Now that most of us have hopefully recovered from the holiday weekend, I thought I'd start a topic I've never seen in the forum previously. Like many other terms and words commonly used on this site (in both reviews and in the forum), people here seem to have a wide variety of meanings for "destination park". For vacationers it is where you take the family for a week in the summer, for full-timers it is where you winter in the south, and for others it is ????? I have seen a number of reviews that call a park I have been to a "destination park" that I can't see as such. Simplistically, I think of a "destination park" as being a park that has the full services (FHU, WIFI, cable TV), adequate sites, and other facilities (recreational, store, etc.), so that you can spend days, even a week, without ever leaving the park. OK, you may want to go out for a meal once in a while, but you don't have to if you come well provisioned. You come to these parks to spend time in the park and enjoy what it has to offer. So, folks, what makes a park a "destination park" to you.
Your idea of a destination park is pretty much the same as mine. It is a place that has everything needed to provide lodging (an RV site or possibly a cabin) and entertainment for several days. You may want to go outside the park for dining or some activities, but ultimately you would not need to.
I would say that the thing most commonly found in parks that claim the term "destination park" is that they have monthly rentals. I would tend to think of them more in the terms of the first post, but since there is no standard, parks pretty much use any term the choose. Another that varies all over is the claim to be an RV Resort.
I'm looking at this two ways. One is my idea of a destination park is where I will end my trip, be it for a weekend or a vacation. If I'm going to Fish Creek Pond in the Adirondacks, which is a great park by the way, that would be my destination. I might stop 2 times to get there, but that would be my final destination for that trip. I am not a full timer but I would think they do it the same. Either work related or just traveling. They would plan a trip to a particular park and that would be their destination, even if it took 2 weeks to get there. The other is a park calling itself a destination park. As texasrvers stated, all the stuff someone would want when the got there plus maybe an attraction to get you there. Example, Disney World"s Fort Wilderness, that might be a destination park.
I agree with the last two replies. Good Sam park or even a well-run private park in the middle of lots of tourist destinations or Civil War parks or near natural wonders (Wisconsin Dells, an ocean, etc.) would qualify as a destination park to me. Great Wolf resorts would qualify if they thought things over carefully and included camping in the experience they offer. On site restaurants and good laundry facilities and people who are glad to see you are great too. I don't want to have to rent a car if I'm not towing. A campground right off I-70 which slams you up next to your fellow campers, and closes its store at 6 pm and has a tomato garden in its former swimming pool does not qualify. I don't hardly want to spend the night in those!!
Hi again, I couldn't resist checking to see if there were any replies to my original post yet. So what's the first thing I notice? I left out the "a" in destination in the Topic Title. Yes, it's just a typo rather than a spelling error and nobody is perfect, but it is still a little embarrassing. Here's a little confession - I had to look up how to spell embarrassing. Kirk: While I agree with the comments in your post, my question is more about the use of the term "destination park" by the contributors to this site in their reviews and this forum. Whether or not a park calls themselves a destination park or a resort (which is often laughable), is not my question. When I see this term used by folks on this site, I really don't know what they mean. I am hoping that this topic will help readers realize that when they read something written by someone on this site that calls a park a "destination park", it may not mean what they think it does.
My idea of a destination park is a park that you go to for a specific entertainment purpose. It may be because the park itself is the attraction such as some of the Yogi Parks and some of the large parks in the east. Or it may be a park located at an attraction such as a park near Disneyworld or a park near a beach or a lake etc. Such parks attract vacation travelers almost exclusively. I feel there are about 3 other type of parks. One would be a convenience park such as a park near a major city. It really isn't a destination but you go to such a park because you need a place to stay to do multiple things. The guests at these parks are less likely to be on vacation, but are more likely to be there on business or visiting relatives (kind of a vacation but not really the same as going to Disney) Another would be an overnight park, typically located on or near Interstate highways and they cater to people who are traveling and only stay a night or two. The final type of park is the seasonal park that caters to long term guests. They are usually dependent upon the weather, summertime in the North and Wintertime in the South. They attract many of the same people staying in the same site year after year.
What I consider a destination park is a campground I would choose to go to and would set up camp and not leave the confines of the park for my entire stay as opposed to a park I would go to and stay at pretty much just to sleep and spend the remainder of the time outside the park sightseeing or what have you. It would not have to have full hook ups or a store or an events schedule. Most of the parks I call destination parks are state parks that honestly offer very little in the way of what some would consider "comfort" but to me that's one of the reasons why I choose them...less is better for me. I'm more interested in relaxing and enjoying the natural aspects the parks offer.
