Until we go fulltime (I'm almost ready to retire----yippee!) we camp as much as we can, sometimes just Hubby and me but a lot of the time with the one child we still have at home (14 years old). I've spent some considerable time looking for someplace nice, someplace new, someplace not far away from home so that we can get out of work on Friday and go set up and have a nice weekend. Easier said than done. I don't know if it is a trend across the country, but here in New England more and more campgrounds are filling up with seasonals and it is getting very hard to be able to travel and get a spot for two or three nights or even a week or two. Today, however, I hit a wall when a place outside of Boston, in answer to my inquiry, informed me that they charge $4.00 additionally each night for each family child. Well, while it is their right to charge what they see fit, I am astounded. Family camping is the whole point when you have children still living at home. Charge me extra for my cable hook up, for wi-fi (these are extras to me and I can certainly do without them if I don't want to pay for them) or charge me extra for my dog, but not my child! Well, the quick and very detailed response from the campground confirmed my belief that I am far from the only one to be "put off" by this charge. I feel it would be far better if they stated on their website that children are not welcome as it seems this is their way of eliminating the nasty little buggers. I was informed that they make much more money during the week by having older guests that hardly exit from their units and do not generate a lot of trash stay with them. I wanted to ask them how much more their services would be strained by a family of three instead of a family of two and inform them that I am an older person but I do dare to poke my head out of our unit frequently but I thought my head would burst open at that point and just said thanks but no thanks. Again, this is my rant for today. Thanks for listening.
Barbaraok said
10:47 AM Apr 30, 2015
First problem - you're in the east. Very few parks that handle both RVs and families. Don't know anything about state parks in your areas, but we always found they were the best for family weekend get aways. But then again, we weren't in the east. We did find the summer that we stayed in New England that it is hard to find parks with decent sized sites for motorhomes with in and out ease that didn't want you to stay for the whole summer, plus none were what I would call reasonably priced. But we expected that and made do. And I hate to say it, but we always love Sunday evenings when all of the families leave and the park becomes quiet until Thursday evening (in the summer) or the weekend. And it isn't just the kids, lots of the adults seem to think that getting away means you can be loud, drunk, and offensive and no one will notice.
As you said, their park, their rules - take your money elsewhere.
Barb
ChefMom said
11:01 AM Apr 30, 2015
Barb:
Will do. Money going elsewhere as I write. Guess I'm old school where it's not family or rv but rather family and rv. I'm afraid my idea of new and exciting will have to be replaced by old, already been there and isn't it good to be back. We are familiar with the weekend warrior campers. I don't know how many nights on holiday weekends when my kids were small we'd have them in their bunks with earplugs in to sleep while the karaoke played on until 3 in the morning and I prayed the earplugs worked so my little guys wouldn't wake up spouting a whole new inappropriate vocabulary. It's like the rest of life where you can say it's too bad that only a handful ruin it for everyone else.
BiggarView said
11:16 AM Apr 30, 2015
If the CG operator can't or won't step in to enforce quiet time... I'd be on the horn to the local authorities. I don't want to be the old codger, but rules is rules. Inaction by the CG operator will certainly result in bad reviews, flaming on the internet by some folks and worse from others. Negative word of mouth can quickly kill your business.
Curtis and Rhandi said
02:06 PM Apr 30, 2015
biggaRView wrote:
If the CG operator can't or won't step in to enforce quiet time... I'd be on the horn to the local authorities. I don't want to be the old codger, but rules is rules. Inaction by the CG operator will certainly result in bad reviews, flaming on the internet by some folks and worse from others. Negative word of mouth can quickly kill your business.
Same here! I don't have a problem with people having a good time and enjoying themselves. But the few times I've run into those that are taking it to a whole new level, the camp hosts or rangers stepped in. That would truly be an annoyance. For me, full timing still means I have to be up early to work all day - so yeah, I don't want to deal with someone partying into the wee hours! I would not hesitate to make a phone call - or send my husband over to ask them to bring it down a notch!
Terry and Jo said
05:46 PM Apr 30, 2015
Just as a little thought with regards to this topic and with just a wee bit of experience at workkamping.
Here at Mountaindale Cabins and RV Resort near Colorado Springs, they also charge $2.00 per night per child over 6 years old. I suppose that the extra charge can be applied to such things as extra people using the campground facilities like showers, game room, etc. and the need to clean all those areas. Since I'm also going around picking up trash in the RV park, I guess I don't see a problem with charging the fee.
As for the quiet time, yes, the campground should be enforcing the rules. Here at Mountaindale, they have an ex-Marine that takes care of that and of folks building too large of a fire.
