Needed: Reserve America expert!

Hey you computer geeks out there, try this one out. Heres the picture: We go to FL in the winter for some R&R/fishing & so forth. We go online and reserve our Florida state parks campsites ahead of time(Reserve America website), using the "11 months ahead rule", to the day!!!, prior to our first camping date. I am able to get in the parks and for the most part get the sites we want in every park we want , EXCEPT! for the FL Keys! I have been unable to get any site in any park in the Keys,every year! The whole states park system is heavily subscribed for the whole winter period, as snowbirds from USA and Canada descend for the sunshine!
Why I cannot get the Keys , but can get the other parks, which are also full , all winter if you delay going after a site, is the question. I have $ tied up in the reservations for 11 months , but do have the comfort of knowing where and when we'll be .It is not logical to drive long distances with the uncertainty of being turned away at the gate by a park. As a side note I'll say,I have heard people turned away at the gate at a large state park , with the statement that "they had nothing until April", when in fact half the sites were empty , as many obviously reserve then don't go and don't cancel either. Some have a certain number of drive up sites , but again, you cannot drive a long ways to an uncertainty.
Do some people have a computer program that "jumps the gun" on the rest of us , or is there cheating going on or what? The private camping in the Keys is very expensive on our budget, so getting in the state parks is much more desirable. Also some nice water sites are in relation to the state parks in the Keys. I don't want to wallow around Key West, I want to snorkel and fish and relax on the water.Odd as it might seem, we can get on the beach in Mexico for less money than Florida and that includes transportation and we live in the SE US!It would be nice to get in the Keys parks, please tell me how to pull it off?

I use Reserve America often to reserve local campsites here in Missouri during the boating season and have had nothing but trouble with it also. It's a very poor website, and not well managed.



460

I have never used the system. I have stayed in a COE (Corps of Engineers) park once but that was in Kansas and they were empty so no issues when I drove up after looking it over on a bike day trip.

Frankly if you want camping info you might be better off using a regular commercial campground. You can get directories of RV parks and campgrounds that give locations, directions, rates (previous year) and a small evaluation of the place. I recommend Trailer Life's Campground guide and or Woodall's Campground Guide. You can usually see issues in a store like Campers World. Some public libraries also get a guide now and then. Even in peak times there are some spaces open for short time camping almost everywhere.

"Frankly", I'll reiterate,the thread is about Reserve America and the Florida State parks for camping in the winter and how to get closer to the head of the line for a reservation in the Keys. As to private RV parks and Campers World and the like, you can enjoy those without our competition. We live in the woods in the first place and don't find that to be much of an outdoor experience, so, we (sort of) camp to travel,not travel to camp. The competition for a FL site in the winter compared to most KS camping(I am from Kansas) is not in the same league.
Now, back to how to compete online for those FL camping spots???

kantuckid said:

"Frankly", I'll reiterate,the thread is about Reserve America and the Florida State parks for camping in the winter and how to get closer to the head of the line for a reservation in the Keys. As to private RV parks and Campers World and the like, you can enjoy those without our competition. We live in the woods in the first place and don't find that to be much of an outdoor experience, so, we (sort of) camp to travel,not travel to camp. The competition for a FL site in the winter compared to most KS camping(I am from Kansas) is not in the same league.
Now, back to how to compete online for those FL camping spots???

Click to expand...

Well I bet you catch a lot of flies with honey like that. SHEESH.

Well excuuuuse me for trying to be helpful to ya's. Since your issue is with Reserve America, perhaps you might want to be talking to them about their system. This isn't the Reserve America web site here.

Oh and "have a nice day".



PS the guides I mentioned do cover some of the forest campgrounds but I didn't tell you that.

Belquar said:

Well I bet you catch a lot of flies with honey like that. SHEESH.

Click to expand...

Now, Now! Lots of us do not like crowded,often treeless, elbow to elbow private RV parks,(which often look like disaster housing areas-not all , but far too many ) so again, back to the thread as I wasn't looking for a new approach to camping, but how to solve the Reserve America issue.We have been in some nice private campgrounds in our many travels, but this is about a particular issue in getting a reservation in extremely popular parks.Enjoying privacy while camping is not a unique idea nor is it odd to want to be in what are some very nice Florida state parks? As to problems with the reservation system, for me it isn't about their being "not nice" or "not competent", but how I can compete for a spot in the Keys using a computer.There is likely blame on both sides of the reservation system issue and we have found that many parks just don't care if they fill unused spaces. Still looking for ideas on how to crack through to Reserve America?

