Hello all,
I just want to say that I'm fed up with being penalized for having more kids, and it's not like we're the Duggers, we only have 4...and at many campgrounds it means that we have to pay TWICE the price of someone with only one child! I'm fed up, and now when I'm planning our outings I will not select parks who will charge for each child, or who at least wave some of the additional fees...
I've had so-so results contacting campgrounds ahead of time and asking them to give us a break, and asking them how they justify the extra cost to families with more kids, and I've heard stupid comments like "the more kids using my playground, the more wear on the slide!"...ARE YOU KIDDING??!!...when is the last time you've heard of a slide being replaced because it got worn out???
I can maybe see charging more if the park is a resort that takes your kids and entertains them for the day, and it means they must hire more staff (like a Yogi/Jellystone) park, but EVEN THEY waved the fee for one kids. Many parks have nothing more than a playground and charge more. As FAA as the most common reasoning that they use more water and electricity, and create more sewer...$10 MORE PER NIGHT???!!!! It's camping, how much water do they use? And they lights use the same electricity no matter how many people are using them...what a bunch of bs. Well as you can tell, I'm getting fed up, and I'm wondering if Good SAMs and other camping groups should maybe help us family campers and take a stand or at least praise those parks who are family friendly, and don't discriminate against families with more than one or two dependant children.
The "a la carte" approach has been commonplace for several decades now. It allows sellers to offer something other than one-size-fits-all, which some feel discriminates against singles and couples.
One question: Do these campgrounds charge more for children in particular (that is, extra adults do not add more to the bill), or is this an extra-person charge (that is, the age of the extra persons does not matter)?
Just to play devil's advocate here for a moment.
I sometimes travel alone, but I still pay the same as a family of four does in most campgrounds.
Shouldn't I be getting upset at paying for facilities I don't use?
Not something that bothers me, simply another point of view.
Keith J.
1999 Sunnybrook 27RKFS Fiver.
2005 GMC Sierra 2500HD CC/SB/DA 2WD, LBZ air cleaner, 52 gal Titan tank, Bilsteins, Line-X, Westin steps, Prodigy, Retrax cover, 16K Superglide, 5th-Airborne pin-box, Multi-vex mirrors, TST TPMS.
I don't know about wearing out a slide. I kind of doubt that. Maybe just a poor example they gave you. I suspect there may be more wear and tear on some play ground equipment. Maybe insurance is higher on the park because they even have playground equipment. I suspect the more kids in the playground the more equipment they have to have. I never ran an RV park so I don't know.
I owned rental property in Southern CA and although I never charged more for tenants with kids. When I rented to tenants with kids I had to do more repairs on the rental. The kids were harder on everything in the rental. The paint, the doors, the walls, the lawn. However, I will admit you can't put all kids in the same category. Some kids have responsible parents and I never had more problems but that wasn't the norm. If you rent a motel room they charge per person. More work to clean up. Doesn't matter if they are kids or not.
Let me ask this question. If it was just you and your wife, retired, camping in an RV. Would you pull into an RV park if you knew, before you made reservations, every RV space in the park except for yours had 4 kids? Part of it may be to discourage an over abundance of kids in that RV park.
I would not patronize any campground whether private or public that charges extra for kids or pets or anything. Which is why we don't use Va state parks, (Va has great state parks) they charge for pets.
If charging extra is becoming the standard, then I guess my camping days are numbered.
2000 Chev 1500 Silverado
1965 22' Airstream Safari
Yamaha EF2800i generator
Prodigy
2012 Old Town Stillwater 14
eubank wrote: The "a la carte" approach has been commonplace for several decades now. It allows sellers to offer something other than one-size-fits-all, which some feel discriminates against singles and couples.
One question: Do these campgrounds charge more for children in particular (that is, extra adults do not add more to the bill), or is this an extra-person charge (that is, the age of the extra persons does not matter)?
Lynn
I'd like to know, too.
Many campgrounds have a headcount limit where an upcharge kicks in, but I have NEVER encountered one where it's specifically based on the number of kids in the party.
" Not every mind that wanders is lost. " With apologies toJ.R.R. Tolkien
I travel with a 94 year old Mother-In-Law - most of the places we stop do charge a few dollars for her since she is considered a thrid adult. I know she wears out there scenery when see piers out coach window. JM2Cents Bill
We only stay at campgrounds with full hook-ups. We have no problem with an extra charge for kids. We like a good bargain as well as the next person, but fair is fair. More people means more cost to the campground for water and electricity. We don't expect single RV'ers or couples to subsidize the extra expenses incurred by a campground due to our kids. It seems much more fair to base the per night price on two people and charge a (reasonable) fee for each extra person.
Me and the DH
Two boys and two dogs (and two cats who prefer to stay home)
2008 Forest River Georgetown 350DS (bunkhouse model)
2001 Honda CR-V
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