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[Gentleladybear]

Had an interesting trip this weekend. Went down to Clermont Florida to visit a Thousand Trails Park. Very nice park and am considering becoming a member. Any of you know about this camping group or have any information you can share?

Nan

[carold]

Don't know anything, but Jenny (Seeya Gal) is-or was- a member. carold

[Bethers]

It can be a good deal - it can be a very expensive and bad deal.

OK - I've looked at them twice. Almost bought once. Have looked at how many times I would have used one of their parks since - and the answer is none. Why? They aren't where I'm going. They might be 30 or 60 miles away - but that's not where I wanted to be. Now, if you're willing to not stay where you want to be, then it can work - or to make your destinations be where they are enough nights a year, then it can also work.

Another case in point. Friend has a membership. Used it a little, figuring now that they are retired they'd be using it a lot. Instead, last winter, they found a park they love in Texas and bought a site there for their winters. Have their home in another state for summers. When they travel it's for trips - once last year on a caravan to Canada. Another last year to visit the kids and grandkids. So, since buying the Texas site, they have not spent a single night in a Thousand Trails or one of the others allowed, park. They would have had to go out of their way to do so, like me.

I know Jenny and Dan use theirs and it's really worthwhile for them, even with their new Yuma location. But make sure it will be for you - and if you buy, buy a USED membership at a discounted price. And make sure to look at ALL the annual expenses - as the $99 here and that there for the other parks you can use, adds up to make the break even point more nights.

[Gentleladybear]

Thanks all for your imput here.

[WickedLady]

I have seen a lot of those memberships for sale. Do lots of research.
Marda

[SeeyaGal]

Yes I still have my Thousand Trails park membership, We bought a used one for $2400.00 back in 2000 and it gave us all the parks from the West coast to the East coast. We use it alot in the Summers and on our way back to Yuma. We stayed at that one in Florida. We were only about 8 miles from Disney World from there. Nice park. My dues are $500.00 a year,
I get 50 free nights and then it's $5 a night, two weeks in then one week out policy but we can go park to park. We have been quite pleased with ours but you HAVE to use it to get your money's worth. When I was a ranger I met people who hardly used it and I felt they were wasting their money. We use ours alot though in the Summers so it was worth it for us and there were alot of parks in Wa, OR & CA that we could go to.

Check the deals out, some people are just throwing the memberships away to get out of them so maybe you'll find a good used one.

We use Thousand Trails, Resorts of Distinction ($139.00 a year and gets us into the Western Horizons parks) and we use Passport America. Sometimes we go to the SKP parks too. We also belong to the Elks club and they have alot of parking at their lodges.

[hike]

I have a Thousand Trails membership and for me it definitely works. I don't get to use it much while working full time but there are several nice preserves close to me and by getting away for long weekends here and there, my cost per night usually is around $22 with a yearly dues of under $500. I am retiring at the end of May and have a trip planned where I will be staying at TT preserves quite a bit and they are in places I want to go and spend time in. I can travel from park to park with no time out and stay up to 3 weeks at a time. So if money gets tight I can just stay in one area and stay free in TT preserves. They have a lot in Washington and in Oregon and I wouldn't mind staying in either place.

Do look for used memberships for sale but be very careful what you are getting. Call Thousand Trails with the membership number and get the details. There are a lot of different types of memberships that have been sold in the past.

Dorothy