Need advice on Fla. this winter

[loneryder]

This is my first yr. with my 24' RV and I want to spend some time in the warm parts of Fla. I've contacted some sites around Naples area and am told they are booked and I am joining the wait list. Is it too late for me to find a place? Are they really going to be full or do a number of people cancel?
Since I've never done it, staying at one place I've never been for a month or more is a little scary. I thought I might stay a couple weeks here and there but that might not be doable. Should I just bite the bullet and grab the first place I can get? What is the real story on these campgrounds...is there always some openings or is it really that tight? This summer I went out west and did not have a problem getting spots even the day before in tourist areas.
I'd appreciate any advice.

[loneryder]

Just wanted to thank everyone for the good info and advice. Ended up getting a reasonable place in Ft. Myers area. When I'm down there I will look at some of the places everyone told me about.
Safe Travels!

[loneryder]

floridaguy wrote:
Upon reflection, life is too short to get excited about the small stuff. Delete all my posts that you want to. It's all good. I'm trying to turn over a new "chill" leaf. Not doing too well but I'm trying.

Good move, I'm with you!

[floridaguy]

Upon reflection, life is too short to get excited about the small stuff. Delete all my posts that you want to. It's all good. I'm trying to turn over a new "chill" leaf. Not doing too well but I'm trying.

[floridaguy]

OK, now this is starting to irritate me. My last two posts have been removed again with explanation. Something is wrong here. I've been a member for 9 or 10 years without incident and now every time I make a post it just gets deleted. Here is one of the last two posts that was deleted:

I can understand the advertising rule but my previous post was deleted without any explanation.... it was just gone and for a while the whole thread was not visible. The original poster was looking for a rental in Florida. This thread as many others on this forum proposed possible places for him to check. You've allowed suggestions for Indian Creek, Deer Creek and many others in this thread. I suggested that I knew of a rental availability in Holiday Condo in Fort Myers. I know the lot is available, it is not mine, I have never met the owner and do not have any interest in the rental of that lot, or financial gain or other gain. I did not post the owners contact info although if someone was interested and contacted me by PM I would have provided it. I don't see how my suggesting Holiday Condo was removed but someone suggesting Indian Creek, 2 miles away was OK. Please explain... I'm Polish but I'll try to comprehend the reason. Bob/floridaguy

[Klueck]

Sorry but there is no advertising permitted on the forums.

[Parrothead_Mike]

As mentioned, Arcadia has several parks in the area. We stayed for a few days at Cross Creek last winter. They were filling up when we departed, but it was a very nice park with plenty of activities. Below is an RV Park Reviews.com list for Arcadia. Do your research.

http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/florida/arcadia

Another area a bit further east is Sebring. Nice area, plenty of orange groves, plenty of lakes, etc. Check out the list for Sebring.

http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/florida/sebring

The Clermont area is west of Orlando and has plenty of parks to check out.

http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/florida/clermont

Lakeland is a popular area with many snow birds.

http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/florida/lakeland

Good luck with your research. You'll find something. You might try out a couple of parks so you get a good feel for where you might want to spend more time next year.

[loneryder]

Thanks to everyone for the good advice. I now have a lot of stuff to investigate. Good stuff.

[GoPackGo]

Yes, Many (Most ?) resorts in the southern half of Fl fill up fast. I started calling last May and I should have started about 6 months earlier. AND you are looking on the coast and that makes it even harder.

The Keys can easily cost double what the places on the left side of Fl are charging.

The advice to try some of the places in the middle of the state, south of Orlando is good advice. Look along and near Hwy 27, south of I-4.

Resorts in the northern half of the state are generally cheaper then those in the southern half because of the cooler weather there. I'm guessing they also don't fill up as fast either.

Go online to RVPARKREVIEWS.COM and start searching. Heed the reviews.

I suggest contacting Williston Crossings RV Resort in Williston (20 miles SW of Gainesville). I stayed there for a winter. It's a very nice place.

Tim

[TomG2]

samsphones wrote:
Look at the center of the state even south of Ocala there are plenty of sites available.

X2

Look inland at places like Arcadia and along Routes 17 and 27. Same sunshine as on the coast, just no nearby beaches.

[phillyg]

While it's too late to book long term, my experience when househunting three years ago was that I could always get a space somewhere close to where I wanted to be, even for three to five days at a time.

[nbking]

Many parks will not take short term(less than 6 months) reservations until they are certain that all long term RVers are taken care of. Usually there are sites available in most campgrounds but you have to wait until they remove the 6 months restriction. Our son did this for years, and was always able to get a site.

