Difficulty With Florida State Parks

Your in summer trying to book in summer that's all you need to know about difficulty

The parks with water book up 11 months out. It is poorly managed by reserveamerica IMHO. Many parks have empties all week and even weekends because the big sites go first and bigger rigs cant fit in.
You will see a popup in a 70' site.

The length is listed as equipment length and does not include your extra vehicle.

You can also reserve handicap sites if the others are booked.

Way to long people sit on the internet exactly 11 months to the day to make reservation which makes you good today for reservation next May

If it makes you feel better (probably not) this is not a Florida issue, it is a National, State, and Provincial park issue.

It's called 'planning ahead'....sometimes way ahead.

Roll with the flow. :W

If you can't get a site at the park you want at exactly 8:00 am, check back at 8:15. Some people use multiple computers and family/friends that all click on different sites at the same time. If they capture more than one site, the system holds them for 15 minutes. They pick the one they like best and the rest are released by the system when the hold expires. I was able to book a 2 week stay in Myakka River's Palmetto Ridge full hookup section for next March at 8:15 that way.

Everyone has problems with getting into our State parks. Florida parks are very popular. We gve up trying to get into them. Summertime schools out and locals do the 11 month sign up. Wintertime snowbirds do the 11 mo but switch sites every two weeks usually with each other. Only Luck will help getting into sites.

Remember too that Florida is filled with retirees age 65+, who receive half price camping if they are residents of the state.

Obviously we are a warm weather destination in the winter months and everybody, including residents, loves camping at that time of year when the bugs are less aggressive - especially by the water.

We have parks close to very high-demand areas like the Florida Keys. If you have a camper or tent, your family can stay on or within walking distance of the ocean for $40 a night (or $20 - see above) if you are lucky enough to book a campsite. Check the price on a condo rental in the Keys (hint: it is NOT $40).

Myakka River is close to Sarasota, which is swamped with winter visitors paying big bucks to rent condos and hotels, and yet it has airboat rides where you will see so many gators, you'll think you're in the Everglades.

One reason for the popularity of our state's parks is that they have sites you can reserve ahead with electric hookups, so you don't need a generator and if it gets hot, you can run the AC.

Other states' parks with campgrounds don't necessarily offer all these good reasons to book.

Fl. has great state parks but, yes you probably waited too long for getting a southern or coastal site in winter. However, even trying 11 months ahead is still problematic because people get on the phone or internet at exactly mid-night 11 mos. advance to get sites. So the only hope is to get on everyday and hope to time it when someone cancels. We've been doing Fl. snowbirding lots of years and have pretty much given up at parks like Myakka River, Oscar Scherer and other southern coastal parks. Often you can get sites at St Pks more in central and northern Fl. and the ones on the panhandle don't seem to fill up as quickly in mid-winter because it can be chilly.

Big Katuna wrote:

The length is listed as equipment length and does not include your extra vehicle.

Unless, of course, you want to leave everything connected all or most of the time. Then you had better specify your overall length or you might be in for a nasty surprise.