Terry
Camper Chronicles said
04:27 AM May 2, 2015
We started camping up in that area and yes it was extremely difficult. Keep in mind because of weather they have a VERY short season in which to make their money. We are seeing similar high prices and add-ons in all the northern states from Minneapolis to Montana. I would recommend for you Western New Hampshire and Vermont though. I know it's a longer drive but there are some nice, small campgrounds in the middle of no where out there. IT's all about the camping in those places because there is not much around but the prices are reasonable and the campsites themselves offer alot of amenities. Prior to going full-time, we did a year of campground to campground and because of the hassle did a seasonal stint. Pluses and minuses to each approach but the seasonal sites do have a lot to recommend themselves for consistency and more time spent actually camping and less on the logistics of getting their, setting up etc. When you only have a weekend you could lose a chunk of one day doing all that setup.
Trace
MarkS said
09:47 AM May 2, 2015
Maybe it's just me but I have given thought to these up charges for extra ppl. I can't imagine that the revenue generated makes the difference between keeping the gates open and not. If you are trying to control large noisy groups, then control them and get real with your up charges. I say I'm not crazy about kids but I sure enjoy seeing them having a good time with their families. I know that a kids world exists in a bubble about ten inches from their head and they don't often think about things much farther out than that. It doesn't bother me when they cut through my camp site or when they make some noise. It does bother me when they or their families are treated unfairly with rules or costs. I don't have a thought on seasonal campers. I might be one someday. No vacancy signs can certainly take the wind out of your sails.
Stekay said
12:04 PM May 17, 2015
I think you might want to take a look in NY from Lake George all the way up to Lake Placid. Tons of places to camp.
Until we go fulltime (I'm almost ready to retire----yippee!) we camp as much as we can, sometimes just Hubby and me but a lot of the time with the one child we still have at home (14 years old). I've spent some considerable time looking for someplace nice, someplace new, someplace not far away from home so that we can get out of work on Friday and go set up and have a nice weekend. Easier said than done. I don't know if it is a trend across the country, but here in New England more and more campgrounds are filling up with seasonals and it is getting very hard to be able to travel and get a spot for two or three nights or even a week or two. Today, however, I hit a wall when a place outside of Boston, in answer to my inquiry, informed me that they charge $4.00 additionally each night for each family child. Well, while it is their right to charge what they see fit, I am astounded. Family camping is the whole point when you have children still living at home. Charge me extra for my cable hook up, for wi-fi (these are extras to me and I can certainly do without them if I don't want to pay for them) or charge me extra for my dog, but not my child! Well, the quick and very detailed response from the campground confirmed my belief that I am far from the only one to be "put off" by this charge. I feel it would be far better if they stated on their website that children are not welcome as it seems this is their way of eliminating the nasty little buggers. I was informed that they make much more money during the week by having older guests that hardly exit from their units and do not generate a lot of trash stay with them. I wanted to ask them how much more their services would be strained by a family of three instead of a family of two and inform them that I am an older person but I do dare to poke my head out of our unit frequently but I thought my head would burst open at that point and just said thanks but no thanks. Again, this is my rant for today. Thanks for listening.
As you said, their park, their rules - take your money elsewhere.
Barb
Will do. Money going elsewhere as I write. Guess I'm old school where it's not family or rv but rather family and rv. I'm afraid my idea of new and exciting will have to be replaced by old, already been there and isn't it good to be back. We are familiar with the weekend warrior campers. I don't know how many nights on holiday weekends when my kids were small we'd have them in their bunks with earplugs in to sleep while the karaoke played on until 3 in the morning and I prayed the earplugs worked so my little guys wouldn't wake up spouting a whole new inappropriate vocabulary. It's like the rest of life where you can say it's too bad that only a handful ruin it for everyone else.
If the CG operator can't or won't step in to enforce quiet time... I'd be on the horn to the local authorities. I don't want to be the old codger, but rules is rules. Inaction by the CG operator will certainly result in bad reviews, flaming on the internet by some folks and worse from others. Negative word of mouth can quickly kill your business.
Same here! I don't have a problem with people having a good time and enjoying themselves. But the few times I've run into those that are taking it to a whole new level, the camp hosts or rangers stepped in. That would truly be an annoyance. For me, full timing still means I have to be up early to work all day - so yeah, I don't want to deal with someone partying into the wee hours! I would not hesitate to make a phone call - or send my husband over to ask them to bring it down a notch!
Just as a little thought with regards to this topic and with just a wee bit of experience at workkamping.
Here at Mountaindale Cabins and RV Resort near Colorado Springs, they also charge $2.00 per night per child over 6 years old. I suppose that the extra charge can be applied to such things as extra people using the campground facilities like showers, game room, etc. and the need to clean all those areas. Since I'm also going around picking up trash in the RV park, I guess I don't see a problem with charging the fee.
As for the quiet time, yes, the campground should be enforcing the rules. Here at Mountaindale, they have an ex-Marine that takes care of that and of folks building too large of a fire.
Terry
Trace