Is a pop-up worth the $$ (upgrading from tents)

[christinou]

We had a pop-up and loved it, it was a 12 foot box coleman with potty and air conditionner, we pulled it to Florida 3 times, it was great. We since sold it and got a Class C motorhome.

 

[CindyT]

We used to tent camp too. We bought the pop-up when we started to camp for longer periods of time, and had more likelihood of rainy days. Not much fun spending three consecutive rainy days in a tent! We have since moved up to a fifth wheel (which we love), but we miss our pop-up days, they seemed more like camping. My advice would be to get one with the dinette slide. If you spend very many days in one place, it gives you so much more room.

 

[toytowner]

why would you look for a hotel when their are so many campgrounds? when we go to fw this july we leave central mass at 3 am first stop front royal va about 2pm first day is the longest.2nd stop four oaks nc about 5hr,3nd jekyll island ga. about 6.5 hrs last fw about 4 or 5 hrs. this way kids get to swim and meet new friends along the way.when the guys go to daytona in feb. its 21.5 hrs. 3 drivers but this is vacation so enjoy. we only setup to sleep and take a shower don't even unhook from car. ps this is what we did when we had a popup now with motor home its the same just don't have to crank it up.going south made res. coming home no plans. most motels on major highways have truck parking so parking is not a problem. enjoy

 

[dgaston]

We bought our first upgrade from tent camping in 1999. My back just couldn't handle sleeping on any of the fancy pads I had for tent camping any longer (40's you know). We bought a pop-up in excellent condition from a senior couple who could no longer enjoy camping for $2000. We found that one in our local ad paper. We also visit RV shows, and I really got the bug last year for a new camper. We now have a 2003 Coleman Sun Valley that we bought used from an RV dealer (probably paid too much). It has a bump out for the stove and King-King bedding plus the couch and the dinette area. While it's wired for AC that's not yet installed. I'm sure we'll do that so we can haul it to FW. I love my pop-up. We've had some glitches with our tow vehicle. Had planned to bring the pop-up to a church youth gathering and the transmission went on our truck. Ouch. But we're back on line for some trips to NH this summer.

 

[cyberdeb]

We towed our pop up twice to Florida from the philadelphia area. Both times we stopped at the VA/NC border and spent the night with Family and then again we stopped at hotel for night in northern florida. Never had any problem finding parking. Just park accross several spots. It was too much work to set up for one night. We did buy a hybrid year later and made sure we could sit in it and eat at rest stops and use the bathroom. Much easier to stop for short nights.

Debbie

 

[Gillian]

On our first trip with the popup (last month) we stayed at motels. We picked up those discount coupon books at rest stops for walk ins and called from the car. One place was nice, one was so so. It didn't matter much because we didn't stay long.

We could have booked in advance, but because we were new to towing we weren't sure where we would be when we needed to stop.

I think that we wouldn't have been able to easily popuo our camper for an overnight stay while leaving it hitched to the van. I don't know if there is room to put out the back (larger) bed, and it covers the dinette bed so it would have to be moved. Coming from NJ, we don't have a lot of time to hang out. The drive is about 10 hours each day.

We do like jekyll Island and if we were going to camp overnight, we would consider staying there.

 

[Wyndale]

We bought our's in 2002, at the end of the year, for about $6000 new, with taxes and AC. As a bonus they threw in a bonus room which is basically a screen-room under the awning. We took it for a week's stay to Fallcreek Falls, and had the best time! Then for a while it was just weekend trips to local campgrounds. The next few years, we were working a lot, and didn't get to use it too much. Last spring we traveled from Tennessee to Destin, FL, all along the Gulf to New Orleans, then back the Nachese Trace. It was the best time we ever had, and we fell in love with our pop-up all over again. We stayed a few nights at a casino in Biloxi, parking in the hotel lot, without any trouble. But the ease of towing it was wonderful. There is just the two of us. But when I drive, (our tow vehicle is a Toyota Tundra) I don't have any problems at all. We plan on taking to Myrtle Beach over Memorial Weekend, and to Michigan this summer for a week

The AC is a must, as it helps with the humitity. The only draw back, is noise. We took it camping to a Nascar race in Bristol, TN, and I'll never do that again. Everyone was running their RV's on generators, and the noise level was horrible! I was on edge for days afterwards. Give me campgrounds anyday. I can take the hum of AC units, just not the incessent drive of gas powered engins. (Yes, Nascar - engins...doesn't make a lot of sence, but at least the noise level goes down under cautions!)

And I read here about keeping dry when it rains...I still remember a flooding rain storm, when the folks tent camping next to us were being sweep away by the river that developed on their site, so we invited them to join us. We made new friends. We zipped up the plastic windows, and stayed dry, & enjoyed the lightening show. l

We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge on our last visit to WDW, but we checked out the campground, and can't wait to make that trip sometime soon. I imagine when we do, we'll camp a few days, then stay at a resort for a few days too. I love the resort feel!

