Florida (Motorcaravan) RV - Any Experience of this?
Discussion
All
Am thinking about hiring an 'RV to go on a tour of Florida next year with the family, more of the nicer places such as keys than Orlando. The kids are still quite young (2&5, therefore have the queing capacity or around 2minutes.
I've had a look online and it seems the possibilities for hiring a semi detached house on wheels are endless. So apart from the hiring the bus, has anyone done this, any regrets, was it a good experience or a trailer-park hell, escaping with your life being chased by hells angels?
Most folks think of Cruise America type van conversion (C Class) or Giant Featherlite motorcoaches, when it comes to this subject.
The problem with the former is that they tend to be shagged-out, shagged-in clunkers that have a billion miles on them, Horby-sized (showing my age) interior facilities - shower cubicle, sinks, toilet etc., dented, scraped and covered in marketing decals.
The problem with the latter is that they cost millions of dollars to buy, so as a result those that rent them charge stratospheric fees - and you really need to know what you're doing, as any damage is going to cost a lot to fix.
I would suggest somewhere in between. I don't need an RV to tour FL because I live here, but I do rent these vehicles when I attend some of our awesome motor-racing venues. I've rented numerous toilet chemical-smelling Cruise America beaters and once even organized a multi-million dollar Prevost motorcoach rental for my ex-boss (which cost $10,000 for Daytona 24hour weekend).
I think the best solution is to use a consignor. These companies rent-out privately owned RV's. That means they are looked after, well maintained, clean and classy. They are a little particular who they rent to, so you can be confident that it hasn't been used for a skanky spring-break piss-puke-spunk-fest.
Example: This would cost $1300 per week, with 1000 miles free (try getting that with Cruise America)
Comfortably accommodates 5 adults, full size fridge/freezer, big oven/grill, proper flush toilet, good sized shower, 2 x slide-outs, so it's very roomy when parked, dual air, satellite TV, gasoline generator (if no a/c hook-up available) giant propane tank, built-in barbecue, huge under-floor lockers etc. etc.
Downside is that it does around 8mpg.
Feel free to email me if you want more info on the company that I use.
The problem with the former is that they tend to be shagged-out, shagged-in clunkers that have a billion miles on them, Horby-sized (showing my age) interior facilities - shower cubicle, sinks, toilet etc., dented, scraped and covered in marketing decals.
The problem with the latter is that they cost millions of dollars to buy, so as a result those that rent them charge stratospheric fees - and you really need to know what you're doing, as any damage is going to cost a lot to fix.
I would suggest somewhere in between. I don't need an RV to tour FL because I live here, but I do rent these vehicles when I attend some of our awesome motor-racing venues. I've rented numerous toilet chemical-smelling Cruise America beaters and once even organized a multi-million dollar Prevost motorcoach rental for my ex-boss (which cost $10,000 for Daytona 24hour weekend).
I think the best solution is to use a consignor. These companies rent-out privately owned RV's. That means they are looked after, well maintained, clean and classy. They are a little particular who they rent to, so you can be confident that it hasn't been used for a skanky spring-break piss-puke-spunk-fest.
Example: This would cost $1300 per week, with 1000 miles free (try getting that with Cruise America)
Comfortably accommodates 5 adults, full size fridge/freezer, big oven/grill, proper flush toilet, good sized shower, 2 x slide-outs, so it's very roomy when parked, dual air, satellite TV, gasoline generator (if no a/c hook-up available) giant propane tank, built-in barbecue, huge under-floor lockers etc. etc.
Downside is that it does around 8mpg.
Feel free to email me if you want more info on the company that I use.
Hi
We did this as part of a trip around the South (Florida - Georgia - SC - Alabama - Florida) a couple of years ago. We had a great time and had no issues whatsoever. People were great, the sites were great (NB KOA tend to be a bit overpriced for what they are). We picked up in Orlando and stayed on the west coast of Florida for the first night before moving down to Naples. We then moved up country to Daytona Beach prior to moving up to Savannah and the rest(G -SC etc). We then dropped back into Florida at Pensacola prior to moving across near to Orlando for our last night.
Just a few tips off the top of my head:
Our first stop was at Walmart for essentials including a small portable BBQ. None of the sites we stayed on (bar one) had a restaurant so the BBQ was essential. We just left it with some folks the night before we came back to the UK.
Hire or upgrade your satnav and take it with you. Takes the pressure off map reading and means that the non driving adult can sit in the back with the nippers when they get bored.
Keep a small camera in the cab near you - I got some great impromptu shots whilst driving along!
I hired a van with a TV. Not all of them come with TV's so don't just assume it will. If possible check that you have a long lead for plugging into site cable TV. We bought a crappy one from Walmart which was not long enough. Then on one site some folks lent us a really heavy duty one and insisted that we take it with us when we left! I got their address off them and posted it back when we were back in Blighty! Such generous people, really nice
Do some internet research and even join a forum. I got some useful info from doing that.
There is a comprehensive guide to all campsites in the USA that is updated every year. I am struggling to remember the name of it off the top of my head but I am sure someone will know on here... Anyway I got one off Amazon (2nd hand) and just took the pages out as a back up in case of emergency with me on the trip (rather than the whole book which was quite heavy).
I booked all my sites via email and this worked a treat. Some were pay via a secure site; others just wanted your details and didn't want a deposit - in fact I think I only had to make one phone call for a 3 week trip in order to provide card details!
Anyway tempus fugit - PM me through my PH profile if you want me to dig out any site info etc...I may still have it somewhere.
Great trip though - I'm envious
We did this as part of a trip around the South (Florida - Georgia - SC - Alabama - Florida) a couple of years ago. We had a great time and had no issues whatsoever. People were great, the sites were great (NB KOA tend to be a bit overpriced for what they are). We picked up in Orlando and stayed on the west coast of Florida for the first night before moving down to Naples. We then moved up country to Daytona Beach prior to moving up to Savannah and the rest(G -SC etc). We then dropped back into Florida at Pensacola prior to moving across near to Orlando for our last night.
Just a few tips off the top of my head:
Our first stop was at Walmart for essentials including a small portable BBQ. None of the sites we stayed on (bar one) had a restaurant so the BBQ was essential. We just left it with some folks the night before we came back to the UK.
Hire or upgrade your satnav and take it with you. Takes the pressure off map reading and means that the non driving adult can sit in the back with the nippers when they get bored.
Keep a small camera in the cab near you - I got some great impromptu shots whilst driving along!
I hired a van with a TV. Not all of them come with TV's so don't just assume it will. If possible check that you have a long lead for plugging into site cable TV. We bought a crappy one from Walmart which was not long enough. Then on one site some folks lent us a really heavy duty one and insisted that we take it with us when we left! I got their address off them and posted it back when we were back in Blighty! Such generous people, really nice
Do some internet research and even join a forum. I got some useful info from doing that.
There is a comprehensive guide to all campsites in the USA that is updated every year. I am struggling to remember the name of it off the top of my head but I am sure someone will know on here... Anyway I got one off Amazon (2nd hand) and just took the pages out as a back up in case of emergency with me on the trip (rather than the whole book which was quite heavy).
I booked all my sites via email and this worked a treat. Some were pay via a secure site; others just wanted your details and didn't want a deposit - in fact I think I only had to make one phone call for a 3 week trip in order to provide card details!
Anyway tempus fugit - PM me through my PH profile if you want me to dig out any site info etc...I may still have it somewhere.
Great trip though - I'm envious
Edited by oblio on Wednesday 7th December 15:58
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