Here is what a "destination park" means to me. It simply means wherever I am headed, and wherever I will end up at the end of the day. Walmart (feels like home), empty parking lot, full service park, minimum dlm camping. Anything. We are happy most places, where we feel safe . God bless, John
While it's true that if you use the literal meaning of "destination", any park (or Walmart) can be a destination park because it is the place you are going to. However, when most RVers use the term I think that there is a different connotation. As others have said the phrase "destination park" seems to refer to some type of special park that offers more facilities, services, amenities, and entertainment than most parks. An overnight type park may be your destination, but in my opinion it does not fit the term "destination park." My 2 cents.
QUOTE(Texasrvers @ Dec 30 2009, 03:07 PM) [snapback]20499[/snapback] While it's true that if you use the literal meaning of "destination", any park (or Walmart) can be a destination park because it is the place you are going to. However, when most RVers use the term I think that there is a different connotation. As others have said the phrase "destination park" seems to refer to some type of special park that offers more facilities, services, amenities, and entertainment than most parks. An overnight type park may be your destination, but in my opinion it does not fir the term "destination park." My 2 cents. That is why I said (I quote from my original post), "Here is what a "destination park" means to me." That is why I said that. That is simply what it means to ME, not necessarily what it means to others God bless, John
OK, now I get what you meant. Sorry I did not catch it at first. Thanks for explaining. To me the biggest problem with this terminology is that some parks call themselves a "destination park" when they are not even close to it. This is misleading to customers who arrive expecting to find a lot more services and activities than the park has to offer. Unfortunately there are no guidelines or standards for what truly makes a destination park.
As long as were camping with the whole family the two things we look for are Destination parks in Destination areas... When we have taken our extended vacations we always take a break from the day trips just to relax and enjoy the campground for a couple of days. And to repeat some of the stuff that has been posted earlier the other things we look for is what kind of amenities does the campground offer,campground upkeep,full hookups, WiFi, shade if possible in hot climates and of course resort campgrounds that enforce security...IMO Mike
We have been to hundreds and hundreds of parks and I never really considered any a destination park. We normally don't spend a lot of time in the park itself. We use it as a base of operations to see the sights of the area. We recently spent 7 days in Berlin, OH in the heart of Amish Country. We touristed for 7 days spent very little time at the nice park. I will stay there again when we go back, but it will be becasue of the area, not the park. We stayed a I guess wht could be called a destination Park in OR that was right on a salmon fishing stream, but we didn't fish (ate a lot of them though). We have stayed at casino parks. All in all, I guess we never really considered any park a destination.
Has anyone stayed in Corpus Christi, TX? We have reservation on the 15th of Jan at Colonia Del Rey RV Park. I have just read some of the reviews for this park and they are not very good. I am looking for more reviews from people who has been there before we leave. Thank's, Louie
Loillian and Louie, You would probably get more replies to your question if you posted it as a new topic instead of tacking it onto another topic. Just a suggestion.
A "destination park" to me is virtually the same as a "resort" campground -- one that has enough facilities and activities so that you can just "vacation" at the campground. When our kids were younger we looked for destination (or resort) campgrounds. It was a lot of fun to just stay at the campground running around doing everything. We didn't necessarily need or expect full hookups, but expected the campground to be a busy, active place. Now our kids are older, and I am mostly looking for campgrounds to sleep at, but near something interesting to check out. Then, of course, there are all the variations of a "campground" -- RV Resort, Park, Campground, Camping Resort, etc etc.
Thank you but I don't know how to post a new topic. How do I do that? Thanks, Louie ThankQUOTE(Texasrvers @ Jan 2 2010, 12:53 PM) [snapback]20533[/snapback] Loillian and Louie, You would probably get more replies to your question if you posted it as a new topic instead of tacking it onto another topic. Just a suggestion.
Click on RV Park Discussions. Near the top right is a button that says Newtopic. Click it and there you are, a new topic all of your own. You even get to give it a title - I would recommend using the campground's name you are asking about in it. You can do this under General Chat also.
Well, after 6 weeks and about a dozen opinions, it would appear that a slight majority consider a "destination park" the way I do. It is a park where you can get whatever it is you want (fun/entertainment/recreation/relaxation/activities) from just staying in the park. There's nothing wrong with the other viewpoints posted here, but the term can be misleading if not clarified by the poster/reviewer. This "definition" problem is pervasive in this site. Even though this is the only site of any kind in which I view that has a forum, I would imagine the "definition" problem is present in most websites with forums. Here, we can't even agree on the term "camping". As I mentioned a year or so ago, I am of the old school: If your butt is more than a couple inches off the ground, you ain't camping.
