New thread - KOA yay or nay?

Things that don't fit anywhere else...

Postby BILLYL » Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:13 am

john warren wrote:i have used them in the past. and found them usually clean and well cared for. big advantage to me is they don't get a lot of rowdy folks there.
good atmosphere for families, stuff for kids to do to wear them down a little for travel.

most important thing you can do is enjoy those kids now, have fun and stop often for them to explore. they won't be around forever you know?


Sound Advice!

We had a KOA membership and it did help. The places where well maintained and easy in&out.

Bill 8)
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Postby DrCrash » Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:00 pm

we stay exclusively at KOA,s. We have a membership and you get a discount having it. You also earn points for saying good for free nights.

Yes it costs a bit more but there facility's are very clean and staff is more than helpfull. The hook ups work and they keep the " Clampets" in line. IE you can't get away with 2am beer toss across four camp slots and loud radios.

Don't get me wrong. You can have fun and are very family oriented. Games , pool, bycle rentals all kinds of stuff for kids.

The koa at the south rim of the grand canyon, Cody Wy, and Gaylord Mi are above and beyond best ones we have stayed at.

Oh I have been a member over 5 years and have aprox 30 diff koa,s under my belt.

My advice stop in and take a tour of one.
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Postby Gary and Cheri » Tue Apr 26, 2011 4:30 pm

It sounds like you may be spending some time on the road. If so then a KOA membership can be worth it.

At $24.00 for membership the 10% discount will take about 9-10 stays during your 1 year membership for you to break even. Membership makes it easier to register and gives you some priority over non-memebers, but I do not feel that these benefits make enough difference if you are only planning on 4 or 5 nights at KOAs this year.

It is hard to find a KOA that does not have a pool and wi-fi. After a hot day on the road a pool is a nice finish to the day. Wi-fi is a great way to keep in touch with family via e-mail. You don't have to make 10 phone calls a night to keep the relatives and friends informed.

Some, like the Mount Rushmore KOA are huge. http://koa.com/campgrounds/mount-rushmore/ That place has 3 pools to accomidate the number of campers, but it is also one of my favorite. It should be on your route to Wisconsin and is centrally located for the Black Hills. They are big on movies and breakfasts. Even have horse rides starting from there and an Ice Cream store plus better resaurant of their own. Normally I dislike crowded campgrounds but I like this one. This is not one of those where you feel like you are camping in a parking lot. You'll need 2-3 days stay here if you are going to see the Black Hills, Deadwood and Custer National Park. The caves here are a nice way to go on tha hot day. Good luck on getting a spot if it is any way near the Sturgis motorcycle rally days. That is also well worth going to.

Wall Drug is next on your list going east. Great tourist trap and next to the entrance into the Badlands.

At the east end of the Badlands is the Minuteman Missile Base tours. This is a National Park and very limited as to the number of tours and the number of people who can get in each tour. Don't expect to get on a tour without a reservation. http://www.nps.gov/mimi/index.htm You are actually taken down underground into a command bunker that controled 20+ missiles when it was active. This is way cool.

When you get to the Missouri River stop at Al's Oasis for a good slice of pie and right after you cross the river stop at the wayside. You are above one of Lewis and Clarks actual camp sites and the wayside has a nice museum with recreated river boat. Enjoy this spot as it is a long way over very flat land to the next place.


When you get 2/3s of the way accross Minnesota it is the Spam museum. http://www.spam.com/games/Museum/default.aspx
This is right next to your route and easy to get to.

The sceneery by the Mississippi River and in Wisconsin will keep you looking. Enjoy your trip.

Gary
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Postby the other side » Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:36 pm

We just went to Williamsburg VA for Easter. The campground we sayed at (not a KOA) was very unwelcoming and unfriendly. We will never go back to that campground. After their tree thickly coated my car with sap I went in search of a car wash. While driving around I found 2 KOA's. I stopped to get info. and they welcomed me to drive around and look at the grounds. They also told me to let my daughter go on the air pillow for a while to try it out (some trampoline type thing built into the ground). The grounds were clean, beautiful and they had a variety of spots. Some full hookups, some with just electric and water, and some tent sites. I guess the big rig sites were kind of close, but further apart compaired to the campground I was staying in at that moment! The tent sites were really beautiful. The reason they had 2 KOA's right next to eachother I can't explain, but the 2nd one was even more beautiful. Seems like they tried to put families with the majority of kids in the one with the pillow jump thing, and the other one had kids too, but was more relaxed. They were a little pricey in my opinion, but we are going to go back and stay in one of them (doesn't matter which one or which site) because they were really nice and we like Colonial Williamsburg etc... Worth the extra money I'd say! It felt relaxing and SAFE and was beautiful and very friendly staff! Activities for guests movies, ice cream socials, candy bar bingo, easter egg hunt, easter bunny, easter crafts, a clown that visited, etc...WOW!!! A+++++ is my rating for them!
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Postby the other side » Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:40 pm

Oh yeah, forgot to mention..... HEATED POOL that the guests were swimming in on EASTER WEEKEND!!!! And the other KOA next door had its own pool, playground, etc...
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Postby campmaster-k » Tue Sep 13, 2011 5:35 pm

How much does it cost for a KOA membership. Same for thousand trails?
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Postby starleen2 » Tue Sep 13, 2011 8:58 pm

I'll add another positive note for KOA. We had never stayed at one until this summer when we made a long trips. We needed an overnight place to stop. we used to stay at state parks until it became almost $$ to stay. Most State parks were off the travel map by a few miles. The KOA's were great for a an over night stay and get refreshed for the next day's travel :thumbsup:
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Postby Cliffmeister2000 » Wed Sep 14, 2011 12:20 am

campmasterk wrote:How much does it cost for a KOA membership. Same for thousand trails?


$24 a year

http://koa.com/value-kard-rewards/
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Postby campmaster-k » Wed Sep 14, 2011 1:01 pm

KOA sounds good to me Im gonna try it, if its good enough for Roy D. Mercer is good enough for me. :applause:
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Postby john warren » Wed Sep 14, 2011 2:13 pm

i think the membership gives you a better price. but you can use them without the membership. i'd stop at one or two and see if you like them.
i have used them when traveling because of location. they always seem clean and you won't get loud partying and nonsence .
they have lots of stuff for kids as they are focused on family.

i think you will like them, and the only question will be is the higher cost worth it to you.
that will depend on how often you go and what you like to do.

personaly i prefer state and national campgrounds and parks.
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Postby Cliffmeister2000 » Wed Sep 14, 2011 2:19 pm

My problem with KOA is t heir locations. Not what I would call "scenic". That might be different in the East or Midwest, but the ones I've seen in California and Arizona are just wide spots beside the road.
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