These pictures show our campsite at the Little Diamond Thousand Trails, in Northeastern Washington. This park is very scenic, similar to the majority of TT parks, in that they are often heavily wooded, lots of room between spaces, and are often 30 amp electrical & water. Since beginning our summer travels, the 3 TT parks where we have stayed, have been electric and water, with dump stations. The Thousand Trails (TT) membership that we currently own, was an upgrade of the previous, limited membership that we purchased, not too long after buying our motor home. The basics of our membership are - it costs us $600 per year, and we get - 50 nights, no fee parking at any of the approx. 65 parks around the country. Any nights over 50, and we pay $5 per night. We can go from park to park, without being out of the system for 7 days, and we can stay a maximum of 14 days at any one park. Last year we stayed exactly 100 nights at Thousand Trails, for an approx. per night cost of $8.50. The more we use the system, our average per night cost goes down. Conversely, the less we use the system, our average per night cost goes up. At 50 - 100 nights per year, our per night average is between $8.50 and $12. So far, it's been a good deal for us, however, there's a disturbing trend starting to unfold, regarding member accesibility, and public accessibility, at Thousand Trails Parks.
When we arrived at the Little Diamond T.T. a few days ago, we saw that the signage directing us to the park, and the signage within the park, is more dominantly K.O.A. (Kampgrounds of America), than T.T. The staff are all wearing K.O.A. uniforms, and there is a lot of construction taking place within the park, ie; new gravel pads, new electrical and water hookups. I talked to Mike the park manager, and learned that the T.T. parent company, Equity Lifestyle Properties, purchased a K.O.A. Franchise, and is upgrading a portion of the park to K.O.A.'s specifications. The reason is that the use of this park was so low, that it was in danger of closing, and their hope is that a K.O.A. franchise will drive campers to the park, increasing their cash flow. From a business perspective, I fully understand the problem, and the direction T.T. is heading. However, from a members perspective, this objective, at least at this park, takes a sizeable number of premium campsites away from T.T. members, and dedicates those spaces exclusively to the general public through K.O.A. I understand this is the 2nd or 3rd T.T. park to partner with K.O.A., and it devalues my T.T. membership considerably. This trend, combined with the removal of many premium sites at all T.T. parks, through their annual site program, and the opening of some spaces, at all T.T. parks, to the general public, further devalues all T.T. memberships. So far, all of these programs have not significantly impacted us, regarding our ability to find a campsite. But, in a few parks, we have had to search a little harder, to find a location that has fit our needs. Obviously, some of my concerns are selfish, but, one of the reasons we initially purchased a T.T. membership, was to have accessibility to a network of private parks, and that seems to be disappearing. That, combined with a portion of our dues being used to upgrade a large section of this park for the exclusive use of the general public through K.O.A., isn't sitting too well with me right now.
These pictures show our campsite at the Little Diamond Thousand Trails, in Northeastern Washington. This park is very scenic, similar to the majority of TT parks, in that they are often heavily wooded, lots of room between spaces, and are often 30 amp electrical & water. Since beginning our summer travels, the 3 TT parks where we have stayed, have been electric and water, with dump stations. The Thousand Trails (TT) membership that we currently own, was an upgrade of the previous, limited membership that we purchased, not too long after buying our motor home. The basics of our membership are - it costs us $600 per year, and we get - 50 nights, no fee parking at any of the approx. 65 parks around the country. Any nights over 50, and we pay $5 per night. We can go from park to park, without being out of the system for 7 days, and we can stay a maximum of 14 days at any one park. Last year we stayed exactly 100 nights at Thousand Trails, for an approx. per night cost of $8.50. The more we use the system, our average per night cost goes down. Conversely, the less we use the system, our average per night cost goes up. At 50 - 100 nights per year, our per night average is between $8.50 and $12. So far, it's been a good deal for us, however, there's a disturbing trend starting to unfold, regarding member accesibility, and public accessibility, at Thousand Trails Parks.
When we arrived at the Little Diamond T.T. a few days ago, we saw that the signage directing us to the park, and the signage within the park, is more dominantly K.O.A. (Kampgrounds of America), than T.T. The staff are all wearing K.O.A. uniforms, and there is a lot of construction taking place within the park, ie; new gravel pads, new electrical and water hookups. I talked to Mike the park manager, and learned that the T.T. parent company, Equity Lifestyle Properties, purchased a K.O.A. Franchise, and is upgrading a portion of the park to K.O.A.'s specifications. The reason is that the use of this park was so low, that it was in danger of closing, and their hope is that a K.O.A. franchise will drive campers to the park, increasing their cash flow. From a business perspective, I fully understand the problem, and the direction T.T. is heading. However, from a members perspective, this objective, at least at this park, takes a sizeable number of premium campsites away from T.T. members, and dedicates those spaces exclusively to the general public through K.O.A. I understand this is the 2nd or 3rd T.T. park to partner with K.O.A., and it devalues my T.T. membership considerably. This trend, combined with the removal of many premium sites at all T.T. parks, through their annual site program, and the opening of some spaces, at all T.T. parks, to the general public, further devalues all T.T. memberships. So far, all of these programs have not significantly impacted us, regarding our ability to find a campsite. But, in a few parks, we have had to search a little harder, to find a location that has fit our needs. Obviously, some of my concerns are selfish, but, one of the reasons we initially purchased a T.T. membership, was to have accessibility to a network of private parks, and that seems to be disappearing. That, combined with a portion of our dues being used to upgrade a large section of this park for the exclusive use of the general public through K.O.A., isn't sitting too well with me right now.
wow. . .here we are in July 2014, and we are just now hearing about this trend that seems to be happening. . .have you found any further information?
ReplyDeleteWould love to follow up further. . .please email me at EvansEscapades@gmail.com. . .thanks!