I say go for it...put a foam pad over the matress, bring some nice sheets, and you'll think your sleeping on a pillow-top bed. HEAVEN!

 

[minkydog]

I was a die-hard tent camper all my life. I never thought pop-up camping would appeal to me.I like to smell canvas and I like to be outdoors. I never minded the set up or rain or mud or anything, and the kids didn't either. Then we had a disabled child and my DH became disabled. That changed how we vacation. Since we can still camp, we invested $4000 in a small pop-up that sleeps 6 easily. We have a real good heater/air conditioner, which extends the season for us.We decided against a potty--my kids would die if they thought we were peeing in there!

We probably take it out 4-5 times a year. Sometimes we take only our youngest son(the autistic one.) Most of the time we take him and his 13yo sister, plus a friend for her. Occasionally we also have 19yo son plus one of his friends. We keep it stocked with everything except food and clothes, so when we're ready to hitch up all we need is those things. We don't really "live" in the pop-up, unless it's raining so it is still very much like tenting.

If you love to camp, don't rule out a pop-up. I'm almost 50 and my back and joints really appreciate not sleeping on the ground. My 73yo mom still takes hers out about 6 times a year--by herself! Even though my kids are getting older and have other things going on, DH & I love to camp--we sometimes take it out by ourselves In fact, DH is planning a road trip out west, toting our pop-up.

 

[Gillian]

Our Santa Fe has the add a room also. We didn't bother setting it up at Disney because our trip was so short. But it was nice at the beach, and we'll use it anywhere it's buggy. It has a rug inside, plus I bought a plastic runner for the entrance to help keep the dirt out.

Today I went to walmart and bought some plastic containers for the cabinets. That was fun! I still have a list of things to get, with all our measurements, but I'm going to try another store. I was also looking for an over the toilet shelf unit on tension rods, but no luck. I am going to ask DH if he can rig a shelf that hangs above the sink from the roof like I've seen on some forums.

Memory foam toppers are also on our shopping list.

I was looking at hybrids, but decided the ease of towing a pop up is good for us right now. Then I started shopping for a new pop up with 2 king beds, but again, realized that I really like the one we have now! As long as DD & DS can share the small bed, we're fine.

 

[Gillian]

Just consider the added cost:

-new property tax (if you state does this, ours does)
-new license plate charge
-new insurance cost to cover camper.
-new expenses from ALL the stuff you end up buying to go with your new camper .

Thanks for posting the link. Our santa fe is quite a bit smaller than your pop up. Works for us for now, eventually we'll upgrade.

-no personal property tax in NJ
-insurance was an additional $200 (I think, but we also got a new van and added my new job to our insurance. Plus we get a rebate at the end of the year)
-popup was registered in PA under my SIL's name so we didn't transfer it yet

ALL THE STUFF is going to kill us. But it sure is fun shopping!

 

[minkydog]

ALL THE STUFF is going to kill us. But it sure is fun shopping!

Two words--Thrift Store. I outfitted our whole set-up for about $60--pots, pans, colling utensils, towels, wash pans, clothes rack, and 5 complete sets of sheets We already had the sleeping bags. We did buy a couple of good hoses at the Walmart.

I also bought 4 clear shoeboxes with different colored tops. The red top is for our first aid kit which stays in the camper all the time--I could almost set a broken leg with that thing. The green top is for plastic utensils. The blue top is for salt, pepper, spices, Splenda and my sharp knives. The yellow top is for general organization of the coffee, tea, koolaid, and sugar--things that I don't leave in the camper. The yellow top comes in the house with me.

 

[bord1niowa]

yes we'll be at the fort June 11th to the 21st. We'll be in a pop up in either loop 1500 or 2000. It's a Coleman Sequoia, older one 80s. One month to go!

 

[Fish Almighty]

Wow, there are a lot of Santa Fe owners on here... we need to start a Santa Fe Disney group or something. I hadn't really considered taking ours to Disney because I figured the campground was filled with monster RVs, but all of this has changed my mind.

Also, you can usually write off your camper on your taxes as a second home, assuming it has a potty, stove, and sleeping area.

 

[westjones]

Wow, there are a lot of Santa Fe owners on here... we need to start a Santa Fe Disney group or something.

How about a Dis Pop Up Group! I have a Coleman Sun Ridge!

Actually, we tent camped at FW (because DH wouldn't pull our popup there), and there were several other tent campers, so you will see all kinds at the campground so your popup wouldn't be out of place at all.

DJ

 

[Gillian]

We saw quite a few pop ups. The kids got good at spotting them!

I say, the more big rigs, the fewer people using the comfort stations.