No more camping at the Fort for us? Advice?

[breick]

My family started camping at Ft. Wilderness in 1997 with a brand new Coleman popup camper. We stayed for 2-4 weeks at a time and have wonderful memories of those trips. When we started at the Fort, we paid $29 per night and now it's over $100. All 3 kids are in their 20's now and prefer to stay in DVC resorts or Disney hotels when I can get them to go. The camper is currently in storage in Winter Garden and we haven't used it during the past 2 years. It really isn't practical to pay for insurance and storage for something we aren't using. I am thinking that the time has come to sell it and move on... What do you all think?

At this point, I am thinking I would like to sell it in Florida to avoid towing it 1300 miles back home. Any ideas about how to do this?

Thanks.

 

[SandrA9810]

Ouch, poor little camper. I wish I could give it a good home. Wish I still lived in Orlando to keep it at home at Disney.

I know what you mean about site prices. I didn't start camping until like 2005, but usually with a passholder, AAA, or FL resident discount, it wasn't much more than $25-$30 a night. $40 was my breaking point of holding off till later, unless it was Halloween night. I did that for a few years and loved it, it was the only time I'd pay "full rate" when I couldn't get a discount applied. But it was still considered off season, so cheaper than summer prices.

No matter what, you're gonna have to make a trek down there to check it out for any damages (probably a good washing), take pictures, and make any repairs you think it might need.

What about planning 2-3 nights at the fort with it? One last hoo-ra with it, and you can check more closely for anything you might need to do. If you sell it down here privately, you'll have to make another trip down here to turn over the paper work and get it out of storage.
Or you can see if there's any consignment places you could try to sell it at. They'll have the paper work and you can probably do it all through faxing forms. So you don't have the added expensive of travelling. You just loose out on their share of the money.
If you take it back with you, you're gonna have to pay for the extra gas from towing.

You just have to choose the lesser of the three evils.

 

[breick]

I am planning on driving down to clean it out, put new tires on it and see if it needs any other repairs. Other family members will be flying down a week later. I will be in the Orlando area for almost 4 weeks total, so I was hoping to sell it during that time or take it home if I couldn't. I not sure what the best way to sell it would be? Craigslist? Bulletin board at Publix or Wal-Mart?

 

[2goofycampers]

Craigslist and an ad in the Orlando paper is what I'd try.

Give us some information maybe someone on the board or someone they know might be interested.

 

[hauntedcity]

I know what you mean about the price of the campsites. My father-in-law wanted to stay there, but the price would have been almost $100 per night. He ended up renting a condo offsite for a comparable price (AND he didn't have to tow the camper from Indiana).

 

[Racemom17]

I am planning on driving down to clean it out, put new tires on it and see if it needs any other repairs. Other family members will be flying down a week later. I will be in the Orlando area for almost 4 weeks total, so I was hoping to sell it during that time or take it home if I couldn't. I not sure what the best way to sell it would be? Craigslist? Bulletin board at Publix or Wal-Mart?

We just sold our 5th wheel using only craigslist. We also had it listed on rv trader...for $25 for 2 weeks and got some hits off of it as well.

 

[breick]

Craigslist and an ad in the Orlando paper is what I'd try.

Give us some information maybe someone on the board or someone they know might be interested.

How much can I post here? I don't want to break any rules... I had planned on Craigslist. Orlando Sentinel?

 

[Mike Whitehead]

I alsio had very good luck selling RV's/campers on Ebay. even sold a truck camper for almost 2x I paid for it.

 

[2goofycampers]

How much can I post here? I don't want to break any rules... I had planned on Craigslist. Orlando Sentinel?

I'd say everything but the price. If someone wants to know that they can PM you. But I'm not sure.

 

[Kgano]

I would love details! We are tent campers and I am trying to convince my hubby we need to upgrade to a pop up! Thanks!

 

[breick]

Moderators: am I allowed to post details?

I hope to have it on the Orlando Craigslist later tonight or tomorrow.

 

[doombuqqy]

Craigslist is a great place to advertise, we found our RV there. I agree if someone here is interested they can pm you. Hope she finds a good home soon.

 

[breick]

I hope she finds a good home too. This is a bittersweet time for us, but she needs a family who will use her...maybe even at Fort Wilderness!

I just posted to the Orlando Craigslist if anyone is interested.

Thanks for all your support here.

 

[breick]

Any Craigslist experts? I am using it for the first time. I just posted the ad for my popup, but it's not there? I got an email and followed the link, but when I go into Craigslist, I can't see it. Help?

 

[LarryJ]

WOW $29/nite in 1997 and $25 to $30 with a discount in 2005. Those prices sound really low but since 1986 I have kept a list of the per nite cost and even back in 1986 our site cost $30.24. In 1996 over the 4th it was $51.95 for the 4th weekend period and $40.40 the rest of the time. In 2005 for a full hookup w/o the discount (which I think the max is like %20) the peak holiday rate was $93.66 and the Value rate after Xmas in Jan was $47.95.

Based on my records before about 1996 there were no holiday rates and for a time there were holiday rates over popular weekends and then at some point the had the tier prices and higher weekend rates.

In 1990 we paid $696 ($174/person) for 4 A annual passports and in 2009 we paid $960 ($480/person and I didn't have to pay tax which saved up around $40 per passport) for 2 A passports. That's more than a 275% increase. Back in 1990 we paid $38.50 including all taxes for a site and when we were there over Halloween/Xgiving last year the full hookup site cost was $66-70 including all taxes and with a AAA discount that dropped to $53. So the site costs were less than double over that 19 year time frame.

Larry

 

[mikron]

It's a life style, camping unless in a tent is not cheaper then staying at a motel/hotel. We have a 2008 35' class A motor coach. between cost of buying coach, maintenance, gas, insurance & CG fees (like FW) could stay at a hotel/motel. BUT we love camping and the people we meet and sites we see. Can't have a campfire in a hotel/motel either.

 

[bianca]

To the OP, we are in the exact same position as you! We camped and stored our 5W at WDW for years (even longer than you have). We just brought it home in November. We listed it for sale this spring on Craigslist and sold it to the first person that looked at it on Mothers day. We also sold our pop up the next week using Craigslist. Just last night we sold our Ram 2500. The last piece of the puzzle is our golf cart which I will be advertising next week. Like you, our kids (who are in 20's now) don't camp and we miss those $29 rates.

Lest anybody think we are now in the money from selling our RV's, we have happily turned all of our money over to the mouse in order to add more points to our DVC contract.