We stayed at Indian Creek RV Resort in Fort Myers Beach Fl. It is about 2 miles from Fort Myers Beach. New Walmart going in across the street opening on November 11th or so. Grocery Stores and some restaurants nearby.

This is a beautiful 5 star park. Could be costly in the winter months.

[57342560]

I recommend a beautiful campground 25 miles east of Lake Wales called River Ranch RV Resort. It is on the Kissimmee River and adjacent to a working dude ranch. Lots of fun things to do and great people to meet. Check out the website and you will be impressed. Good luck and enjoy your trip to Florida.

[fchammer1]

A repeat post for the loneryder's benefit (& a few others)!

Everybody wants to be in Florida in January (and February too), In our learning years, we spent some very chilly days at Theme World, Ocala, Zephyrhills, Chrystal River, and the Tampa and Lakeland areas. In fact, anywhere north of Lake Okeechobee and SR 80 can be mighty cold for long stretches of time-- not as bad and windy, mind ya, as in the Rio Grande Valley where you can't even find a picnic table, but still not the idyllic "book in one hand and beer in the other while reclining under a palm tree or beach umbrella" on the SW coast of Florida. The milder winds and warmer temperatures just don't sustain those pleasantries much above SR 80 and big Lake Okeechobee.

A month at the Fort Myers RV Park on US 41 gave us time to explore the SW Florida area. We visited all and stayed at several of these: Fort Myers Area Campgrounds American Outdoors 16900 Tamiami Trl 941-267-3030 Cypress Woods RV Resort 5551 Luckett Rd 941-694-2191 Ebb Tide Travel Park 1725 Main St 941-463-5444 Fort Myers Beach RV Resort 16299 San Carlos Blvd 941-466-7171 Fort Myers RV Resort 16800 S Tamiami Trl 941-267-2141 Fox Trailer Park 2020 Queen St 941-995-4695 Garden RV Park 2830 Garden St 941-995-7417 Gulf Air Travel Park 17279 San Carlos Blvd 941-466-8100 Hidden Cove Trailer Park 2961 Frierson St 941-334-1820 Indian Creek Park 17340 San Carlos Blvd 941-466-6060 Iona Ranch 16295 Davis Rd 941-466-0440 Lazy J Adventurers 1263 Golden Lake Rd 941-694-5038 Oyster Bay Parks 1711 Main St 941-463-2171 Pioneer Village MH & RV Resort 17200 Pioneer St 941-543-3303 Raintree RV Resort 19250 N Tamiami Trl 941-731-1441 Red Coconut RV Resort 3001 Estero Blvd 941-463-7200 San Carlos RV Park & Island Resort 18701 San Carlos Blvd 941-466-3133 Seminole Campground 8991 Triplett Rd 941-543-2919 Shady Acres Travel Park 19370 S Tamiami Trl 941-267-8448 Siesta Bay RV Resort 19333 Summerlin Rd 941-466-8988 Sun community 19333 Summerlin Rd # 575 941-466-4900 Sunseekers RV Park 19701 N Tamiami Trl 941-731-1303 Swan Lake Village MH & RV Resort 2400 N Tamiami Trl # 207 941-995-3397 Tamiami RV Park 16549 N Cleveland Ave 941-995-7747 The Groves Campground 16175 John Morris Rd 941-466-5909 Tropical Trailer Park 1825 Linhart Ave 941-332-0019 Upriver Campground & RV Park 17021 Upriver Dr 941-543-3330 Woodsmoke Camping Resort 19554 US Hwy 41 941-267-3456

...and after one false start at Cypress Bend in Estero, we finally found our winter home in Imperial Bonita Estates Where we enjoy more than 80 activities, two club houses, a large RV park rental area, free Wifi, etc., plus the Imperial River on our southern border. One of our three snowbird areas is our co-op with a low $113 per month maintenance fee. Be sure to make that comparison when you hang up the RV keys in exchange for your little piece of paradise. It happens to many of us eventually.

[MPI_Mallard]

I believe Deer Creek in Davenportclick has monthly lots for rent and it's quite a nice rv resort which is now member owned, we stayed there our first winter and as it was basically in the center of Florida it gave us the range to check out other resorts. Another great resource isclick which has quite a few private listing for all over Florida,,Good luck!!

Red Green: If my wife Bernice is watching, I'll be coming straight home after the meeting, and I learned today that you cannot change an ugly thing by hiding it. But I'm still not going to shave my beard off.