Anyone prefer a pop up camper to a travel trailer?

As far as Disney is concerned, they don't know what a hybrid is. As a practical concern, I wouldn't leave my pups in a soft-sided camper... my little one gets frantic when left and I have little doubt she would work her way out. I might consider it if I could rig some kind of blockade to keep the dogs out of the soft ends (extra wide baby gates). I know some folks with hybrids keep their pups in a crate, like they do at home, and the pups are safe and comforted by familiar surroundings. Other folks know that their dog would never get a big enough "bee in their bonnet" to attempt an escape. These are all personal decisions that need to be made in light of the temperament of one's pet.

:santa:
 
As far as dogs go inside a pop up, our dog is kennel trained and does well when we are going to be away for the day - we simply unzip the canvas on
the bunk end and place the kennell on the bed, works great. A barking dog in a pop up will be mildly more annoying than a barking dog in a hard side, but considering the hard sides are just a few millimeters thicker than canvas;), I would not think the difference is really that great, just turn on the AC and or the radiio and let you dog sleep the day away in comfort...also with a pop up, camping is cheaper many places including the fort

Now - we love pop up camping, actually on our third pop up. the first was basic, small and could be towed by anything - pro - bought for $1500 and mpg difference was negligible - con it was small, 4 people could sleep and eat in there but that was about all and it was nothing more than a place to sleep off the ground

Our second pop up was much larger but still light weight, mpg diff was noticeable but it could be pulled by our minivan - large enough to sleep our family of 5 and 6-8 I suppose but you would want to be a pretty tight nit crew, con was we thought we needed more amenities, in hind sight - it was the perfect camper for us

Our current pop up has most of the amenities of a travel trailer including a slide out, hot water, oven, microwave, decent sized fridge and 4 sleeping areas which is perfect for our family of 5 as each kid has their own space to sleep. Con is it is quite a bit heavier and mpg is a factor on longer trips, 12.2 mpg on the last trip to the fort

If you get a pop up and want to go to the fort- definitely get AC.

the pop up for us was the right choice due to budget, mpg savings, ease of storage in the garage and just the camping experience around home in the spring and fall, nothing like getting a nice breeze through the pop up on one of those rare but perfect weekends. a hard side would be nice for some of the reasons mentioned but for our young family, we don't camp to be comfortable indoors, as we get older and the kids move away - certainly that may change
 


In response to PP (justcynn), dogs are not permitted in pop-ups at the Fort. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, just that it is a violation of the contract you sign to check your dogs in.

Also, pets are not permitted in Partial loops, so you would not be able to take advantage of those savings by having a p-up and a pup. Again, I'm sure it happens, but it is not allowed, and the only way you'd probably get a partial is by not mentioning your pup and pocketing the $5/day and skipping that troublesome paperwork that makes you swear not to keep your pup in a p-up! LOL.

Finally, the difference between a barking dog in a 1" thick hard-walled trailer versus a 1/16" of canvas is SUBSTANTIAL. I could hear a howling dog in a pop-up in the 300 loop from hundreds of feet away and a howling dog in 500 in a trailer was barely audible from two sites away, he was certainly not a nuisance to the entire loop like the pop-up pup. And BTW, that pup was not heard the next day so either the Fort dropped the hammer or complaints from other campers moved them to action.

:santa:

Edit: BTW, for those who don't know me well, I am a dog lover! We bought our moho for our dogs, since Mrs. Claus won't travel without them. So don't flame me for being anti-dog!
 
Shan Man, I am sure you are correct on the rules, I was not aware of that - in our case - the trip is so long to the Fort our dog stays at home...I was simply pointing out a barking dog in either type of trailer could be a problem, a hard side camper being 1" thick will likely do a nominally better job protecting your neighbors from Dog Noise as it protects you in bear country - the protection is really not that significant in either case if a determied dog wants out or a curious bear wants in, now if it is against the rules - I would not take the chance and if taking the dog to the Fort which makes it a factor in selection - agree the Hard Side would be the way to go.

One last point though - the Fort does have on site kennells available, so if the other factors of a pop up are appealling, this is also an option.
 
I've had pop's and TT's. While a TT takes a little getting used to towing, IMHO, that's the way to go. You have more room inside, more "creature comforts", your doggie will love it, and if you're in Florida, it's less humid inside than anything that has canvas.

The down side is, they are costlier to purchase and tow, and if you can't store it at your home, you have to pay to store it. If you have to store elsewhere, you won't have the luxury of taking your time to pack it & unload it. Our previous neighborhood gave us a 24 hour window for an RV parked in the drive, and when you work, you really rush to get things done.
 


