Good Sam Rally Phoenix

[wolfe10]

Anyone attend the Good Sam Rally last week?

How many attended?

Any breakdown between motorhomes, trailers, 5th wheels, etc?

What seminars did you attend? Good/bad?

Inquiring minds want to know whether to attend the next one.

[ridemist]

This was our first rally. We live 60 miles from the venue and since we don't currently own an RV and didn't want to drive back and forth each day (attended Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday), we stayed at a hotel. We wanted to attend the seminars and see the entertainment. Like previously mentioned, the entertainment was lacking. I'm guessing that this rally was on the smaller side, so no big name entertainment???

As far as the seminars, some were helpful, some not so much. Still not sure if I want to go with Direct or Dish TV when the time comes??? Others presentations really didn't tell us anything that we didn't already know.

The worse part for us was the food vendors. Very few choices, cold food (cooked ahead of time), and high prices. Because we stayed off site, we ate 2 meals there each day.

We're beginning our search for a Diesel Pusher and there was a wide selection to look at. However, the show price that LaMesa RV had on one of the units was $30K more than we saw on their lot 3 weeks earlier - go figure.

Whether or not we attend any in the future will depend on how convenient it is based on where we are. That is, we won't likely go out of our way to attend.

[crcr]

Our home base is 30 miles from PIR, the location of the Good Sam Rally, so we attended, bought a day pass. We were interested in looking at new 5th wheels, but we were very disappointed. The RV mix was mostly Motor Homes, and not so many 5th Wheels and not so many Travel Trailers. We walked past all the vendors, but did not buy anything. Everything I saw I can and do buy online, generally for less money. On the plus side, the venue was very nice and it seemed very well organized.

It is unlikely that we will ever attend a Good Sam Rally again anywhere. The previous weekend, we went to a free RV show at the University of Phoenix stadium in Glendale, AZ, home of the NFL Cardinals, and venue of the recent Super Bowl. It was put on by LaMesa RV, which has two retail locations here in the Valley. There were a LOT more RV's of every type on display there than at the Good Sam Rally a week later, and as I mentioned, it was free. There weren't an overwhelming number of sales folks either, so one could look over many RV's and seldom be pestered.

[deputybubba]

We went on Saturday and could have come back on sunday for free, but as above.. I don't know what we would have looked at that we didn't already see.
still fun , and the only big RV show we get in Phoenix these days.

[Rollnhome]

What Dennis said. A day pass would have been the best choice. Half a day looking at RVs then half day in tent. I signed up and got the early bird parking. We left two days before the rally was over. Just ran out of stuff to see or do. You can only walk through the vendors tent so many times. Next GS rally will be a day pass.

[Executive45]

Two words....BIG DISAPPOINTMENT..!!

We arrived Thursday morning. Parking was a breeze..they really had their act together this time around...not like 2012. What was disappointing was the vendor selection. Lots of room in the tent for CalAm and Encore/Thousand Trails. Almost 1/2 the tent was dedicated to Camping World. Not too many vendors working the lot though. If you needed an awning replaced or window glass, those guys were there. We had our AquaHot serviced but the tech said they called him on Tuesday to see if he could work it otherwise they would have had no one. You could buy a nifty set of pots and pans for a mere $2795.00 !

The "entertainment" was terrible. Thursday nights band sucked. Friday they had the Beatles tribute, same as 2012. Saturday night was Neil Diamond tribute and about half the attendees left before the "band" finished. Sunday night's band was the best of the bunch. Even their Neil Diamond song generated more audience participation than the Saturday night bunch. 2012 had Martina McBride, ShaNaNa and Bill Cosby. This year saw no name performers.

IMHO, it was so BORING, even MARCUS skipped it !!! :B:B

The seminars were more sales pitch than informative. The guy doing the Satellite seminar was more interested in selling his wife's portable flashlight/jump start thingy than doing the satellite. He did promote his booth at least a dozen times and tried to sell his satellite many times. I felt like I was at a high pressure sales pitch rather than simply passing on good information. I got more info on RVNet than I did inside the tent.

There were many high end 45' coaches on display...more than in the past. Not as many fivers but there were some towables too. We even saw one Super C....

The did have a big giveaway but the gifts were NOT available for everyone who attended the rally. They were reserved only for those who spent their day trying to find their matching number. I'm not there to look for numbers...I'm there to enjoy the seminars, see new products, get things done to the coach and enjoy great entertainment. Most of that was lacking at this Rally.

All in all it was pretty disappointing compared to the last Rally. I know NASCAR kinda screwed Good Sam over with their venue change, but I would think Good Sam would have a better Plan B. I talked to several people who said this was their first and most likely last, rally. This was unfortunate because we really enjoyed their last one. I built this one up with two friends and they were both disappointed too. They looked at me like, Yeah! this is what you guys think is fun? very embarrassing.....Dennis

Here's a picture taken Thursday night around 6PM from the roof of the racetrack...D

[kregli]

I was there for a little while on Thursday. As I came in it looked like an ocean of RVs already parked, and as I was leaving there was an endless stream of them arriving.

I didn't stay long or go to any seminars, but there were lots of manufacturers reps there as well as people selling all sorts of stuff.

Most of the area dealerships had lots of RVs of all types to look at. It seemed the cool new feature was the raised side patio on both MH and 5th wheels.