Motor31 said:

Well excuuuuse me for trying to be helpful to ya's. Since your issue is with Reserve America, perhaps you might want to be talking to them about their system. This isn't the Reserve America web site here.

Oh and "have a nice day".



PS the guides I mentioned do cover some of the forest campgrounds but I didn't tell you that.

Click to expand...

I /we have camped in lots of forest(they are on a map after all!) & private campgrounds.I have used the web extensively and in the past , campground guides(they are very bulky and become quickly dated)to seek campground info.Your"frankly" statement was taken to be condescending because of your word choices that directed me to change directions as to seeking information and camping style.I am not at all thin skinned but can be called to the point , if you will. So, I was not looking for info on how to camp as thread is all about getting info that I am in fact ignorant about and that's what I asked about. While you are entitled to your camping style , my not accepting it is not being unfriendly, but rejecting the inference that I need to change my style, as suggested by your own "frankly put" thoughts. If I am "frank" in my response , then it is not a way of being unfriendly,just throwing it back your way. Interesting that it was taken that way one direction but not the other?
Truthfully, I cannot stand many, if not most, private RV parks as they have you sitting in rows in what is essentially a field with utilities, that kinda looks like an old drive-in theater when empty.Go to Phoenix,AZ to see the ultimate in how to spend a winter jammed together in an RV but stay close to the mall! We sometimes use private parks as a way to stop for the night when we cannot use a Wally World parking lot for free in very rural areas.
Please refrain from branding me as unfriendly, when I was simply making a reply in kind. No, this isn't some other web site but it is a gathering of people that often camp & travel and many that have computer knowledge that far exceeds mine. I don't mind asking for help here(it's my club too) nor rejecting statements that "frankly suggest" that I need to change my camping style. Lets not get this honest request for info in the doghouse please.

All,

I know it's snowy and icy in a lot of places and that can make people moody since they can't get out and ride, but I don't see anything here that is worth getting angry or personal about. If you have something on-topic to post that's perfectly fine, but we don't need condescending and argumentative comments.

Thanks.

Josh Metzger
Forum Administrator

Agreed!!! It's snowing here-and cold, but not so moody, thank you.

Pre Reserve so to speak

Kantuckid, Did ya know that you can reserve days ahead of the time limit.

Say your reserve date is July 4th –7th 11 months out at 24:00 you try to get your favorite spot all taken. That’s because if you reserve for say July 3rd (or earlier) through the 7th you can reserve 24hrs earlier than the guy who tries on the 4th. So you get the spot and pay for the spot use it or not. A lot of people will reserve well into the week ahead of when they stay just to get the place they want at the time they want and with golden age its only $10 a night.

I am not sure about the Florida spot your asking about and I don’t know if this is the problem your facing but thought I would throw it out there to see if this might help.

Rick

We use Florida state parks a lot. Not especially down at the Key's but up around Destin, Cape San Blass, and over by Jacksonville. Actually, they are our back-up as we use the military campgrounds; but when the one's we want are full we use the state.
We usually stay at least a week as we tend to go down there during the winter or around spring break to do our video editing on the road after shooting for the military over at Eglin or around Jacksonville.

Anyway.......I seldom if ever call the reservation line. Instead, I CALL THE PARK ITSELF. Usually I talk to the camp host or person in charge. I talk pleasantly without arguing or demanding. This has always gotten me good results for or Airstream...............Good luck.......Dennis

As thompsonr stated you can reserve days ahead of the regular cutoffs. We did this for the upcoming Redmond Rally. we made our reservations last Sept. for this July...

