We have always been "to each his own" on the overnighting in Walmart, Casinos, Home Depot etc although we have never seen the attraction to staying in a campground. Campgrounds have no amenities or services we need, tend to be poorly designed for big rigs for in/out purposes, they are usually poorly lit, seaonally closed, poor office hours, no security and generally poorly run. Resort destinations are a completely different story but for overnighting I've never felt the need to pay for inconvenience. If I was in a tent or tent trailer I would use them though.
Turninghawk I take you are not serious in your post. I think others with kids would just do like us and just stay in the driveway for a vacation before going to Wal-Mart and call it a vacation. At least at home we would have electricity.
Our kids "BEG" to stay at Wal-Mart when we have to find a place to stay overnight. If there is a McDonalds in the Wal-Mart they through a fit to stay there. Wal-Mart and McDonalds have done a good job of taking ownership kids dollars they have to spend.
Actually some Wal-Mart's do have nice places for the kids to run out of the way. I remember the kids catching butterflys at one in Booneville, IN last year. Personally camp grounds are hard for me to trust like I do Wal-Mart security. Mainly we stock up at Wal-Mart. We live 20 miles from town so to save time we just hit the road and load the MH at the first Wal-Mart that makes a good stopping point. In cold weather they have 24 hour rest rooms too.
Like some other posters here who still work so are on tighter time frames, we would like to spend more of our time at our destination than getting there. Our only long trip of this year starting Saturday and I would rather put the bulk of the miles behind me, overnight at a Sprawlmart or Crackerbarrel on the West side of Oklahoma City, and be on our way to Branson early the next morning. No, I don't camp, or want to camp at WM, but for a few hours shuteye before heading out again, why not? Also, I don't feel there is a sense of entitlement to parking overnight at WM, but historically the store had welcomed RVers, and more recently problems of city ordinances and campers improperly using the parking areas have changed where RVers may be welcome. So, there is just a change in the status quo RVers are adjusting to. YMMV
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We are not heavy on the RV resort experience. We like to cruise and as a result all we need is a place to stop and sleep. We camp ground once a week to rest for a day or so before hitting the road again. The features that make an RV "self contained" are just for that purpose. We ask, we clean up, we do not "camp", and park out of the way. We do pull in at about 4 in the afternoon and are on the road about 9 the next morning.
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Home Depot is also great. Many local business people leave their work trucks there overnight and just go home. Home Depot is happy to have their continued business. Also perfect for RV's because Home Depot has lots of things we need, too. Never had a problem there. In areas with multiple CGs, I may also use the commercial lots as a launch pad for exploring those CG's to see where I want to dock up for a bit.
Have been doing the urban rest stop since I was a little kid. It's been done ever since people started driving cars powerful enough to pull travel trailers. We did it many times during military transfers when leave time got combined with travel time, and sometimes extended into a wait for base housing. Also for vacation. Urban camping on the road, vacation spots here and there, a park when we finally arrived at the destination. I can tell you from first-hand experience, kids don't care. Do. Not. Care. These are people who enjoy mud and banging kitchen equipment together. It's ALL just one big adventure. If you've raised kids (or think you have) who can only be happy in a resort or at a theme park, a reality check may be in order for all concerned.
This brings to mind yet another Walphobia:
Walphobia Locoparentis - the overwhelming fear that overnighting Walmart will tarnish one's upscale soccer mom/dad image with offspring or bountiful provider status with spouses. Retail therapy in this case tends to be costlier and lacks exit strategy. Not recommended. A few evenings of RV- and Vacation-themed movies with popcorn while actually Waldocking is recommended. Healthy children find the personalization highly amusing, which in turns puts image-conscious parents back at ease. This therapy may backfire with parents who have used family members as cover for their own resort preferences, but will clarify ownership of issues and leave children with pleasant memories, so is the recommended initial approach to all cases. (This therapy will not induce any sense of irony in those born lacking. This is a separate syndrome for which no cure or therapy has been found to date.)
Lantley wrote: ... If Wal Mart doesn't mind and actually promotes the policy, why are so many offended that some RV'ers choose to overnight at Wal-Mart?
I don't think it's the act staying overnight as much as the feeling that purchases from Walmart entitle one to park on their lot overnight.
