Has anyone rated Walmart parking lot experiences?

[wrenchnone]

Thinking about staying in a couple "no charge" lots heading to our destination Wondering if there is a thread rating these types of places. Feeling of safety? quiet? outdoor lighting?

[t-train]

I work part time at Wal-mart. Some nights we may have 1 to 2 rigs parked overnight. Some night there are up to 5 to 6 rigs parked overnight. Most people who park overnight usually come in and buy supplies. Why should stores or truckstops ban overnight parking when most people will buy something from your store. Unless a city would ban overnight parking look at what the city would lose out in money coming into there city if the city would ban overnight parking.

[doc_brown]

Rating, 10/10 its convenient for an overnight stop and it's free. Not looking for an experience just a good nights sleep, haven't had a bad one yet. I use Walmart quite often as well as Ace Hardware and truck stops.

[beemerphile1]

Veebyes wrote:
So, Walmart has a Yahoo group does it? Gotta love Walmart. It is the place we love to hate & can't stay out of it. Have a few possible Walmart visits in our next trip. So convenient to load from shopping cart straight inside the trailer.

No, Walmart does not have a Yahoo group but there are two privately owned Yahoo groups that are devoted to discussing and cataloging the Walmarts that allow overnighting. One is a free group and one requires a paid subscription.

[slickest1]

Nothing wrong with staying at a Walmart or any other lot in my opinion. You have to expect noise during the night with other rv's coming and going along with trucks.
We always ask permission and buy a few items.
There is the odd one that we looked at and kept moving. If there a other rv's parked there then I feel it is safer.

[BruceMc]

Our trips typically have a mix of free and pay locations. We'll generally find an RV park of some sort when running low on water & need to dump, or it's just plain convenient.
Regarding WM parking lots: we've learned to pay attention to the surrounding area when choosing a spot. The Hood River WM is located alongside the freeway, which is at a 4-5 percent grade. We parked across the fence from the freeway & didn't think much about it until bedtime... Jake brakes downhill, roaring trucks headed up hill.... and general traffic noise at 65MPH. No one was over there; it was such a nice spot! We wondered why everyone else was parking on the other side, as far away from the freeway as they could!

[Veebyes]

So, Walmart has a Yahoo group does it? Gotta love Walmart. It is the place we love to hate & can't stay out of it. Have a few possible Walmart visits in our next trip. So convenient to load from shopping cart straight inside the trailer.

[Sandia_Man]

Another vote for RV Parky, pertinent info for every RVer when going down the road. We have on a few occasions overnighted where we saw fit and were allowed to do so, this freedom is why those of us served our country for. Why would I let some one else dictate their preferences to me, and I don't need to block somebody to keep them from changing who and what I stand for as it can't be done. Here's hoping you have a marvelous time wherever you choose to do so.

[kerrlakeRoo]

An option you may not have considered is Casino's.
Many have areas where you can park at no cost and they all have security on staff. A good list of them is at
www.casinocamper.com

[Matt_Colie]

We are travelers more than campers, so we have spend (literally) hundreds of Walmarts, Cabela's, highway rest stops and others. We have only hit a very few that were bad.

We left a casino lot (before we even went in to see a lounge act) because the security guy insisted that we park near the running reefer. This is one of the reasons we try to avoid ONP at truck stops.

On the last excursion, we hit two bad Walmarts. One asked (we always ask the manager) that we park at an edge of the lot that turned out to be very close to a highway ramp. The other was in a more or less rural area, but everybody with a noisy truck had to come and go all night.

I already write for both Trip Adviser and RV Park Reviews, so adding one more would be no big thing. I never noticed that RV Parky had reviews, so I will add that one to my list.

Matt

[Kusani]

fulltimedaniel, it is a bit of all you mentioned and more. Now, back to the OP's topic.

[fulltimedaniel]

Now back to our program....

I think Wal Mart is a fine place to spend a night and I see no reason why a review site is a bad idea. Although personally I think most review sites are "gamed" and do not really offer much in the way of real information.

But the bigger question is WHY does this subject nearly always result in such controversy and harsh words?

What is peoples problem with others staying a night (or 2 or 3 even) in a Wal Mart? Is it just a blind hatred of Wal Mart? Is it Classism? Is it just that a few cannot abide any idea of RV'ing other than what they like to do? This last point is illustrated by two or three responses in a Thread I started about Overlanding as a new part of the RV world.

I just don't get why this mundane subject becomes so contentious.

[wrenchnone]

Thank you for all the helpful responses...............and for those which were edited, all forums seem to have those who just love to stir the pot. (or whatever their motives) Big difference i see in my short time here is a moderator willing to keep the bad from spoiling the good.

[2012Coleman]

Cracker Barrel restaurants and Camping World allow overnight parking.

[Roadpilot]

Whenever we have stayed at a Walmart I have reviewed them on RVParky. Whenever I need to stay in a Walmart, I go to RVParky to read others reviews.

[magnusfide]

fulltimedaniel wrote:

Kusani wrote:
The OP asked a very simple question:

OP wrote:
Thinking about staying in a couple "no charge" lots heading to our destination Wondering if there is a thread rating these types of places. Feeling of safety? quiet? outdoor lighting?

There is absolutely no reason to come on here and bash the op for that inquiry. We will not put up with needless negative comments, this forum is to be a source of helpful information and it will remain such. Thank you, and continue on please. 🙂

Agreed completely. There is just too much of that by a few well known folks on this site who cannot abide any kind of Rv'ing or anything else "new" other than what they do.

Thanks for your comment.

Double ditto. Kudos to the moderator.