With Record Rv Sales 2 years in a row, we'll need more sites

[StephJohn2010]

I've been feeling the pinch of too many Rvers and not enough Rv sites. I'm trying to make reservations, and it is amazingly hard (been fulltiming for 5 years). If you know anybody with land (in the appropriate area) and/or the money to start a campground/rv resort, please tell them to get started. I'm am a fulltimer and would like to be for many years to come. If we keep having increased supply of Rv owners and the same supply of Rv sites, we are going to see our rates increase to the point where we no longer can afford this lifestyle.

Anyone else been having reservation problems?

[John_S_]

I have traveled the country extensively and have never had an issue with finding a spot for my Foretravel. I too had large tanks and well over 5000 hours on my power tech. Boondocked as much or more then full hookups. I sold that great coach off and bought a smaller C on a F550 to go into places that the big A would not fit. Will boondock with this now. Smaller tanks but can go a few days four to five and that is about the longest I boondocked at one time before. This coach will allow more day trips too.

[larry_barnhart]

I saw an rv commercial from the seattle area and the salesman said you better get down and buy it fast before they are gone. A view of the lot showed that would never happen quickly. Full of TT's. Maybe that model but it was an ad of course.

chevman

[Mile_High]

Unfortunately if prices go up as a result of short supply, I'm afraid it's not going to make life any easier for the recession refugees that sought out RVs as a means of survival.

[DallasSteve]

This looks like a problem, but the economy will solve it. If there's demand the supply will eventually meet it. Prices will go up and that will draw the attention of some people who can make it work and then prices will go back to normal. Some day some new Sam Walton will probably come up with a national chain that will use economies of scale to build thousands of new parks and he'll make billions. It won't be me because I'm not going to start a new career again, but someone will do it. It's opportunity in the free market.

[lots2seeinmyrv]

willald wrote:

lots2seeinmyrv wrote:
Would like to see more Adult Only RV parks open up across the country, FHU, clean, quiet, nice bath/shower facilities and laundry. Keep it simple without the playgrounds, game rooms, etc.

Would free up space in the Family parks and offer an alternative for retired adults who like to travel in the summer too.

This kind of thinking is just.....Wrong, IMO.

Once you start practicing exclusion and intolerance like this with RV parks...Next thing you know we'll have to have RV parks for all kinds of different people, preferences, styles....the list goes on an on.

If we have parks just for older folks that exclude younger folks, then to be fair, we need to have some just for younger folks with families, too, and exclude the older folks.

Oh, and we better have some where pets are allowed for those that have pets, and some where pets aren't allowed, for those intolerant folks that can't stand to be within 100 yards of anyone else's pets.

Oh, and don't forget, we need parks for those that want campfires allowed, and separate parks where campfires are not allowed, for those intolerant folks that just want to sit inside and play bingo or whatever and pitch a fit if they smell any smoke.

Ohhh, we better also have parks where cooking, eating outside is allowed, and some where that is not allowed, for those that don't want to smell burgers or steaks cooking outside, and just want to cook inside or go out to eat all the time.

Oh, and don't forget exclusion by rig type, for those that don't want to see anything but expensive Class As, and separate parks for those that enjoy camping no matter what kind of rig it is (I know, we already have some of that, there are lots of Class A specific parks).

Guess we also need parks strictly for full-timers, and separate ones for everyone else that actually camps, doesn't live in their RV.

....Continue down this path, and we'll have to have sooo many different RV parks, there won't be enough land for all of them, hahaha.

Anyway, back to the original subject: Yes, I too have noticed that it is getting harder to get campsite reservations. We have always been the 'planning' type that always makes reservations long before we camp, but it seems we have to plan further and further ahead. Like already said, gone are the days of camping 'spur of the moment'.

Case in point: We want to go to a certain very popular park in Florida next April. They allow an 11 month window for reservations. The 'window' opened at 8am Sunday morning several weeks ago, to reserve for the week we wanted. Literally, as the clock struck 8am that morning, 11 months prior to when we are going there, I hit the 'Reserve' button to reserve the site we wanted (yes, we got the site). By noon that day, after we got back from church, I looked again, and campground was already booked solid!