Wal Mart promotes RV's on their lot because they know eventually RV'ers are going to come inside and spend money. Yes it is that simple. A free parking pass for a sale is a easy trade off for them. I'm sure total sales from overnight RV'ers are in the millions. Basically it cost Wal Mart nothing to attract RV'ers and their dollars. Create an open door policy for RV'ers and to the dismay of many who feel Wal Mart overnighting is just tacky, RV'ers come willing to stay a night and spend.
Personally Wal Mart overnighting is fine. Staying more than a night is tacky.
Lantley wrote: ... If Wal Mart doesn't mind and actually promotes the policy, why are so many offended that some RV'ers choose to overnight at Wal-Mart?
I don't think it's the act staying overnight as much as the feeling that purchases from Walmart entitle one to park on their lot overnight.
Wal Mart promotes RV's on their lot because they know eventually RV'ers are going to come inside and spend money. Yes it is that simple....
BlackSilver wrote: Why is only Walmart obligated to provide us with a free camping spot? Does Target offer you one, or Cracker Barrel, or Outback, or the local Chevy dealer, or the Baptist Church, or the Mobil station, or the strip mall by my dentists office? I spend a ton of money in those places --- certainly they owe me a place to camp, don't they?
Therin lies the problem I was trying to address. some feel becasue they spend they are entitled. The "entitlement" is the bone of contention.
but the main point was local rv park owners putting preasure on local WM or zoning boards to stop rv parking overnight....
why do the rv park owners have a right to do this and take fair trade away, while WM opens and puts thousands of mom and pops out of business and no one comes to their aid!!!
ok lets kick this one around....
its a free country and if WM wants to let me use their lot it should be ok..and if i find pavement camping a delight., thats my concern...
turninghawk wrote: Our kids are grown now and have families of their own, but just out of curiosity, those of you that travel with kids -- how's the Wal-Mart "camping" experience work for you? I would never think of "camping" (on a regular basis) in a freakin' parking lot and pass it off on my kids as a vacation. Plenty of asphalt, bright lights, noise, an occasional runaway shopping cart, and of course absolutely NO amenities. I wouldn't do that to my family. If money was the object, I'd take a shorter albeit nicer trip. I know plenty of you disagree with me, but parking lot "camping" is a poor excuse for a family vacation.
Let me put it this way. A few weeks ago, we drove down to Virginia and spent the day at Luray Caverns. We overnighted at the Wal-Mart. My daughter (12) loved it. And not once did she whine about not having enough time to use the campground playground, basketball court, etc., etc. Had we spent the night in a campground where she could have seen all those handy dandies, I'm sure I would have heard about it.
There's a time for a campground and we love it. There's a time for parking space to sleep in and we love it too. And we don't extend slides or awning and we don't bring the chairs out.
turninghawk wrote: Our kids are grown now and have families of their own, but just out of curiosity, those of you that travel with kids -- how's the Wal-Mart "camping" experience work for you? I would never think of "camping" (on a regular basis) in a freakin' parking lot and pass it off on my kids as a vacation. Plenty of asphalt, bright lights, noise, an occasional runaway shopping cart, and of course absolutely NO amenities. I wouldn't do that to my family. If money was the object, I'd take a shorter albeit nicer trip. I know plenty of you disagree with me, but parking lot "camping" is a poor excuse for a family vacation.
Our kids are asleep by 7pm. We generally use truck stops, rest areas, wallmarts or whatever when traveling to our chosen roaming grounds. For example we spent 2 weeks traveling around NC and Virgina. But on the drive up from florida and back we did not use a campground, as we didn't stop until the drivers wanted to (around 8pm). No way was I going to spend $40 a night to stay in a RV tenament for 9 hours.
Of course if we did the same trip this year we might just stay in RV tenaments, as the cost to run our Gennie for 9 hours is just silly.
Kids asleep by 7pm??? Surely you jest. What do you do, drug them? 7pm might be the case for a toddler (MIGHT be), but as they get a little older your 7pm bedtime goes out the window. Wait till they get a little older & see what happens!! (BTW, a tenement, properly spelled, is actually a building in and of itself. Don't see where any RV park could be classified as such).
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