Florida State Parks reservation question

[plasticmaster]

As I understand, camping reservations at Florida State Parks were cancelled through May 15. For those who had a reservation at a Florida State Park with an arrival before the 15th and departure after the 15th, was your entire reservation cancelled and refunded, or just the portion before the 15th? As of now, do you still have the remaining dates after the 15th reserved?

[Guy_Roan]

Stephen W wrote:
Florida State Parks to reopen Monday, May 4th. Wish they would give me back our May 11 oceanfront site reservation at Curry Hammock State Park in the Keys that they automatically canceled in March.

The entire Florida Keys are closed except for residents, property owners and essential workers through the entire month of May

Guy

[fla-gypsy]

GTO66 wrote:
Plasticmaster... If they cancel and any of your dates are in the cancel period the whole reservation will be cancelled. I found this out by calling a park I stay at often and spoke to a ranger I came to know. Your site as well as others would become available the day they are opening up. They would be up on RA prior to that date and you would need to keep checking.I had a friend get a week at a park starting on may 16 by doing this.

My reservation through Rec.gov for the Ocala Nat For. starts in the closure period (closed until May 20 according to the website) but ends outside the closure period. They have not cancelled my reservation which is perplexing unless there is talk of opening back up before May 20.

[Stephen_W]

It's a limited opening, day use only during the first phase.

[Stephen_W]

Florida State Parks to reopen Monday, May 4th. Wish they would give me back our May 11 oceanfront site reservation at Curry Hammock State Park in the Keys that they automatically canceled in March.

[CampCritter]

Ft. Pickens Campground is in the Gulf Islands National Seashore and is not in the Florida state park system.

[garmp]

Just as I finished reading these posts and closed out, my email alerted me of a new email. Yup from Rec.Gov. Reservations cancelled.
" We're sending you this message because of your Recreation.gov reservation, at FORT PICKENS CAMPGROUND for Sun, May 10, 2020 - Wed, May 13, 2020.

A location closure has been issued for FORT PICKENS CAMPGROUND from Wed, Apr 29, 2020 - Tue, May 12, 2020 due to Public Safety Concerns .

Since this location closure overlaps with the dates for your trip, we have cancelled your reservation and you will receive a full refund. Credit / debit card payments will be refunded to the card associated with your account. If you paid by cash or check, you will receive a refund check in the mail (please allow up to 8 weeks)."

So that is the official answer.
Thanks all.

[Stephen_W]

Garmp, Recreation.gov told me they do not cancel and refund an existing reservation automatically until the month of the actual reservation. That proved to be true with my April reservations, which they automatically canceled and refunded with no penalties in April 1st.

[GDS-3950BH]

garmp wrote:
At the risk of hijacking this thread, does any one know how this applies to fort pickens campground through rec.gov?
I've been trying to check daily as I have reservations for May 10-13 and would really like to know if they'll be open or not, as we planned to leave a week or so before that for a leisurely trip to the park.

It's almost May and the dates you posted are less than 2 weeks away.

This is on the Fed website. You might get lucky and I hope you do, but I doubt it if they have not announced a re-opening by now.

"The park is following the White House’s guidance Opening Up America Again in developing a reopening plan. The park will implement phased reopening in accordance with this plan and guidance from public health officials and the Centers for Disease Control. There are no projected reopening dates for Gulf Islands facilities or areas at this time."

[garmp]

At the risk of hijacking this thread, does any one know how this applies to fort pickens campground through rec.gov?
I've been trying to check daily as I have reservations for May 10-13 and would really like to know if they'll be open or not, as we planned to leave a week or so before that for a leisurely trip to the park.

[GDS-3950BH]

plasticmaster wrote:
The reason I'm asking these questions is because I have a 2 week reservation beginning June 28th. I hope this doesn't happen, but if the Florida State Park closure were to be extended until the end of June, is there anything proactive I could do to not lose the majority of my reservation?

You're good. That's 8+ weeks down the road. If this lockdown and closure foolishness is still going on in 8 weeks, traveling or going camping will be the last thing you'll want to do. You'll be more worried about basic survival.

[GTO66]

Plasticmaster... If they cancel and any of your dates are in the cancel period the whole reservation will be cancelled. I found this out by calling a park I stay at often and spoke to a ranger I came to know. Your site as well as others would become available the day they are opening up. They would be up on RA prior to that date and you would need to keep checking.I had a friend get a week at a park starting on may 16 by doing this.

[bucky]

Guy Roan wrote:
The entire Florida Keys are closed through the month of May except for home owners, and essential workers.
There are road manned road blocks on the two entrances and you must have a hurricane sticker or some other kind of proof to get in
I am in the Keys right now, and we love it this way

Guy

You were thinking about heading for home just the other day. Glad you decided to stay safe.

[plasticmaster]

The reason I'm asking these questions is because I have a 2 week reservation beginning June 28th. I hope this doesn't happen, but if the Florida State Park closure were to be extended until the end of June, is there anything proactive I could do to not lose the majority of my reservation?

[GDS-3950BH]

plasticmaster wrote:
As I understand, camping reservations at Florida State Parks were cancelled through May 15. For those who had a reservation at a Florida State Park with an arrival before the 15th and departure after the 15th, was your entire reservation cancelled and refunded, or just the portion before the 15th? As of now, do you still have the remaining dates after the 15th reserved?

Florida uses ReserveAmerica (Aspira Inc) as many states do. The Aspira policy is if the arrival date is before a scheduled opening / re opening date, the entire reservation is automatically canceled, and refunded to whatever payment method used. There is no way to change it by emailing or even calling. I tried for reservations in PA which also uses Aspira. I tried to just cancel the two days of the 14 that fell prior to the reopening dat,e and they would not do so. They would also not let me re-reserve the 12 days from the opening for some reason, as the system is locked out for an additional month for reservations, I assume its going to be first come first serve or they anticipate the opening being delayed again as it already has 3 times.