Last time we went to same park back in March 2016, we didn't make the reservation until much later, like July 2016. That would NOT work now for that park.

This kind of thinking is NOT wrong. There are 55+ Adult Only RV parks in Florida, Arizona and Texas. Are they all WRONG? NO, there are more retirees that are camping year round now.

There are PLENTY of FAMILY Campgrounds for folks to enjoy of all ages.

You are making a big deal out of nothing.

[smlranger]

FIRE UP wrote:
Well Gang,
I started a thread about this very same thing only a year or so ago and most said I was nuts. Well, many of you have found out what I talked about at that time. There are more and more FULL TIMERS out there, and what we call "Live-ins". It's pretty obvious too. When you travel down a row in an RV park and everything under the sun is spread out all around the coach/trailer etc., you know they've been there for quite a while and, AIN'T going anywhere, anytime soon. And we've seen this now for years.

We too like to travel at will, with no reservations. We just go here and there and, make a left turn in a state at the last minute, 'cause it seemed like it felt right. Well, more and more and more, each time we walk up to a desk at the office of and RV park, the first question from the desk clerk is: "Do you have reservations"? And, they may, or may not have a spot for us. If not, we find a Walmart or a Casino etc. to survive in.

If you get a chance, watch the TV show: Going RV. To us, it's odd that so many YOUNGER folks, WITH KIDS, are now heading out across the U.S. for full time. How in the H.. do they do that? Some, work from a computer. Seems that there's lots of that going on. Nobody goes to work anymore. Well, that's not necessarily true. Go to any metro area on a free way at about 07:00 in the morning and you'll see folks going to work, for sure.

Anyway, like what's been stated, it's getting tougher and tougher to wing it. Maybe we should have got reservations for spots in multiple RV parks at multiple dates, when I started my work career. That way, when we retired, we'd have spots, yeah sure.
Scott

We often watch that show, Going RV, and come away with the same questions. How do these younger folks make a living while on the road? Also, we wonder how many last very long.....can't imagine two adults and 3 kids stuffed into a 40' rig for very long.

[FIRE_UP]

Well Gang,
I started a thread about this very same thing only a year or so ago and most said I was nuts. Well, many of you have found out what I talked about at that time. There are more and more FULL TIMERS out there, and what we call "Live-ins". It's pretty obvious too. When you travel down a row in an RV park and everything under the sun is spread out all around the coach/trailer etc., you know they've been there for quite a while and, AIN'T going anywhere, anytime soon. And we've seen this now for years.

We too like to travel at will, with no reservations. We just go here and there and, make a left turn in a state at the last minute, 'cause it seemed like it felt right. Well, more and more and more, each time we walk up to a desk at the office of and RV park, the first question from the desk clerk is: "Do you have reservations"? And, they may, or may not have a spot for us. If not, we find a Walmart or a Casino etc. to survive in.

If you get a chance, watch the TV show: Going RV. To us, it's odd that so many YOUNGER folks, WITH KIDS, are now heading out across the U.S. for full time. How in the H.. do they do that? Some, work from a computer. Seems that there's lots of that going on. Nobody goes to work anymore. Well, that's not necessarily true. Go to any metro area on a free way at about 07:00 in the morning and you'll see folks going to work, for sure.

Anyway, like what's been stated, it's getting tougher and tougher to wing it. Maybe we should have got reservations for spots in multiple RV parks at multiple dates, when I started my work career. That way, when we retired, we'd have spots, yeah sure.
Scott

[hotjag1]

We wing it quite often and rarely make reservations. We stayed very near Bryce Canyon this last April with no advance reservations. We were placed near the back of the park which made no difference to us.

We also like camping at the ocean in WA and have been able to find an rv park that has a vacancy. If not, there are several casinos along the ocean that always welcome rvers with no advance reservations, and they are desirable areas!

[DSDP_Don]

Anyone who says just "wing it", is going places no one else wants to go and by themselves. Even worse, for those of us who travel with friends, you're not going to "wing it" and find two sights.

For those of you winging it, please show us pictures of you staying for 3-4 days at Fishing Bridge, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Nashville, or any other popular location during the peak season without a reservation.

