Has anyone every stoped at a parking lot to sleep?

[kakiegirl]

We are leaving on Friday for Disney Our reservations are not until Saturday but we want to drive as far as we can Friday night to be at Fort Wilderness early Saturday. We are afraid that stoping late at night we will not be able to find a campground to stay at probably 10:00 or 10:30. We had discussed just staying at a motel but dh suggested to save money we might just pull into a Walmart and stop for a few hours if we saw other campers there. I am not really sure about that. They do seem to do it alot near where we live and during the Hurricanes last year I know our Walmart was allowing it for evacuees. However, I don't really feel safe our camper is not a driving camper so if anyone tried to bother us we couldn't just drive away. I just wondered if anyone else had done this and if it is a big deal. It would be a bad experience to be in your camper sleeping and someone tow you.

 

[elastigirlfan]

Hi. We did this last year - on our way down and our way back up. The first Wal-mart was noisy til' about 11-12. They woke us up really early with leaf blowers. The second Wal mart was open all night and not as bad. Noisy in the parking lot, etc.. I was really nervous about it but it all worked out. We had our dog with us (Doberman mix) so I felt safe with her. I'd give it a shot. Wal-mart sells maps that include all the Wal-marts. It was recommended to us to call the Wal mart we thought we would stay in just to check that is was okay to do so. Have a great trip.

 

[stillh2o]

We Have a motorhome and always leave late the night before are reservations and just stay at FW parking lot when we getup we are there. I just walk over and checkin by 10am im on my site. Hope this helps.

 

[campingcorgi]

We often stay at a Flying J parking lot. We stop, gas up, and find a good spot for the night. With all the other rv's around we feel pretty safe. It can be noisy, though, and sometimes bright. But for a 6-8 hours sleep the price can't be beat!

 

[marylou]

On one of the RV sites there used to be a list of walmarts that allow RV campers overnight.

 

[Nicks2Angels]

We have stopped quite often when enroute to our vacation destination. We stay at a nice truck stop off the interstate. You are allowed, it is free, well light & pretty quiet. It is also very convenient. We always lock up, of course, but have not had any issues or scares. I was nervous the first time, but there is a lot of activity & such I really felt ok doing it. And, a lot of stops have dump stations available even. You can look them up online.

 

[goofytime2000]

While I havn't done that, my parents have. Interesting story. I was traveling with my HS Band down to WDW, and my parents were following the buses down. When we stopped for dinner, Mom and Dad and Brother passed us. About 3am, we make a rest stop somewhere in GA (I don't know where, it was 3am, and I was sleeping when they made me get off the bus). Well, I get up to the rest room, and my Mom and Brother are standing outside the building!!! They drove as long as they could, couldn't find a hotel, so stayed the night in the rest stop. What are the odds that we'd stop at the same rest stop?!

 

[Memph1s]

We always just stop at a rest area. The one we use on I10 is maned 24/7. We just sleep 3 to 4 hours in the truck and back on the road.

 

[Meezers]

Florida rest area's have security after dark. Georgia does not.

I can tell you for a fact that the I-85NB rest area near Mile Marker 112 has had several shootings....pedophiles....prostitutes....suicides.....need I go on?

Not something I would do.....but I have been called a little cynical!

 

[my3princes]

We've pulled off into the flying J truck stops and parked amongst the 18 wheelers. Very quiet and no one bothered us. We usually just stop for a couple of hours, although once we slept 5 hours because it was so quiet.

 

[Gillian]

my3princes, do you take i-95? Do you know where the flying js are along that route? We have a popup, and I don't know if that would work for us, but we're shopping for a tow vehicle and if we end up with a conversion van, we could certainly nap in that.

 

[allisophie]

we do this quite often. . flying J's or any truck stop, rest area's too. now if the grandma's are with us we try and hotel it.

some times Dh just puts blocks under the camper tires to keep from moving a bit.

 

[Mac and Us]

I realize you asked this question to my3princes but we also come from New England area and take I95.

Flying J has a website with all their locations listed (www.flyingj.com). I wrote down all the ones we would be passing so that we could choose one to get a few hours rest. My sister is an ex-trucker and swore by the Flying J's.

We ended up staying in a Walmart parking lot in Hagerstown, MD along with at least 20 other RV's. The parking lot was full.