely run their engines all night year around. That is the only time we have had to run a generator overnight, but we don’t travel often in hot climates that need AC. Generally I try to find a campground if I need AC, but there just wasn’t one available along our route that time. You do what you need to do, just try being polite.

[FL420]

Originally Posted by ThePowells

Florence SC and one on I-75 above Tampa must be the exceptions. I had to D/C the toad and dolly in Fl and used other spaces against the curb in Florence.

As someone who has priced real estate at a soon to become busy Interstate freeway exit I learned it can be very pricey and the demand is high. Some CBs may not have been able to aquire all the land they would like.

[rv7630]

Originally Posted by UTTransplant

It certainly depends on the location. Generally no one will have trouble using a generator but stopping during the time most people sleep, maybe 9 pm to 7 am. However we have stopped overnight in Missouri in late June when the temp was still 90 degrees at 10:00. Everyone in the lot (7 or 8 of us) ran generators (RVs) or engines (semis) all night. Semis rather routinely run their engines all night year around. That is the only time we have had to run a generator overnight, but we don’t travel often in hot climates that need AC. Generally I try to find a campground if I need AC, but there just wasn’t one available along our route that time. You do what you need to do, just try being polite.

I agree with this and the earlier guidance about it being more art than science. Personally, my "quiet hours" are 10P - 8A, but YMMV. The main rule is be aware and be considerate.

If you expect to run your generator overnight and the parking lot is pretty empty, consider either parking a little bit away from other RV's or towards any semis running their generators.. It's not always possible, but would be appreciated by your fellow RV'ers. Several times I've been woken by big DP's that pulled into a nearby space and then ran their generator all night. Please don't be like them. Enjoy your travels!

[rv7630]

Originally Posted by theroc

BarnicleBill, I've been a member of a Yahoo Group that's called WalmartRVing for over 15 -years. It's just one of many sources that discuss and compile the list of Walmarts that allow overnight parking for RVers. The list gets shorter every year because of a variety of problems for which we really can't blame Walmart.

I've attached the most updated list dated 3/21/2019. However, if you'd like to keep getting updates, join the group ...go HERE

As others have said, there have been dozens of threads here at iRV2 (as well as other RV forums) discussing this. I'll give you a link of the google search page on threads on iRV2 that discuss this if you're interested going through previous conversations here on this forum.

walmart iRV2 site:www.irv2.com

The RV community owes a *big* thanks to groups like this who compile, update, and freely distribute this sort of data.

Comparing the current list to one from Oct-2016, an additional 129 Walmarts have become NOP. That's 1 per week and a 14.1% increase while net stores increased 1.4%. Over 1 in every 4 WM's are now NOP.

It's true that sometimes parking is allowed (tolerated?) even when signs say otherwise, but not always. I spoke with one manager who claimed the local police had been giving out tickets to overnight RV'ers. Has anyone else heard or experienced the same?

[theroc]

Originally Posted by rv7630

The RV community owes a *big* thanks to groups like this who compile, update, and freely distribute this sort of data.

Comparing the current list to one from Oct-2016, an additional 129 Walmarts have become NOP. That's 1 per week and a 14.1% increase while net stores increased 1.4%. Over 1 in every 4 WM's are now NOP.

It's true that sometimes parking is allowed (tolerated?) even when signs say otherwise, but not always. I spoke with one manager who claimed the local police had been giving out tickets to overnight RV'ers. Has anyone else heard or experienced the same?

Hi rv7630. Yes, I think many of us have "heard" of citations being issued at some locations. I'm not sure of that myself but as the various posts in this thread have indicated, the majority of Walmarts that have NOP policies are because of local ordinances prohibiting such practices. Therefore, if breaking those particular laws, I guess the RVer could be cited ...I don't know.

There was a discussion on one forum where somebody said that it was the store that could be cited for allowing overnight parking if there is an ordiance prohibiting it and NOT the individual doing the parking. It's private property and Walmart would have to call the police in order to have the offending party cited for trespassing if refusing to leave because local ordinances prohibiting it. I'll leave it to others that are more versed on the law to comment if this is correct or not.

But as I indicated in another post, in talking with Walmart managers, I've gathered that some stores will prohibit overnight parking because of problems they have experienced even though NO local ordinances prohibit it. And even though it is the policy of Walmart corporate offices to permit and even encourage one-night overnight parking for RVers, I've gathered that ultimately, it is the decision of the local store management as to what they want to allow. For instance, if they have a lot of RVers or overnighters abusing the welcome because of a variety of reasons, they can override the corporate policy and prohibit it at that particular store.

That's why many of the posts here have indicated that even though you see those NOP signs posted or a store is designated as such, many times if you call the store manager or go inside and ask to meet with the manager in charge at the time to at least ask about their policy at that particular location, many times they will allow you to spend the night and often will put you in a designated area of the parking lot where they more easily can monitor the activity in that section.