I don't get why all these reviews state that all of these parks in CA are family friendly. My husband will be working down in the Benicia area for about nine months starting in June, every single park that I have called to make reservations at has told me that they are a family friendly park until I tell them that we have 3 children. Then they tell us they can't allow us to stay at their park. Our kids are very well behaved and one is only a year old, the other two are quite a bit older. I have told them that we won't be there all 9 months as in Sept we will have to come home for school. I guess my first question is why do they call themselves family friendly, yet they are only family friendly if you only have one child? Next does anyone know of any "true" family friendly parks in the Benicia area of CA that are decent ( I mean have decent sized spaces for our 40' toy hauler with 3 slides ) and reasonable and clean? Thanks for all of your input and help.
Can't speak for the parks in California, but at my park we would also probably not accept the reservation and we feel we are very family friendly. Unless I misread your post, you are looking to stay 9 months at the park. To me, that is not really a visit but a housing decision. We cater to vacationers who stay for a couple of days to a couple of weeks and some retirees who wish to stay for the season and explore my area. Most RV parks I am familiar with are geared to vacationing and not long term housing. Most seasonal parks that are geared for multiple month stays cater primarily to adults. Finally, stays in many areas that exceed 180 days are either prohibited or gives the tennant a lot more rights and restricts the Park's ability to enforce rules without going through a costly eviction process. Also many parks avoid long term tennants simply because they generate much less revenue (don't shop in store, buy souvenirs etc) than regular guests and finally you can read through some low score reviews on this site and see the reaction to long term residents in RV parks.
You kind of have it right, but weren't vey helpful with your answer. I'm sorry that I did not state my question clearly enough. My husband is a Boilermaker which means he goes where the work is. We have a beautiful home in WA state that the kids and I live in but we try to be a family unit as much as possible. We would not be moving to CA just visiting until the job is complete and then coming home. The kids and I would only be staying there from June to Aug, and then one, 20 day period every three months and doing a home study program through the kids school. The parks that I call don't have a problem with the length of the stay as they understand it's just a temporary situation, they have a problem with the fact that we have 3 children, and they state that there is only to be 3 total people at each site. How can they be family friendly yet only allow 3 people at each site. Don't most American households have more than 1 child? I don't get it.
Sorry, I guess I need to be a little more blunt. They do not want a family living in their campground for nine months. They are using the maximum of three as a polite way of saying it. If someone tried to book a spot for 5 days in that same campground with three kids it would most likely not be an issue (provided the campground allowed children, some do not). My park allows up to 6 persons in a site, any more than that we unfortunately must pass on the reservation. It is a matter of comfort for all our guests. My park is not large enough or have enough facilities (restrooms, showers etc) if we had 10 sites with 10 guests each. It would be an inconvenience for the other 90 campsites in the park. There may be an extra charge for children, some campgrounds base their rates on two people occupying the site, some base it on 3, some 4 etc. Some do not have a listed maximum, but any decent campground will have a limit at some point. I know you have said you will only be staying with the kids a couple of months, then the kids will be there so many days and gone so many days, but the business does not want to take the chance that those plans will change. It is much harder to correct the situation if it turns bad after you have checked in than it is to just not accept the reservation in the first place. You need to look for another campground, this one is not interested in a long term stay by a family.
You might have to look at a mobile home park that would allow you in for the length of time your looking to stay with the family. I don't think your going to find what your looking for in most rv parks that are of any high quality.
Welcome to overcrowded California...camsejach. Family-friendly means for a weekend or two. Otherwise we have entire third-world countries camp/living in our State, Federal and private campgrounds. Sorry that sounds harsh. The San Francisco Bay area is busy, crowded, pricey and a VERY popular vacation destination. May have a better luck if you expand your search area east...and commute. There is a nice, newer RV park in the Patterson area, just off I-5, that folks were longer-term living and using hiway 130 to commute into the Bay area. Bit out of the way, but a possibility. Kit Fox RV park. Read the reviews on this site. If cable TV is critical to keep your gang entertained...this place may not work. Sat TV and cel service is great and the community is healthy and growing. Recommend you book a month just to insure it fits your needs... Once winter has passed, and the snow-birds have all gone home...the socio/economic population that 'camps' for months on end changes dramatically. Fact of life, at least here in sunny, southern California. Cheers!
