Walmart's Parking

[slickest1]

Then again, maybe Walmart will put pools in for overnighters to use. Naw!

[Dunner]

I wonder if any WMs are zoned for 30 Amp service. $10/stay or show a receipt for X # of WM $s spent, for free overnight parking.

[riverbender]

As a campground owner and an rv owner, I have never stayed in a Walmart lot, but i can see where staying overnight at a Walmart may save you some money, however, as a campground owner, struggling to earn a living and keeping up with all the state imposed regulations, like having x number of sinks, toilets and showers per x number of campsites regardless of the fact that most of those sites are occupied by rigs with their own bathrooms. We have to have dump stations and back flow preventers none of which are required of Walmart. None of the pages of regulations we must follow apply to the Walmart parking lot. I stay at campgrounds because I know they, like us, need the support of our campers in order to keep our parks open. Every time I read about another park closing, going under, or being sold for apartments or condos, I get nervous, it can happen anywhere! Well, maybe not to Walmart!

[2912N]

My understanding was that she could not drive the rig and it was towed as a private tow by security. It does not pay to piss people off.

[tncruiser]

Originally Posted by riverbender

As a campground owner and an rv owner, I have never stayed in a Walmart lot, but i can see where staying overnight at a Walmart may save you some money, however, as a campground owner, struggling to earn a living and keeping up with all the state imposed regulations, like having x number of sinks, toilets and showers per x number of campsites regardless of the fact that most of those sites are occupied by rigs with their own bathrooms. We have to have dump stations and back flow preventers none of which are required of Walmart. None of the pages of regulations we must follow apply to the Walmart parking lot. I stay at campgrounds because I know they, like us, need the support of our campers in order to keep our parks open. Every time I read about another park closing, going under, or being sold for apartments or condos, I get nervous, it can happen anywhere! Well, maybe not to Walmart!

although i agree with many of your points,the last thing we need is another regulation that would prohibit my parking at wal-mart.
brianj

[Ramblin]

Originally Posted by riverbender

As a campground owner and an rv owner, I have never stayed in a Walmart lot, but i can see where staying overnight at a Walmart may save you some money, however, as a campground owner, struggling to earn a living and keeping up with all the state imposed regulations, like having x number of sinks, toilets and showers per x number of campsites regardless of the fact that most of those sites are occupied by rigs with their own bathrooms. We have to have dump stations and back flow preventers none of which are required of Walmart. None of the pages of regulations we must follow apply to the Walmart parking lot. I stay at campgrounds because I know they, like us, need the support of our campers in order to keep our parks open. Every time I read about another park closing, going under, or being sold for apartments or condos, I get nervous, it can happen anywhere! Well, maybe not to Walmart!

It's easy for me to be an armchair quarterback. So I will. If I were a campground owner, I would be thinking about why RVers prefer to use WalMart's lot for short term camping (a few hours) rather than come pay for 24 hour stay at my CG. How could you capture that business and turn it into profit for you. I'd go out on a limb and say most people that stay at WM do not do so to save a few dollars in CG fees.

[AFChap]

As a campground owner and an rv owner, I have never stayed in a Walmart lot, but i can see where staying overnight at a Walmart may save you some money,

The few time we have stayed at a Walmart or truck stop overnight was not to save money ...it was mostly convenience where a local campground was not readily accessible, local campground check-in house were past and/or it was dark and we did not want to negotiate a crowded campground with narrow roads AND disturb other campers. Cost can indeed be a consideration when the only option is to pay $40 for a full hookup site when all I want is electric and a few hours sleep.

[Midniteoyl]

If you look back in the thread, I already had on idea to solve all this.. Its time stamped and protected, so dont go using my idea w/o permission!

