How Are Escalating CG/Resort Increases Affecting You?

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

Just reading more and more posts and hearing of substantial increase in CG/Resort Prices. Chula Vista San Diego, Gunnison KOA dropping monthly rates so more than doubled based on daily rates and several others gone up substantially. How is this affecting how you travel?

We appreciate, it's all to do with supply and demand, and for sure can appreciate that some of the costs may have gone up exponentially but just curious how end users/RVers have or are planning on changing how they travel, or where they stay. There is no way our incomes have increased the same percentage that the rates to stay have for sure. For example back in the 90's we loved staying at Provincial Parks and various State and Federal CG's, but with privatization and exorbitant increases to the daily rates for basically "somewhere" just to park overnight (we are totally self sufficient with solar etc, so don't need hookups, for the past several years we are avoiding paying these overnight rates for the most part and finding somewhere nearby to boondock/drycamp. Our local PP hubby fishes for walleye and pike at, we go down to the lake/dam at 7am in the morning, I kayak, prep foods in the car park in the RV, and we leave anywhere after dark and find somewhere within a couple of miles to dry camp overnight. Don't get me wrong if it were less than $12/night to stay then fair comment we'd gladly pay and stay, but $39 for too many restrictions and little other than the lake everyone has access to we can't justify $40/night personally. I recall when we paid an exhorbitant $75/night at Newport Dunes to explore LA area as a one off for the experience, but there is no way on earth I'd pay their current $300/night today.

Don't want this to get in to a "justification" thread as to "why" they charge what they do etc, but just curious who else has started to change the way they travel and stay due to the increased charges for a site etc. Like always, we have the choice to stay or not and vote with our dollars 🙂

[spoon059]

rk911 wrote:
had an interesting experience last nite when we called the Twin Fountains RV Resort in OKC yesterday morning to check availability for last nite. we've been staying there for the past 10-12 years on our way out west and back usually for 1-3 days. we were told that "the park was filling fast due to spring break and that a reservation was a must". so we made a reservation. not the end of the world in the grand scheme of things but we like to keep our options open. but after checking in and walking the dog i found that the park was nowhere near full...more like 1/2 to 1/3 empty. now we were going to stay there anyway as its our favorite park in OKC (we've tried them all) but i felt the park representative we spoke with may have, shall we say, overstated the need for a reservation.

Interestingly enough, we had a very similar experience in Savannah on the way to Florida last month. My bride called a couple weeks in advance, she was told they were all full, could put us in "overflow" with water and electric but no sewer. That was fine for us, only 2 night stay there.

We got there, parked in overflow and saw several vacant spots... both nights. Our site was perfectly fine though, we enjoyed being a little further away from everyone. Just found it interesting that people apparently had reservations and didn't show...

[rk911]

spoon059 wrote:
Other than being annoying, it hasn't really effected us yet. It is my experience that RVing has become more popular again now that the economy is doing better. 5 years ago we could drive up to campgrounds and get a spot (non holiday). Now we have to make reservations everywhere we go.

An unfortunate byproduct of this hobby becoming more popular is increased pricing. I don't foresee prices dropping either. We just grumble and complain a little more, but so far we haven't been priced out of parks nor have we had to cut back on the amount of trips due to cost.

we get along fine without reservations (generally speaking) but will make them when we must be somewhere but we will frequently call ahead to check availability.

had an interesting experience last nite when we called the Twin Fountains RV Resort in OKC yesterday morning to check availability for last nite. we've been staying there for the past 10-12 years on our way out west and back usually for 1-3 days. we were told that "the park was filling fast due to spring break and that a reservation was a must". so we made a reservation. not the end of the world in the grand scheme of things but we like to keep our options open. but after checking in and walking the dog i found that the park was nowhere near full...more like 1/2 to 1/3 empty. now we were going to stay there anyway as its our favorite park in OKC (we've tried them all) but i felt the park representative we spoke with may have, shall we say, overstated the need for a reservation.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

I agree that the market pressure/ supply / demand is creating a problem for the future.

