Park status sound off.

[John_Joey]

Seems every winter we post this, so might as well keep the cycle of knowledge going. "How full is your park now that the holidays are over?"

Needless to say if your park is RV's that never move, then it will be pretty static (as in "full".) I'm asking only those that are in non owner parks that have transient slots during the year. Reason being when you're in an owner park, the residents have a vested interest in using there slot. They're "loosing money" if they don't use them.

I'm in deep south Texas. I'm seeing a very large number of open spots. Five years ago we were full after the holidays. Each year it seems like more and more spots are coming available. Rumor is there is over 150 open spots out of 600 this winter. There is no way those can all be Canadians either (due to their dollar exchange.)

Texas isn't know for their great weather, but the price reflects it. So I'm guessing that isn't the real reason for the declining rate, but then maybe it is. :h

[BarbaraOK]

JAXFL wrote:
Some show up for a while and then drift away. Potlucks, shuffleboard, card games and lights out at 9:00 PM must not appeal to them.


"LIKE BUTTON"

And those things aren't what those under 75 and younger want. We're boomers and the park is still having "Big Band" nights. I would venture that over 2/3 of the park residents don't know who Ziggy Stardust was nor the fact that Bowie died this week. And when you raise a question the reply is "We've always done it this way" AGGGH!

[_en_Plain_Air_]

I am very interested in the topic as we will leave Maryland the end of January for a couple months in warmth. We have a loose travel plan and few reservations, hoping to reserve a week out when we have a better feel for where we'll be as we move along. It's very helpful to hear that there may be openings. We hope this plan/no plan works!

[John___Angela]

This might be a good time for Canadians to fly to Spain and snoop around in the sun. The loonie has held its own with most world currencies except the US dollar. Plane tickets are cheaper than two years ago and we just bought euros not too far off what they were two years ago. Plus, you don't need extra health insurance although I would still recommend some sort of repatriation insurance. Just sayin, lots of possibilities out there. South of Spain is pretty nice this time of year and there is LOTS to see.

[joebedford]

I think there's about 8 Canadian couples in this park of 500 sites. Far fewer than the last time we were here. Didn't help that the park raised rates by 35% in 3 years.

[moisheh]

There will be even less Canadians. It will cost you about 1.45 today to buy a USD. Oil keeps dropping and the Loonie follows suit. That is almost a 3 cent drop in a few weeks.

Moisheh

[her_I]

BarbaraOK wrote:
We're in Mesa and the area where we have our park model has LOTS of empty sites - last year at this time everything was full. This year, plenty of sites for people. And we noticed that a number of park models that are owned by Canadians are not occupied this year. A couple have already been sold.

We, like most of our friends, have stayed home in Canada this year due mainly to the exchange rate on our dollar. As pensioners on fixed incomes we cannot afford to absorb a 30% hit. Just checked the rate and the Bank of Canada is paying $0.6923 versus the American dollar. This is better than the rate we would get from our own bank.

[JAXFL]

Some show up for a while and then drift away. Potlucks, shuffleboard, card games and lights out at 9:00 PM must not appeal to them.


"LIKE BUTTON"

[TomG2]

Some venues have tried appealing to the "Younger crowd", only to discover it barely exists. Parks are full of people that have been coming to the RGV for 5-10-15 years. Very few in the 0-5 range. I belong to a group of twenty or more singles that have been enjoying this lifestyle for ten years or so. Only one new member in the past few years. Some show up for a while and then drift away. Potlucks, shuffleboard, card games and lights out at 9:00 PM must not appeal to them.

[vermilye]

Obviously I can't count sites here at the LTVAs in Quartzsite, but with the "Big Tent" show opening next week there is still lots of space here in La Posa West (the closest area to the show).

It has been a cool & somewhat wet Winter so far...

[JAXFL]

BarbaraOK wrote:
I do think there is a demographic change going on. We've been fulltimers for a number of years and one of the things I'm noticing is that parks are still catering events for those who went to high school before the 60s, or for those who think Country Music is the only thing available. Luckily we don't depend upon the park offerings in terms of entertainment and in a large metro area we find plenty to do, but it is sad that the management of the parks hasn't figured out that they might need to adjust a changing of the 'guard' so to speak.