Thanks for your thoughts so far. I /we have been doing week or weeks at a time in various FL state parks for some time, as we retired in 2002. The Reserve America system allows you to reserve 11 months in advance and I have been able to pay the fees and get the sites we want in every case-EXCEPT- for the Keys. They are not our favorite place,etc., but it would be nice to get into Bahia Honda,John Pennekamp,Long Key and Curry Hammock SP's! The system will not allow you to reserve more than 11 months ahead. Thompson, you may have the idea, so far as perhaps I can reserve a place from the other end of the calendar/other direction so to speak?
No intent at offending anyone here, just don't want to change style of camping . I also am not trying to cheat the system either, just get a camp site. Calling Reserve America only gets you a low level reservations person and I have tried hard to go beyond that level with not much success.
As to calling the parks-yes the personnel are great, nice people for the most part like most people anywhere. There are certain parks that seem to have more than their share of unhappy workers. They do not make reservations over the phone nor hold spots, even if you are as nice as you can be. If you are at one park and lets say you want to get in any one of several other parks some distance away, we have found that you must drive to the other park and "hope for the best". We have pretty much tried it all and have gone to the computer while down there and called and driven to many parks. What works best for us and others is to reserve ahead the full 11 months. The competition is fierce! It isn't just snowbirds from Canada and USA or locals on the weekend or vacations-it is also the fact that there are many people living in RV's full time and they stay in FL State parks a bunch! They tie up spots for long periods of time via switching sites and there are many snowbirds that act as volunteer hosts in certain parks (Kissimmee is one example) with great lake access, just so they can stay legally in a certain place.
We only go for a month or so and this trip has some one week stays and a two week stay in Kissimmee as the fishing is tops(sometimes). The beach and the keys are really hard to get! The others stay booked all winter too and it just depends on the park as to if they will put you in as a drive-up camper. Blue Springs for example is very nice about that, but you may have to move around from site to site without a reservation. St Augustine park is as bad as it gets! They are the proverbial bad egg when it comes to being helpful. Parks have to keep a percentage of sites for drive ups but that doesnt serve our purpose from our experience.

Have you considered volunteering at the parks you want to stay at? I know for a fact they let you stay there at min expense in exchange for some work.

Cal Garcia

### Thread revival !!! ###

Still doing some camping, Kantuckid?

I don't know if I should/could call myself a ReserveAmerica expert, but I've been using it for several years now. Friends and relatives wanting to go facing the same problem: very hard to book any campsite.... I've developed some skills that allows me to get them the cool campsites in the Florida keys (mostly Bahia Honda, or Long key, Curry Hammock, Pennekemp etc.)

Perhaps could I share a couple tricks that helps the whole process..
- reducing font size of your browser so the "book now" button is always at the same position (and click like crazy on it)
- disabling pictures and multimedia in your browser for faster loading
- start off with a fresh reboot of your machine (perhaps clean cache/cookies)

Most important ones being:
- use of a VPN that could get you faster resonse from reserveamerica
- ask your friends, family members, nephews and grandpa to be clicking as well

Unfortunately, I *KNOW* those tricks won't make it much easier to score a site. I think the most important part is having many people helping you out. And don't wait til the clock turns 8:00:01, just go ahead and click non-stop.

I have a situation here that allows me be quite effective. If someone's interested in an ocean front in the keys (or elsewhere?), I'm sure I can help and make it happen. In case you cannot succeed by yourself, just contact me!

WISHING EVERYONE SOME GREAT CAMPING DAYS !!!

Ben - lauben001@gmail.com

kantuckid said:

"Frankly", I'll reiterate,the thread is about Reserve America and the Florida State parks for camping in the winter and how to get closer to the head of the line for a reservation in the Keys. As to private RV parks and Campers World and the like, you can enjoy those without our competition. We live in the woods in the first place and don't find that to be much of an outdoor experience, so, we (sort of) camp to travel,not travel to camp. The competition for a FL site in the winter compared to most KS camping(I am from Kansas) is not in the same league.
Now, back to how to compete online for those FL camping spots???

Click to expand...

When I was in the Keys in December one of the large campgrounds in the Middle Keys was gone. It was not clear to me if they were trying to re-establish it or develop it as something else. Campgrounds like Geiger Key Marina fared better as that they supposedly had everyone pull out before the hurricane. The reduction in surviving facilities places a greater pressure on availability. Before Irma the Keys had a housing shortage for the workforce now that is a lot worse. Not being able to secure reservations in the Keys shortly after a weather problem such as this is not surprising.

Wayne Koppa
Grayling, MI
Life #71,449