Well, I'll chime in here too, in the early 70's we had an Apache solid state pop up camper which we loved, as the kids grew and no longer wanted to spend time with the P’s we sold it. In 1999 we bought a Viking pop up did more camping with the grandchildren and in 2007 sold the pop up and got a 33’ travel trailer. Yes, it is more expensive to buy, but is really a cottage on wheels, with the bath, shower, microwave, A/C, etc. Well worth the extra $’s for us at this time in our lives. When we had the pop up, we also used screen houses and tents to expand the space, but it was still tight

As with most choices, the real answer is “It Depends….”
 
We have a 74 apache ramada, I see two post up a fellow experianced apache owner. My wife and I refurbished the camper, new cushion covers, curtains, laminate flooring, upgraded electrical, it has all abs walls, no canvas. We installed A/C, and enjoy the camper, it is the bigger of the apaches, approx 22' when open from end to end. We love it because its light, easy to tow, doesn't decrease the fuel mileage very much. It also is safer for our travel buddy our daucshund. She can't get out, and has room to move. Yes the storage in a popup can be cramped, but this can be overcome with some creativity. We like it because with the bigger nicer TT, we found we spent more time indoors when camping, missing the whole experiance and interaction with fellow campers. If you merely looking for a mobile motel room, then a TT is the way to go. But we really enjoy our little popup and have no intentions of upgrading anytime soon. It all comes down to what kind of camper you are and what makes you the most comfortable, everyone will like something different. I like to tinker so thats why we refurbbed this one.
 
...with the bigger nicer TT, we found we spent more time indoors when camping, missing the whole experiance and interaction with fellow campers. If you merely looking for a mobile motel room, then a TT is the way to go. But we really enjoy our little popup and have no intentions of upgrading anytime soon.....


Very well put. My wife is alot like this, Im afraid...and this is one of many other reasons I thought a pop-up( or SOME type of smaller camper ) would suit US best. We're lazy people...and if allowed to get TOO comfy, we would!
 
Well Rog think of this then if you are lazy when you pull in with your tt you only need to hook up elect,cable,sewer,stabilizers,slide if you have no unfolding ends you can be set up faster to enjoy the camp or dis or even maybe fishing
 
Just curious,
If the beds flop down like a pop up I would presume these have canvas sides/walls correct?
Then would a hybrid be considered a no go for leaving pets in unattended?
Wouldn't a pet be able to do the same damage and escape?

Here are some pictures from the hybrid we used to have - the Jayco 23B. We have since traded up for a Jayco motorhome, but the 23B was a great trailer. See the pics here:

http://home.comcast.net/~jcjrsmith2/camper_pix.htm

The thumbnails may not show up, but if you click in the little squares, the full size pictures will come up. These are from 2002

I really have to update that site :eek:
 
If you were worried about your pet getting out of the bunk ends of your hybrid, then couldn't you just fold them in while you left him there?

Also, would a small hybrid be allowed at a partial hookup site? I have partial site reservations for Halloween, but I've been looking at getting a 16 or 17 foot hybrid.
 
Experience suggests that the Fort will put anyone in a Partial (even big motorhomes by some reports!), even though the rules say they are for tents, pop-ups and van campers (only, presumably). Just be aware that you will almost certainly need to put the camper completely on the sand in order to park your car, and you will have no sewer connections.

:santa:
 
:)There's 5 in my household, and I couldn't imagine all of us fitting in a pop-up. We have, when opened, a 29' Jayco 232 hybrid TT, which has 3 beds that pop out like a pop-up, really nice having a stove with an oven, micro-wave and large fridge and a 3/4 bath which we use mostly at nights, we try using the public restrooms during the day. I am able to haul this with a mid-size SUV, I only get about 8-10 miles per gallon though. I would recommend TT over a pop-up for 5 or more people, but that's only my opinion. I wish you all the best when making your decision :thumbsup2
 
We used to have a PUP. One trip with our friends, we decide to put the dogs in our pup while we went to the beach, where the dogs weren't allowed. Our crated dog was fine, but their dog freaked after 5 minutes and chewed his way out of the side... he survived, the PUP was quite injured....LOL
 
We have a 04 Fleetwood Hemlock Highwall pop-up, it has a/c, furnace, potty, shower, microwave and two KING size beds with slide-out. We love it and wouldnt trade our KING-sized beds for any TT or MOHO. Every family has to decide for themselves what works best for them. We also have two pups and crate one and leave one out whenever we go out, as PP said...turn on A/C & let them sleep. Never had a problem.
 
We have a PUP and for a vacation that involves one day of travel it's fine. Our disney trip is a little torture because we have to camp 2 nights on the road. We keep everything in our van except what we'll need for those 2 nights. It's still alot of work and I'm getting older.
Also storage is at an all time low. That's my only negatives. We have 2 king beds, bathroom/shower, A/C so no complaints there.

If my fairygodmother suddenly appeared with $$$ :lmao: I'd upgrade to a travel travel in a minute.
 

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