Reservations or not.

[Doug]

We traveled from Ohio to California and back this Spring.
I made 72 days of reservations.
We pretty much stayed on schedule without any problems.

On the way back, we were able to easily shift reservations by a couple days here and there.

Also, since we used enough KOA's to get VIP status, there was no cancellation for a couple we cancelled altogether.

Normally plenty of sites through the week. Definitely need reservations for holidays and popular site as stated.

Doug

[Bassdogs]

Originally Posted by glsimms

Gotta ask you bassdog..... But with all of the meanness goin' on, do you feel secure while you're over-nighting in WallyWorld???

Absolutely safe. The lot is well lit and covered by survellance cameras. Many have roving guard vehicles. 9 times out of 10 you will have 2 or more other RV's nearby. Everything from truck campers to big 5'ers and the big class A Buses. There are stores that we have avoided that are in obviously rough areas, but its pretty easy to pick the good ones by the neighborhoods you see from the interstate.

A lot of people seemed intimidated by the idea of staying in a Wally World lot. Believe me that the WW people love to have you because we are loyal customers. The wife will stock up on groceries and supplies after we stop for the night and I hit the McD or whatever food counter is inside for the morning cup of coffee. I stopped on the south entrance to the big state park in upstate NY at a brand new [still striping the lot] WW the night before we entered the park. Was concerned since they had signs on every other light pole stating "no over night parking". I went inside to the CS counter and ask to see the manager. Ask her about parking the RV for the night [played dumb about the signs] and she said "sure, no problem. let me show you where to park".

The well lit lots and cameras along with the neighbors make us feel very safe. A 40cal S&W next to the bed has never been needed.

[Bassdogs]

Originally Posted by Ed Brodt

This past spring spring we left Kentucky on April 28 and traveled TN, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, NV, CA, OR, ID, WY,NB,IL, then home to KY. Out 40 days. No reservations. Mid afternoon we would call ahead to find a spot. Never had a problem. Stayed at a couple of Walmarts, a couple of interstate rest stops, state campgrounds, national parks, national forests and commercial campgrounds. We like the freedom of staying a couple of extra days if we find an area we really like or moving a day early if we run out of things to do. Next spring 2014 we are driving to Alaska from Kentucky. Our plan is no reservations.

Ditto on the open schedule plan. Have you talked to anyone about the Alaska road trip? Here's why I ask, we've rented Motorhomes out of Anchorage multiple times. On our travels in the beautiful state of Alaska we met many folks who have driven up from the lower 48. To the person, no one had made the trip thru Canada without spending a considerable amount of $$s for maintanence and repairs. I'm talking of thousands with $2k to $5k not uncommon. Most of Canada regardless of route is thru sparcely populated areas and parts for the TV or RV are going to take 3 or 4 days to ship in. I had one guy with a pretty nice 4or 5 year old MH from Tennessee [met him at the dump station at Denali NP] who in conversation said his RV and the small car he was pulling could be purchased for $40k when he got back to Tn in a few weeks. Plan 5000 miles travel BEFORE hitting the Alaska state line. Keep in mind that Alaska is twice the size of Texas. Absolutely a fabulous place to RV thru BUT my suggestion is leave your rig home and fly up and rent. Our new 30' Forest River MH cost $100/day after Labor day with no milage or extra charges. Just gas. No offense to Canada but spend your vacation in Alaska not driving thru Canada. A lot of people who make a visit to Alaska don't leave. The rest of us do it multiple times.

[MonkeyClaw]

The issue my wife and I ran into recently was that we had to pre-pay for our spot. When we decided we couldn't take the 'foghorn' of Bodega Bay (think car or house alarm with a dying battery beeping every 10 seconds, not the occasional booming bass that sounds when a goal is scored in hockey) we could only get part of our pre-payment back.

We had been making reservations at some of the spots, but now the protocol is to call and see how busy they are. If they are not full, no sense in making reservations. If they are likely to be full, only reserve as needed. We haven't had any issues with this.

[Tail_gunner]

I always make reservations. Depending on where we go, we have specific sites we like. I don't want to show up somewhere and find out the only sites available are either too small or are too sloped.

A couple of times we checked in at the state park office and got to our reserved site only to find 'squatters' on it. Both times the park ranger(s) evicted them.

[Larry G.]

When we know where we want to stay we make reservation.

Why?

As others mention there are certain sites that we want be it view, level, not next to a traveled road (noise)....you get the drift.

It costs nothing more to make a reservation that you know is waiting for you after a day of travel.