[riverbender]

My park is not located near any highway or walmarts, so we are not affected so much by campers using Walmart parking lots, if you are in our park, it was more than likely your destination. You probably had your site reserved well in advance. we always plan our trips to have a daily stop time, around 6:00 pm, so we will use an app, or a woodalls book to call ahead to reserve a site for the evening. We travel from 8 or9 am stop at 6ish. and honestly that's more than enough time on the road for me! I totally agree with tncriser that the last thing we need is more regulations but I do think it would be nice if the state or the wm offered dump station and fresh water hookups for campers that are just passing through. A good friend owns a park off the highway, not far from the wm and she is always complaining that people will pull in to use her dump station and complain when they are told there is a charge. I don't blame her for charging, I know what we pay to have our dump station pumped out four times a year. Maybe what Walmart should do is provide these two important things, water and a dump station, and maybe for a nominal fee, $10.00 maybe? They could designate a section of the parking lot for rv parking, maybe have a limit, say 8 hours or so and they can provide a valuable service to the traveler.
I personally will stick to campgrounds, I like to see how other parks do things, get some ideas for improving our own, and supporting them as well.

[Ramblin]

Originally Posted by Midniteoyl

If you look back in the thread, I already had on idea to solve all this.. Its time stamped and protected, so dont go using my idea w/o permission!

I missed it. Here's my time-stamped idea:

Rent a little storefront in the same strip mall as Wally World. Put in 20 level pull-through spaces in the parking lot, with 30A pedestals. These pedestals have credit card slots in them. Swipe your card, and you get power turned on for $3.50/hr, maximum 10 hours. Make the pedestals double-duty during the day as EV charging stations so Obama will give you some of that 'stimulus money' to set it all up and get it going. This here idea is time stamped and poor-man's patented.

[Midniteoyl]

Originally Posted by Ramblin

I missed it. Here's my time-stamped idea:

Rent a little storefront in the same strip mall as Wally World. Put in 20 level pull-through spaces in the parking lot, with 30A pedestals. These pedestals have credit card slots in them. Swipe your card, and you get power turned on for $3.50/hr, maximum 10 hours. Make the pedestals double-duty during the day as EV charging stations so Obama will give you some of that 'stimulus money' to set it all up and get it going. This here idea is time stamped and poor-man's patented.

Pretty much..

[riverbender]

Rambling, great minds think alike. You just need to add a dump station! Maybe a couple of gas pumps and a diesel pump or two and we have truly one stop shopping!

[RanCarr]

Originally Posted by riverbender

As a campground owner and an rv owner, I have never stayed in a Walmart lot, but i can see where staying overnight at a Walmart may save you some money, however, as a campground owner, struggling to earn a living and keeping up with all the state imposed regulations, like having x number of sinks, toilets and showers per x number of campsites regardless of the fact that most of those sites are occupied by rigs with their own bathrooms.....

I would say most of us understand this but cannot see paying $25 or more just to spend the night in a CG sleeping, not even hooking up to electric or water. Many CGs are now $39 a night. For spending no more than perhaps 9 hours there, and finding no conveniences there as found in the WalMart stores/lots. Few CGs have stores and fewer of their stores are open at 6 AM when people are getting back on the road. Also, few CGs are near the Interstates. Anyone on the road for hours and hours is not keen on looking for a strange CG 10 or more miles from the Interstate at night. Stopping at a WM isn't only free but they're right near the interstates and people can pick up needed items including a ready to eat supper. And there are those of us who do have to watch what we spend if we want to continue traveling or camping.

[RanCarr]

Originally Posted by riverbender

My park is not located near any highway or walmarts, .....
I personally will stick to campgrounds, I like to see how other parks do things, get some ideas for improving our own, and supporting them as well.

If the rest of us could afford the Winnebago in your avatar, and owned our own CGs, we might be more likely to hunt down a CG for the night.

But those of us in $19,000 TTs and on Social Security will most likely continue to enjoy WMs and the conveniences of spending the nights there while on the road.

BTW, when we first started traveling with a TT about 5 years ago, we did indeed look for CGs to spend the night. We'd have to set up, then go search for a place to eat and we always needed something from either a grocery store or a place like Walmart. One time I forgot to pack my blouses and T-shirts. It was a WalMart store to the rescue and some quick shopping. Then we learned about parking RIGHT at WalMart or a Flying-J... the rest is history.