Interesting comment. Not full-timers but spend a lot of time at a couple of Florida RV parks and now that Barbara brought it up I have noticed this also. I would say that the 50's age group is about right. Not many 70+ at the parks we go to, or if they are they stay out of sight or they hang with a small group of others in that age group. Flamingo Lakes is our main go to park and the average age there of the full timers is 50 on the weekends it drops to maybe 30's when you add in the kids. However, the recreation side is still more towards older. Karaoke, country music bands, and pot lucks with maybe a kids thing around 3 pm on Saturdays. But yes the demographics are changing.

[homefor2]

BarbaraOK wrote:
Also for Southern California and Arizona - this is an El Nino year and it may be that a lot of people decided it was going to be too wet/windy/cold for them. After some 5+ years of dryness, it is good to see the rain, but I suppose it isn't for everyone.

I do think there is a demographic change going on. We've been fulltimers for a number of years and one of the things I'm noticing is that parks are still catering events for those who went to high school before the 60s, or for those who think Country Music is the only thing available. Luckily we don't depend upon the park offerings in terms of entertainment and in a large metro area we find plenty to do, but it is sad that the management of the parks hasn't figured out that they might need to adjust a changing of the 'guard' so to speak.

I certainly have to agree with that based on where we stay. There are lots of people here that are in their 50's and early 60's that don't take part in most of the events at the clubhouse. Many of us feel they are for a generation like our parents. As an example they celebrate New Years on New York time so it's all over at 10 pm. That's fine if that's what they want but don't expect the younger or young at heart to attend. The music at most events is of that generation too so that doesn't appeal to some. We aren't complaining and think the older generation is entitled to have fun their way. Just mentioning it in case attendance is lacking at some parks.

[alfredmay]

I am in an expensive park in the RGV. On the trip down I saw very few RVs. When I arrived the park occupancy looked like last year and still looks the same as last year right now.......... however last year the occupancy was very low, probably 60% full.
.
A few years ago this park would have been at 100% and turning people away.

[LookN4Ward]

The 55+ mobile home and rv park we are in only has 144 rv lots, but 45 of the lots are for public rental. We have a few more rv lot renters than last year, but certainly not full. The park is a shareholder arrangement where your share buys a lot certificate. Our Canadian regulars did make it down, but really no new visitors from the north. I haven't been to other RGV parks, but on the trip south in late December we saw very few RV's.

[The_Texan]

BarbaraOK wrote:
Also for Southern California and Arizona - this is an El Nino year and it may be that a lot of people decided it was going to be too wet/windy/cold for them. After some 5+ years of dryness, it is good to see the rain, but I suppose it isn't for everyone.

I do think there is a demographic change going on. We've been fulltimers for a number of years and one of the things I'm noticing is that parks are still catering events for those who went to high school before the 60s, or for those who think Country Music is the only thing available. Luckily we don't depend upon the park offerings in terms of entertainment and in a large metro area we find plenty to do, but it is sad that the management of the parks hasn't figured out that they might need to adjust a changing of the 'guard' so to speak.

As a pre-war child, I hate to agree with you, but you are correct. The average age group at our park and the next one over is "much" younger than it was just a couple short years ago. Some of our friends here in the park barely make the 55± requirement and I would put the median age around 62-65±.

[BarbaraOK]

Also for Southern California and Arizona - this is an El Nino year and it may be that a lot of people decided it was going to be too wet/windy/cold for them. After some 5+ years of dryness, it is good to see the rain, but I suppose it isn't for everyone.

I do think there is a demographic change going on. We've been fulltimers for a number of years and one of the things I'm noticing is that parks are still catering events for those who went to high school before the 60s, or for those who think Country Music is the only thing available. Luckily we don't depend upon the park offerings in terms of entertainment and in a large metro area we find plenty to do, but it is sad that the management of the parks hasn't figured out that they might need to adjust a changing of the 'guard' so to speak.