Snowbirds getting reservation in the winter

greg3888 · 04-03-2021, 03:58 PM

Hi, this next December will be our first winter as snowbirds. we are in Iowa and plan on heading south to Texas and then heading west to Arizona, staying in one location from 1 to 3 weeks . I know this question probably has been ask before .But Making reservation ,do you make you reservations early like months or not, and if you do how much in advance. I know it is April but I was just wondering. Thank you for your response. Greg

**bikendan** · 04-03-2021, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greg3888

Hi, this next December will be our first winter as snowbirds. we are in Iowa and plan on heading south to Texas and then heading west to Arizona, staying in one location from 1 to 3 weeks . I know this question probably has been ask before .But Making reservation ,do you make you reservations early like months or not, and if you do how much in advance. I know it is April but I was just wondering. Thank you for your response. Greg

I suggest that you make reservations as soon as possible. Over the past couple of years, it's gotten harder to get sites in Arizona. Even this winter, without the Canadian snowbirds, we found every place full or nearly full.

Reverse_snowbird · 04-03-2021, 04:46 PM

As bikendan says, make reservations early to get the park that you want.
The rv parks in Texas that cater to snowbirds fill up early. Snowbird parks tend to have more activities and amenities to appeal to people who are camping long term. With more rvs on the road, your choices will be more limited the longer you wait.

AlaskaErik · 04-03-2021, 08:46 PM

If you can't get reservations, consider boondocking. Lots of places to do so and the price is right...free.

A32Deuce · 04-04-2021, 01:41 PM

A couple weeks ago, I made all of ours going from home to the south and our time there for 5 months. Considering how things have changed with covid, I did not want to take a chance.

FlaNative · 04-04-2021, 06:11 PM

Thoroughly agree with Bikedan: make the reservations EARLY. Since COVID did the damage in many industries and local businesses, and caused fear in people's hearts and minds there have been so many who have taken to the road to isolate and keep healthy, that the rv sales have skyrocketed to record levels. That has caused an enormous increase in bookings for campsites.

I have talked to a few service managers at rv repair facilities who have said that they have a hard time keeping enough rv's in stock for sale, including used rv's. Obviously this condition will wane when things settled down, but it will not go away anytime soon. And when you factor in that there will be many who will retain their new (or used) rv's, the demand for campsites will continue to be high.
So the advice is to search each state for booking availability, their time frames for reserving and book as soon as they allow.

rsdata · 04-04-2021, 06:20 PM

Quote:

do you make you reservations early like months or not, and if you do how much in advance.

yesterday was NOT TOO SOON...

I know going south to FL for the winter, many reservations are made for the next year upon arrival...

kittlecat · 04-04-2021, 09:36 PM

My sister and her husband make their reservations a year in advance and even then, as others have said, it can be difficult to get a spot where you want.

HONDAMAN174 · 04-04-2021, 10:36 PM

I was looking for weekend winter camp spots today and our favorite place has many spots already booked from October thru April.

Book them quickly!!

lcv800 · 04-05-2021, 04:22 AM

After 6 years of doing the "dance" and trying to get reservations in Florida for the season, we bit the bullet and bought a lot in a RV resort in Fort Myers Beach. Problem solved.
Rusty

**bikendan** · 04-05-2021, 12:17 PM

We have been going down to SoCal and Arizona, after New Years, for the past 7 years. Last year and this year were much harder getting sites.
So we decided to switch things up. We are building a house in Arizona and leaving Washington State.
Now we won't have to worry about a snowbird site but we'll have to compete with summer campers in the Northwest.[emoji6]

**ependydad** · 04-05-2021, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greg3888

Hi, this next December will be our first winter as snowbirds. we are in Iowa and plan on heading south to Texas and then heading west to Arizona, staying in one location from 1 to 3 weeks .

I prefer having reservations but also knowing the ins and outs of the change and cancellation policies. Our plans are set in Jello!

For your travel style and locations, maybe consider a Thousand Trails membership with the Trails Collection add-on. There are a handful of parks in south Texas and Arizona.

AlaskaErik · 04-05-2021, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bikendan

We have been going down to SoCal and Arizona, after New Years, for the past 7 years. Last year and this year were much harder getting sites.
So we decided to switch things up. We are building a house in Arizona and leaving Washington State.
Now we won't have to worry about a snowbird site but we'll have to compete with summer campers in the Northwest.[emoji6]

Where at in AZ? In my small winter home neighborhood three people from WA have sold their homes and moved back to WA. Our winter home home is 25 mile south of Tucson.

**bikendan** · 04-05-2021, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlaskaErik

Where at in AZ? In my small winter home neighborhood three people from WA have sold their homes and moved back to WA. Our winter home home is 25 mile south of Tucson.

A 55+ community, southwest of Phoenix.
Did they say why they're moving back to Washington?
We're moving because we can sell our current house and be able to pay cash for a new home in Arizona and be debt-free.

AlaskaErik · 04-06-2021, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bikendan

A 55+ community, southwest of Phoenix.
Did they say why they're moving back to Washington?
We're moving because we can sell our current house and be able to pay cash for a new home in Arizona and be debt-free.

Two of them moved back to be with family and the other one moved back because AZ just wasn't for them. We looked at the Phoenix area first, but I didn't want to live in close proximity with 4.5 million other people.

Bill Nourse · 04-08-2021, 07:20 AM

When we left Desert Gold in Brenda, Az. on March 1 we made reservations for next year. At that time there were only about 25 spaces left out of a total of 500.

BrianSmith · 04-13-2021, 08:17 PM

Git er done !

**bikendan** · 04-13-2021, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianSmith

Git er done !

[emoji849]

NavyLCDR · 04-13-2021, 08:57 PM

You try to make reservations 1/2 hour before that particular reservations window opens. These days, about two hours after the reservations window opens, they will be sold out. In fact, when Oregon finally opened their six-month reservation window, some state parks were sold out when the official window opened because the website actually opened reservations 15 minutes early and the early birds snatched them all up. I know from experience. Oregon State Parks issued an apology....but I still didn't get the reservations I wanted.

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