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11-10-2011, 02:55 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Thibodaux, LA
Posts: 1,221
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Thousand Trails sale, good deal?
Thousand Trails is having a sale right now until 11-15-11. You can buy a single zone for $499 + add a second zone free, and the enrollment fee is waived. So for $499 each year you can have 2 zones, and can cancel at the end of each year within 30 days.
According to the website you can stay 14 days then have to stay out for 7 days before going to the next resort. Don't know if you can make reservations ahead of time, some campgrounds have limited sites with full hookups.
Looks like this may be a nice option for us to explore the Northwest and maybe Northeast for a few years then cancel.
Anybody have any experience with their campgrounds?
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11-10-2011, 03:06 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Riverside, California
Posts: 1,543
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Wow Forest, I had heard about being able to buy one zone for $499, but getting a second free is a killer deal. I was talking to a guy staying here in Rancho Jurupa who has owned a Thousand Trails membership for 15 years and he likes them. He says he original bought his membership through a different outfit called Leisure Time Resorts, which were higher end facilities, which was bought by Thousand Trails. He says the Leisure parks are the best ones in the system. He is from Oregon, so I think the Pacific Northwest is where most of the Leisure parks were located. I'll find out from him today which ones those are. Anyway, he swears by Thousand Trails....he's headed down south about 40 miles to a Thousand Trails facility near Temecula.
Just went to Google and typed in Leisure - Thousand Trails and it takes you to a link that takes you to a page in Thousand Trails that tells you which resorts are former Leisure ones....most appear to be in Northwest.
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11-10-2011, 03:23 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Thibodaux, LA
Posts: 1,221
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Reading through some of their legal stuff it looks like some resorts charge extra for 50amp service but don't list what the charges are.
Might be a good deal since we plan to spend time up in the Northwest.
Let me know what you find out.
Thanks!
Hey is Elaine enjoying retirement?
Cindy's really enjoying hers!!
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11-10-2011, 03:26 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Riverside, California
Posts: 1,543
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She is a different woman.......we are both enjoying her retirement! I'll let you know what I find out from the Thousand Trails guy.
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11-10-2011, 05:33 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 279
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Hey Forest and Clarke:
I was in Napa Valley next to a guy who had sold his home in PA. He was a member of Thousand Trails and swore by it. Said with the return on his home monies and the Thousand Trails membership, he was on the road for free. Interesting. I have heard that some of the older parks are members and that one doesn't always have short term availability, however, he said it was never a problem for him. Great way to save money with overnight rates on the higher side in many Parks.
David
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11-10-2011, 07:50 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Idyllwild, CA
Posts: 1,340
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This is a very time appropriate discussing for me and I was just going to start a discussion about it.
I have been in contact with TT (housand Trails) lately. I have been thinking about this membership for some time now. OK here is how it was explained to me so far;
Yes, $499.00/year and for a limited time you can get the second zone with no additional cost. 2 weeks in and 1 week out at no additional cost until you have 30 days in their parks within the year, after that it will cost $3.00/night while staying in a park in their system. I was not aware that some parks would charge more for 50 amp service but that would seem likely. I have only seen 2 parks so far. The one in Palm Springs but actually Palm Desert and it is right off of the Freeway with no walls etc. between the park and the freeway and would most likely be noisy from the Freeway. This park gets very full during the winter as we have seen when coming home from Earp, CA (next to Parker, AZ).
I just drove through the Wilderness Lakes Park in Menifee, CA. It was a nice park considering that it is free stay (prior to 30 days) with membership. There is a Cattle Ranch right next door, just across the fence! so there could be a problem with flies and odor at some months but most likely not during the winter when we will be staying there. The park was clean and looked like we would enjoy short stays there. This park is about 30 minutes from where our coach is.
Some of the older memberships are not available anymore. There are numerous memberships for sale on ebay, craigslist and other sites that specialize in selling these (a google search will show them). I was very interested in a Platinum because this usually comes with a 3 week stay then 1 week out before coming back to the same park although you could go straight into another park in the system without a week out. Be careful though because unless it has an Alliance upgrade (not to be confused with an Alliance Membership) it will evaporate in 10 years and with the Alliance upgrade it is for life.
Be careful though because you are responsible for the Dues during the length of the contract or until sold. The TT Transfer Dept. has been very helpful so far and if you have the membership number in an older membership they will let you know what the Transfer Fees ($750 +) and dues are, dues for the Platinum have been $549.00
Hope that this is helpful and here is the number for the transfer department which is different from the Sales Dept. 800-388-7788, option 4
PS We are most likely going to get the 2 zones for the year this Sunday when I take Tricia down to look at it. At $499.00 for the year (and they will take payments about $45.00/month with the finance fee) this sounds really good. If you want nice clean parks with allot of service personnel this type of membership will not be for you. We have another membership in Colorado River Adventures and have really enjoyed it so far and it has paid for itself.
I talked to the District Manager this morning (he happened to be at Menifee Lakes) and they are doing this promotion with the zones in order to replace membership that has gone away during this economy.