It's just an arrogant statement to tell others to go stay in a parking lot, in a place with no one ever visits because you have holding tanks. "Honey, on this trip, we're going to places in the middle of nowhere so we can practice winging it". That would go over like a fart in church!

Last August/September, we did a nine week coast to coast trip. Anywhere that we intended to stay for more 3-4 days or in popular places, we reserved well in advance. Good thing we did....places like Nashville were booked until February when we arrived in September.

[Lwiddis]

"Thanks for making my point Lwiddis, "most"... We'll need more Rv sites."

No question, Steph, we need more campsites..dry and full hookup. Private and public. As far as in my state...not happening. Jerry doesn't campout.

[smlranger]

For the most part we have traveled all over the US during the shoulder seasons without a lot of advance reservations and had no issue. From the sound of this thread, that may be changing.

We wanted to spend a few weeks on the TX gulf coast in January 2018. We called to reserve a site in a popular and nice RV resort in Port Aransas in January 2017. When we called, they only had 7 sites left for the time we would be there.

For sure our favorite spot in Myrtle Beach, SC has gotten more difficult to get into any time other than Jan and February.

We have always loved to travel spontaneously and really hate making reservations far in advance. With fuel prices low and many new RV owners, we may have to rethink that strategy.

[willald]

lots2seeinmyrv wrote:
Would like to see more Adult Only RV parks open up across the country, FHU, clean, quiet, nice bath/shower facilities and laundry. Keep it simple without the playgrounds, game rooms, etc.

Would free up space in the Family parks and offer an alternative for retired adults who like to travel in the summer too.

This kind of thinking is just.....Wrong, IMO.

Once you start practicing exclusion and intolerance like this with RV parks...Next thing you know we'll have to have RV parks for all kinds of different people, preferences, styles....the list goes on an on.

If we have parks just for older folks that exclude younger folks, then to be fair, we need to have some just for younger folks with families, too, and exclude the older folks.

Oh, and we better have some where pets are allowed for those that have pets, and some where pets aren't allowed, for those intolerant folks that can't stand to be within 100 yards of anyone else's pets.

Oh, and don't forget, we need parks for those that want campfires allowed, and separate parks where campfires are not allowed, for those intolerant folks that just want to sit inside and play bingo or whatever and pitch a fit if they smell any smoke.

Ohhh, we better also have parks where cooking, eating outside is allowed, and some where that is not allowed, for those that don't want to smell burgers or steaks cooking outside, and just want to cook inside or go out to eat all the time.

Oh, and don't forget exclusion by rig type, for those that don't want to see anything but expensive Class As, and separate parks for those that enjoy camping no matter what kind of rig it is (I know, we already have some of that, there are lots of Class A specific parks).

Guess we also need parks strictly for full-timers, and separate ones for everyone else that actually camps, doesn't live in their RV.

....Continue down this path, and we'll have to have sooo many different RV parks, there won't be enough land for all of them, hahaha.

Anyway, back to the original subject: Yes, I too have noticed that it is getting harder to get campsite reservations. We have always been the 'planning' type that always makes reservations long before we camp, but it seems we have to plan further and further ahead. Like already said, gone are the days of camping 'spur of the moment'.

Case in point: We want to go to a certain very popular park in Florida next April. They allow an 11 month window for reservations. The 'window' opened at 8am Sunday morning several weeks ago, to reserve for the week we wanted. Literally, as the clock struck 8am that morning, 11 months prior to when we are going there, I hit the 'Reserve' button to reserve the site we wanted (yes, we got the site). By noon that day, after we got back from church, I looked again, and campground was already booked solid!

Last time we went to same park back in March 2016, we didn't make the reservation until much later, like July 2016. That would NOT work now for that park.

[jplante4]

I have a feeling we'll only need more CGs that are open weekends during June, July and August.

[hotjag1]

We rarely make advance reservations and just wing it. Like a couple of other posters, we have large holding tanks and have no problem boondocking, dry camping, etc. I can foresee some of the run down rv parks starting to get busy if the nicer parks are consistently full.

We have stayed at a couple of rv parks that were less than "ideal" and didn't have any problems. We are usually sightseeing all day and not hanging out at the park, so we are fine with that. We just don't put our good patio chairs out while we are gone.