New snow birds

mobilcastle

Well-known member
We are new fulltimers and snow birds that will be heading to FL for the winter for the first time. We are looking for recommendations for campgrounds. $400 to $550 + electric fits our budget well. We do not need to be entertained and we also do not need to be close to the water-it would be nice to see some vegetation and we like to ride our bikes. Thank you in advance for any recommendations. We would like to be around the middle of the state or south-seems temps are good in this region of FL.
Steve
 

Cjackg

Well-known member
I have just spent a lot of time making reservations for us to spend Jan-Mar 2015 in S.Florida and can tell you that many places are getting fully booked for that period.
The Everglades and the Keys are great that time of year but very pricey.
The more you go south the worse it is. Nearly all of the S.Florida state parks campgrounds are fullly booked already.

But if you dont need to be near the coast it may be easier. One park to look at is Wickham RV Park in Melbourne FL, a very nice & reasonable county park not far from the coast. Another one we like is Pine Island KOA near N.Ft Myers. Maybe we will see there!
 

MTPockets

Well-known member
We spent the last 8 winters in Zephyrhills, FL. A very nice town with lots of snowbirds and things to do. We stayed at Winters Park. $450/mo including all utilities... Many other choices in Zephyrhills at various rates, but within your budget. Z'Hills about 30 miles to Busch Gardens, 70 miles to Orlando...
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
Nice areas centrally located and still good temperatures during January would be Arcadia or Sebring. Sebring is a larger area with better shopping but once out of town a nice area to ride.
 

mobilcastle

Well-known member
Can you post what the web site is where you go. Thanks
We spent the last 8 winters in Zephyrhills, FL. A very nice town with lots of snowbirds and things to do. We stayed at Winters Park. $450/mo including all utilities... Many other choices in Zephyrhills at various rates, but within your budget. Z'Hills about 30 miles to Busch Gardens, 70 miles to Orlando...
 

MTPockets

Well-known member
Can you post what the web site is where you go. Thanks
Not sure if Winters has a web site, but do a search for Winters Park Zephyrhills and you'll see phone and directions. Winters is 80% manufactured homes, but does have RV sites. Another one we have used with more RV's is Palm View Gardens.. Same web search. You can also look up RV parks Zephyrhills and you'll see a bunch of them . Over 100 in Zephyrhills area.
 

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
We spent a week in Lakeland, FL (halfway between Orlando and Tampa) this past winter at Lakeland Carefree RV Resort. We really liked it. The park isn't the largest and the amenities are not super-sized, but they are nice and the residents are fabulous. The sitesare decent sized also. A few other places we looked at had you right on top of each other. We were treated like full time residents by everyone we met. Really nice folks staying there. Lakeland is a nice city. Plenty of shopping, lots of restuarants, churches, and a big medical center.
 

MTPockets

Well-known member
We like Lakeland too, it 'a about 30 miles South of Zephyrhills and if you would rather be closer to a Mall, larger and more shopping, restaurants, it's a nice place. Carefree also has a place in smaller Zephyrhills. FYI
 

jjriker

Well-known member
I'm not sure if you're planning on staying in one place for the whole winter, but if so you might take a look at Adelaide Shores in Avon Park, FL. We are going there for two months this winter and the stay for a longer term, like 5 or 6 months, brings the price into your budget range.
 

mobilcastle

Well-known member
I have another question for wintering in FL. Do you like to stay in a park that is wooded or in the open and why? Thanks for all your input.
 

here4now

Member
I have another question for wintering in FL. Do you like to stay in a park that is wooded or in the open and why? Thanks for all your input.

We prefer open for 2 reasons:
1. Better reception for rooftop satellite dish
2. Temperatures in central Florida usually range in the 70s during the day and 40-50s at night in January-February. However, there are usually a few days in January when the temps will struggle to get out of the 50s and the lows at night will go down to the lower 30s and even the upper 20s. It's nice to have some sun on the rig during the day to warm it up.
 

Westwind

Well-known member
I agree with all the advise that you have gotten, we have been snowbirds for 10 years and counting. For the first 8 years we moved around month to month, east coast the 1st two months and the last on the gulf coast. Last year we settled on a resort 12 miles from the gulf but about 40 minutes from the beach. The purpose was to lower our monthly cost since we wanted to stay for months. This past winter our electric ran $85 to $110 when we cranked up the AC mid April early May. I failed to mention the Washer/Dryer that goes every day.
Check reviews on http://rvparkreviews.com, you will get a person's review not a staged one from compound Website.
 
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