__________________
have Coach will Travel
Steve & Tricia
1982 Newell 38' (built before #1) 6V92 DD, 5 Speed Allison, 12.5 KW Kohler, Couch used to make into a Bed but I fixed it!
https://newellshowcase.com/thumbnails.php?album=214
2007 Yukon, 1981 CJ7 Laredo, 2002 Honda CRV, 1955 Thunderbird, 1952 Pontiac Sedan Delivery, 1952 Ford 8N, 1958 Airstream, 1959 Glasspar 16' Avalon, Cabin in the Woods........what will I work on next
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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11-11-2011, 01:00 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Riverside, California
Posts: 1,543
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Steve, that is a lot of great information in just a few paragraphs. Thanks for sharing your research! We are also thinking about getting the 2 zone deal for the year.
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11-11-2011, 02:44 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Idyllwild, CA
Posts: 1,340
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Clarke, It does make sense when we are in the coach for 6 months or more per year. I can let you know how it goes after we visit Menifee Lakes as planed this weekend.
During our stay at Colorado River Adventures we have become used to 30 amp service so we will feel like home, with our low tech coaches it shouldn't be a problem and since Forest has all of those new SOLAR Panels he should be good as well.
Again I'll give another report after the weekend visit (unless work gets in the way).
__________________
have Coach will Travel
Steve & Tricia
1982 Newell 38' (built before #1) 6V92 DD, 5 Speed Allison, 12.5 KW Kohler, Couch used to make into a Bed but I fixed it!
https://newellshowcase.com/thumbnails.php?album=214
2007 Yukon, 1981 CJ7 Laredo, 2002 Honda CRV, 1955 Thunderbird, 1952 Pontiac Sedan Delivery, 1952 Ford 8N, 1958 Airstream, 1959 Glasspar 16' Avalon, Cabin in the Woods........what will I work on next
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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11-13-2011, 02:37 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Idyllwild, CA
Posts: 1,340
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Just got back from joining Thousand Trails. I went to the one in Menifee this afternoon just to be sure that Tricia would be OK there and she absolutely was.
The Zone Membership fits us very well for what we are wanting and yes we got the 2 Zones for the $499.00/year. What we were told is that this promotion is only good until the 18th of this month so if you are interested in it you should join soon. I talked to Brandi at eight 00-seven22-2259. She told me that if I send someone to her she would give me $25.00 so if someone joins and tells her my name (Steve Ward) then I say we go out and use the $25.00 towards dinner or drinks if you are in the Palm Springs or Yuma area (shameless plug).
PS We were told that if you join now and get the 2 Zone deal then you would have the 2 zones as long as you continue to pay the annual dues.
__________________
have Coach will Travel
Steve & Tricia
1982 Newell 38' (built before #1) 6V92 DD, 5 Speed Allison, 12.5 KW Kohler, Couch used to make into a Bed but I fixed it!
https://newellshowcase.com/thumbnails.php?album=214
2007 Yukon, 1981 CJ7 Laredo, 2002 Honda CRV, 1955 Thunderbird, 1952 Pontiac Sedan Delivery, 1952 Ford 8N, 1958 Airstream, 1959 Glasspar 16' Avalon, Cabin in the Woods........what will I work on next
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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11-20-2011, 01:27 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Thibodaux, LA
Posts: 1,221
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There is a discussion on this on escapees
http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php?showtopic=95186
There may be a way to get a third zone free if you can get 2 referals (think you need their name and account number to qualify).
Anybody heard of this?
We just joined but had to do it online since we couldn't get them on the phone.
Check it out for us Steve!
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06-03-2012, 01:30 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Thibodaux, LA
Posts: 1,221
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Well here's an update. We stayed at the TT Camp Verde campground near Cottonwood for 2 weeks. Then after visiting Tom & Darlene spent another night there where we left the coach in their storage lot for the summer.
The campground was so-so. You and your neighbor park opposite so your water bays are together and your door opens to your neighbor's with a nice green space between. BUT there were only a few 50amp sites (for $5.00/day extra) and they were VERY unlevel. I couldn't get level since the high end of the site was the rear of the coach. If it was reversed I could have gotten level. How it works is when you check in IF you've called the campground directly and requested a 50amp site AFTER you make your reservation with the 800 number, the guard gives you a list of 50amp sites available. You then drive throughout the campground to find a site. Not crazy about that since you may have other people driving around in their coaches & trucks with trailers looking for the same site! We unhooked and drove around in the car then when we found a (unlevel) site that looked ok dragged the picnic table across the site to hold it. Then after you pull in you have to return to the guard shack to get the key to unlock the 50amp box. The other facilities in the campground were nice but they need to LEVEL their sites!
Hopefully other TT campgrounds will be nicer. Like I said the only real problem were the sites were not level! Oh and wifi was pretty bad since all they had was a basic router in the clubhouse so it only worked inside. And we were in the valley so cell was pretty weak. But it sure beats being home.
Overall it wasn't too bad so I think we'll renew for next year since we'll be travelling up the west coast toward Oregon and Washington.
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06-03-2012, 02:48 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Idyllwild, CA
Posts: 1,340
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Forest,
I carry Leveling Blocks, they really help. I usually only need them when at State Parks or Membership Parks.
__________________
__________________
have Coach will Travel
Steve & Tricia
1982 Newell 38' (built before #1) 6V92 DD, 5 Speed Allison, 12.5 KW Kohler, Couch used to make into a Bed but I fixed it!
https://newellshowcase.com/thumbnails.php?album=214
2007 Yukon, 1981 CJ7 Laredo, 2002 Honda CRV, 1955 Thunderbird, 1952 Pontiac Sedan Delivery, 1952 Ford 8N, 1958 Airstream, 1959 Glasspar 16' Avalon, Cabin in the Woods........what will I work on next
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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