[Tumbleweed99]

Question/observation for this thread: I stayed a few nights in Chula Vista RV park (private CG). I made reservations and chose a site. They said they could not guarantee the site we chose unless we paid a $30 "lock-in" fee for the site. Wow, I don't know if this is a common thing for private CG's, but it seems to me that if you choose a site you should get that site. It's like you're being blackmailed to get the site that you want. Other places give you the site you choose without a fee, as long as you make the reservation while the site is still available....
Anyone out there have this experience? Is this legal?
Thanks,
DanL (tumbleweed)

[Jagiven]

Old thread but probably more relevant now than it was in 2013.

When I travel cross country, I like to only book CGs where we plan to stay for a while. If it is just an overnight resting spot, I like to wing it. Stop when I am tired, keep going if we are feeling it.

Camper sales are thought the roof, and number of campsites probably are not increased much and maybe even decreased, as many communities are pushing back on them.

I skimmed an article a few weeks back, that stated last year their was over 500K more campsite bookings than in 2019. Don't know how compressive this report was, but I cannot believe the number of new campsites increase periportally.

Is it right, I would say no, is it legal, hard to say. Probably depends on state or local hotel ordinance. I travel a fair amount for work, I do put in room requests, sometimes I get the room I want sometimes I don't.

Now what would be interesting to do, if you were not picky about your site. Book it without the extra fee, then come back an hour later and again in a week or two, and see if you can rebook the same site. Does it show it is reserved or not???

[Tumbleweed99]

Thanks Jagiven,
I'm planning on doing more investigation on this. I have reserved several sites at other private CG's, and none of them have asked for a special fee to "lock in" the specific site.
My wife and I retired in 2018, and we had already chosen the RV we wanted to get the year prior. After retirement her parents died, and then we had to go through a lot of legal stuff for their estate, which postponed our purchase. Then the COVID thing hit, and the RV we wanted was hard to come by, so more delays. Finally we got one in October 2020, so we are newbies without intentionally doing so, due to the pandemic. We should have been camping back in 2018. So I see the point about difficulty getting reservations at this time, and perhaps the lock in fee is a result of the glut of people who now own a camper. Personally, I prefer boondocking, so I'm prepping my RV for that (solar panels, suspension, etc). Hopefully that does not become an over populated issue too!

[norty1]

I have recently reserved a site in a private RV Resort. I was notified that they would make every effort to reserve the site requested but I would have to pay a "lock in" fee to guarantee it.

So yes, it's the latest thing to get you $$$. Sure it's legal.

[Old and soft]

Middle of nowhere, ks, no reservations made. Grand canyon, got mine and maybe too late if you don't.
We traveled for 1 month every summer as a kid in the 70's, my mom said they never made reservations anywhere.

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by Tumbleweed99

Question/observation for this thread: I stayed a few nights in Chula Vista RV park (private CG). I made reservations and chose a site. They said they could not guarantee the site we chose unless we paid a $30 "lock-in" fee for the site. Wow, I don't know if this is a common thing for private CG's, but it seems to me that if you choose a site you should get that site. It's like you're being blackmailed to get the site that you want. Other places give you the site you choose without a fee, as long as you make the reservation while the site is still available....
Anyone out there have this experience? Is this legal?
Thanks,
DanL (tumbleweed)

We always request our favorite spots when we go to our usual private campgrounds. We almost always get them, but not always. They are careful to tell you when booking that they cannot guarantee it, and it has bitten me in the butt more than once.

The reason is this: Say my favorite requested site is big enough to accommodate a long Class A, but my rig is just 26 feet. If they book up and only a 26-foot site is left, they want to be able to switch us so both we, and the Class A, get to stay. If not, I get a big site and the small one likely goes empty.

One of the parks we go to just instituted the “lock-in” fee. While I don’t love the extra cost, I’m not a gambler and it’s worth it to ensure I enjoy my stay in a spot I like. Peace of mind has a price.

[norty1]

We return often to the same campgrounds often staying a month and therefore have a list of sites we like, If we could not get it locked in, I would likely consider the fee to guarantee it.

[Tumbleweed99]

Ok, I can see why the park offers the "lock in" fee. It's their way of insuring a full park.
Thanks to everyone for their insights on this....
DanL

[Tumbleweed99]

Just wondering.... how do I set up the "end credits" (personal info and rig info) that everyone has on their posts???
I tried one thing and it doesn't seem to show up on my quick reply...
Thanks

[Rice1951]

Originally Posted by Tumbleweed99

Just wondering.... how do I set up the "end credits" (personal info and rig info) that everyone has on their posts???
I tried one thing and it doesn't seem to show up on my quick reply...
Thanks

In the yellow bar at the top of the page click on “User CP”

It should open up “Your Control Panel.”

Scroll down to “Settings & Options”

Click on “Edit Signature”

Enter your text in the box or upload a photo or whatever else you want to include. Then click on “Save Signature” and you’re done.