1st timer at 2024 Frog Rally

[Inky]

Well, we were looking so forward to this year’s international rally. Then we got here. The first words we heard were we apologize for how tight it is. Tight! This is like tail gating at a college football game. You can literally touch the rig next to you. On 3 sides Then after dinner (8:15pm) a parking volunteer bangs on my door with an attitude and told me I had to move my truck to let an FR3 in. I asked where. He said the rules said I can’t have my truck in front of my 5th wheel. I asked what rules ? Everyone else has their truck in front of their rig. This is absolutely the worst night’s experience I ever had regarding time in our RV. If you are claustrophobic you will be freaking. Oh, and the dinner. Horrible! The good news. RV people are wonderful.

[rxgac]

It will get better. We all have to adapt. By the end of the week hopefully it will be about the people. Wishing you well.

[5picker]

Our 1st time too.
Yes it's close but we are in a Fairgrounds not a campground and by design, they get as many rigs in as possible.

We thought the parking crew did a great job of parking us and all those around us. We can't park our vehicle near us and it's parked way over by the railroad tracks but that's OK. We'll just meet more folks as we pass by to get there.

As for dinner, we thought most everything was delicious with the exception of the ribs. They were not done. No one at our table could eat them and judging by the garbage cans when disposing of our plates, no one else could either. That's a shame because that was a lot of wasted money and food.

I hope your week goes better. We are excited with anticipation.

[aceinspp]

Been to the rally several times and had plenty room to put out awning. Always was able to park pick up in front of camper or across street. I was in the handy cap section so maybe different. Never had a bad meal the times I was there. i enjoyed the rally very much and met a lot of nice folks. Later RJD

[Mr. Dan]

“The water in the water fountain was too cold.”

“They held my tour on the day it came a little shower (what’s up with that?) so I couldn’t go. They wouldn’t give me my money back.”

“All their food was terrible!”
(Reply: “what? You don’t like possum ribs?)

Comments from past rallies.

[Inky]

The first night we arrived I was upset and sent out a negative message.
This was not fair to all of you who work so hard before and during the rally.
And to those who invested time and money to be here I apologize.
And to those who replied to encourage me to be patient, thank you.

We are focusing instead on all the good things to be grateful for:
How about this weather? Beautiful!
The RV attendees are wonderful.
The Service Group doing mods and repairs are outstanding.
And all the vendors and volunteers are helpful.
Food staff put a lot of work into feeding a 1,000 people and I appreciate them.

And no, my mommy didn’t tell me to write an apology.
It’s from my heart. Please forgive me.

Sincerely,
Inky

[Justauser]

Sounds like a terrible experience I guess I'll never be going.

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by Justauser

Sounds like a terrible experience I guess I'll never be going.

Did you read post #6?

[aceinspp]

Originally Posted by Justauser

Sounds like a terrible experience I guess I'll never be going.

Don't judge a rally by a few neg comments. Not all that bad. Later RJD

[dblr]

Originally Posted by Inky

The first night we arrived I was upset and sent out a negative message.
This was not fair to all of you who work so hard before and during the rally.
And to those who invested time and money to be here I apologize.
And to those who replied to encourage me to be patient, thank you.

We are focusing instead on all the good things to be grateful for:
How about this weather? Beautiful!
The RV attendees are wonderful.
The Service Group doing mods and repairs are outstanding.
And all the vendors and volunteers are helpful.
Food staff put a lot of work into feeding a 1,000 people and I appreciate them.

And no, my mommy didn’t tell me to write an apology.
It’s from my heart. Please forgive me.

Sincerely,
Inky

Thank you for the follow up on your earlier post, I sent you a pm requesting your site so we could meet and still would like a chance to meet you, I am also originally from Pa and my dad was raised in western Pa just not near you, one of my favorite places tpo visit is Kennywood, hope to hear from you soon

[wheelin14]

I hope everyone enjoyed the rally this week, however we chose not to attend due to the reasons below. We attended FR rallies in 2013 and 2021 along with Coachmen rallies in 2021 and 2022, also in Goshen. Perhaps my comments will help improve future rallies. Don’t get this wrong—I love the rallies, but at some point a value evaluation must be done.

Participation: dramatically down from 10 years ago. I suspect this is largely due to reduced support from corporate. But--more people, venders, and seminars is better than less.

Free repair: this has been cut from almost any year to two model years. I know of one competitor offering back to 5 years old. I believe in capitalism and the right of corporate to decide how to run their business. However, the broad free repair program of 10 years ago was great marketing. Repair with free labor and cheap parts would be a good option for older units.

Handicapped access: Are handicapped folks being discouraged from attending? I wrote emails this year and last year inquiring about handicapped parking with no answer. Pushing a wheelchair through the grass or on gravel roads is pretty tough. The vaunted hopper program at the FR rally does not work well for handicapped folks because they’re simply not there when you need them. Regular timed routes would help a little. No, the FAQ does not adequately answer all questions. Don’t publish an email address if emails are not going to be answered.

Cost: It would be nice to see a budget of where the money goes. Camping on the fairgrounds outside of a rally is $35 to $45 dollars a night. Building rental would need to be distributed to all, but is most of the rest of the money going to food (which has never been special)? The cost just doesn’t seem worth it to us even allowing for inflation. Is the registration fee paying for some of the free repair costs? Older units not getting free repair should not have to share any of the repair costs.

Lack of attendance by Coachmen folks (we own a Coachmen unit): I guess they feel no need since they have their own rally, but that rally pales in comparison in terms of vender participation and attendance. If we had just the budget for one rally it would be FR. At least the ability to rent golf carts at the Coachmen rally is superior to hopping at FR.