I wouldn't want to be a working parent trying to fit RVing in to my lifestyle today.

The freedom we have as full timers isn't there for people who still have to work.

Since we belong to Thousand Trails, that is where we see most working age RVers and their families. But I do have to admit we plan our travels and stays to avoid popular parks during their busiest season.

We did the same thing with state parks and COE / USFS/ NPS campgrounds before.

My impression, which could be wrong, is that working age RVers tend to be controlling their costs by going for places where they can leave the rig for the summer season. Fewer long trips.

Resort type parks attract many of those RVers, and I have heard of rising prices causing some to change their plans.

Some of the non-full time members of my Good Sam group used to travel to Colorado for a month in the summer. That group is now half the size it was six years ago, and all have moved to alternate resorts/ regions due to rising costs.

[Lwiddis]

Not affecting me. I prefer fed, state and county campgrounds.

[Snowman9000]

I hope this does not send the thread off in a wrong direction.

Looking at supply and demand:
RVs are selling like crazy.
CGs are not being built.
More and more of the sites in private CGs are permanently occupied.
Getting into desirable public CGs in-season requires very advanced planning, for the most part.

The trend is in the wrong direction, and will get worse. Something has to give. I don't see any real possibility other than CGs raising prices. Not that I like it.

[Second_Chance]

Senior pass for National Parks and National Forest campgrounds. Escapees members for their network of parks (staying in one for a month right now). Good Sam's and Passport America for the one- and two-nighters on the road. Military FamCamps and resorts wherever we can. It's surprising how many small towns have city parks with RV spaces. They tend to see them as a way to attract travelers to a small town than might not otherwise draw them in.

As full-timers, we just see park fees as rent and try to get the best bang for our buck. We've only had one instance where we chose a campground during planning based on price and, when we got there, got back on the road and kept on going until we found something else (that one was on the east side of Atlanta off the I-20 access road...). We've not been gutsy enough yet to Wal-dock or stay overnight at a truck stop.

Rob

[doxiemom11]

We also are full-time and will not pay high prices. We use parks the majority of the time with an occasional Walmart night. We use Corp of Engineer, forestry parks, Passport America parks. We could also use Harvest Hosts, Boondockers Welcome and boondock to reduce costs. We prefer smaller campgrounds that seem to be friendlier than the "resort" type places.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Frankly we will not pay those high rates. Don't have that much money on a full-time budget. And I'd rather visit something like the Utah National Parks in October with smaller crowds in the off / shoulder seasons.

Had discussion with the DW just a couple days ago about San Francisco and was the high rate for the park in the immediate area worth saving the driving time to a mass transit hub.

More power to those who choose to visit those parks.

[goducks10]

Not affecting us in the least. Probably because we don't stay in resorts very often. We mix it up during the year. Mostly Forest Service CG's some St parks and a few nights at RV parks.
Fuel is my main concern. Not that it will determine how much we go but more on where we might go.

[Chuck_thehammer]

just remember Fuel was over 4 dollars a gallon a few years ago...

[1968mooney]

When traveling on the road to our destination campgrounds, we always stop for the night at Walmarts, Flying J, or CrackerBarrel. We look for a destination park that has Resort in it's name. Also, the 10 yr. rule is a must. Find much better people and no riff raft to put up with. Price is no problem. :B

[spoon059]

Other than being annoying, it hasn't really effected us yet. It is my experience that RVing has become more popular again now that the economy is doing better. 5 years ago we could drive up to campgrounds and get a spot (non holiday). Now we have to make reservations everywhere we go.

An unfortunate byproduct of this hobby becoming more popular is increased pricing. I don't foresee prices dropping either. We just grumble and complain a little more, but so far we haven't been priced out of parks nor have we had to cut back on the amount of trips due to cost.