Are we having an early snowbird season?

[bgum]

We just returned from Gulfport Miss and the park was crowded but not full of snowbirds. It also seems earlier than normal.

[TomG2]

GERALDEAN wrote:
......snip...... Seems if some organization is tallying real time experience at the parks we could get a general idea of how successful our search would be.

There "might" be a national database like you are looking for, but I doubt that they would let just anyone access it. Some owners and government parks might think that is private information. Spontaneity has its risks and rewards. Have fun.

[GERALDEAN]

TomG2 wrote:

GERALDEAN wrote:
...snip....... Does any club or organization keep more accurate tabs on this that are reported in a timely way to be useful? .....snip......

It is the old "Glass is half full......" question. I could tell you that a park is nearly empty and you might find out there are "No vacancies". As suggested, contact a few parks in the area you are interested in. This park is using some very aggressive pricing to fill the spots, with some success. Some others resemble Old Western Ghost Towns. That is in the RGV (Rio Grande Valley of Texas).

We appreciate the advice and it seems almost a "no brainer" that the way to find out is to call and ask. Problem is we like to be somewhat leisurely in our route and timing so not sure where we are going to be on any given day. Seems if some organization is tallying real time experience at the parks we could get a general idea of how successful our search would be. Also calling many of the parks while on the road doesn't reap good results until late in the morning so not to good for overnight stays.

[TomG2]

GERALDEAN wrote:
...snip....... Does any club or organization keep more accurate tabs on this that are reported in a timely way to be useful? .....snip......

It is the old "Glass is half full......" question. I could tell you that a park is nearly empty and you might find out there are "No vacancies". As suggested, contact a few parks in the area you are interested in. This park is using some very aggressive pricing to fill the spots, with some success. Some others resemble Old Western Ghost Towns. That is in the RGV (Rio Grande Valley of Texas).

[rocmoc]

GERALDEAN wrote:
I've only quickly reviewed the responses but don't believe I am seeing a consensus one way or the other. Does any club or organization keep more accurate tabs on this that are reported in a timely way to be useful? We are late starters this year and don't know what to expect of park availability particularly while getting to our destination (Arizona from Ohio). Had hoped to spend three to four weeks getting there however early winter weather and now the threat of over crowded parks has us hesitant to get going.

Just call some RV Parks / Resorts you are interested in staying at.

rocmoc n AZ

[GERALDEAN]

I've only quickly reviewed the responses but don't believe I am seeing a consensus one way or the other. Does any club or organization keep more accurate tabs on this that are reported in a timely way to be useful? We are late starters this year and don't know what to expect of park availability particularly while getting to our destination (Arizona from Ohio). Had hoped to spend three to four weeks getting there however early winter weather and now the threat of over crowded parks has us hesitant to get going.

[rocmoc]

Yes in Southern AZ. Snowbirds arriving since Sept even tho we have had a record warm fall.

rocmoc n AZ

[bucky]

Yes a lot of people retired this year. Sadly many others did not make it to the end of the year. It pretty much evens out.

[Us_out_West]

Lets wait until January when the 'holiday snowbirds' start arriving to get a better idea how busy the RV parks are.

Back to the OP's original question...we came down a couple weeks earlier than previous years arriving Oct. 25. We like celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years in warm weather with no snow.

Most of our Canadian friends are here so no slowup there.

Safe travels.

[dalenoel]

Timing of the snow will also delay or speed up the migration. We have a late date of 1/27/18 but think it might move up to 1/14.

[TomG2]

The OP asked, "Are we having an early Snowbird season?"

The answer is in the headline on the news, "Two storm systems will bring snow from the Great Lakes to the Northeast Friday into this weekend."

Early storms and predictions for more will motivate those who had not made up their minds yet.

[TomG2]

pawatt wrote:

TomG2 wrote:

pawatt wrote:
Yes, our Canadian numbers are way down here in the Rio Grande Valley.

Pretty big generalization. Our park has a record number of Quebec license plates with a good mix from the other provinces.

Cool weather up north had Route 281 flooded with southbound traffic yesterday and last evening.

But isn't your park accepting Canadian dollars on par with US dollars. Circle T Park is and has attracted a large number of Canadians.

They stopped the exchange thing. We are fully booked for January for the first time in years with many Canadians included. I just question that "Canadian numbers are way down" as a general statement. I have no idea if that is true in all parks or not. It is not the case in this park. You may have more statistics at hand than I do.

[John_Joey]

The park I'm in just raised their rates for 2018 by $125 so I'm not sure how good my observations are, but. I can count on both hands how many Canadian plates I can see (easily) when I go for a walk.

We took three weeks to come south this year, parks along the way seemed to have the normal amount of campers given the time of year and the route we took.

To the OP, Gulfport MS isn't really a huge long term snowbird area. Many will use that upper Gulf coast area in November/December and then again in March/April/May. What you're seeing could be the end of the "flying flock" for that time of year heading further south for warmer temps.

[pawatt]

TomG2 wrote:

pawatt wrote:
Yes, our Canadian numbers are way down here in the Rio Grande Valley.

Pretty big generalization. Our park has a record number of Quebec license plates with a good mix from the other provinces.

Cool weather up north had Route 281 flooded with southbound traffic yesterday and last evening.

But isn't your park accepting Canadian dollars on par with US dollars. Circle T Park is and has attracted a large number of Canadians.

[TomG2]

pawatt wrote:
Yes, our Canadian numbers are way down here in the Rio Grande Valley.

Pretty big generalization. Our park has a record number of Quebec license plates with a good mix from the other provinces.

Cool weather up north had Route 281 flooded with southbound traffic yesterday and last evening.