State Parks in the Keys and Reserve America

[steelmooch]

Hello, everyone...thanks for your time and for lending your experiences & expertise! 

I was hoping for some information/clarification...I have read previous posts relating to this topic, but I was unsure about a couple of things...

We're looking into a June "Keys" trip for next year...hopefully to one of the state parks. 

Say I want to pull into a site on Monday, June 19th 2017.  The 11-month window specifies that I can try to make my reservation at 8:00 A.M. on July 19th of 2017, correct? 

BUT...I've read that you can book 14 days at a time - even out past the 11-month window - as long as the first day of the block meets the 11-month max requirement...correct?

My question is...how many people do this?  It would be foolish for me to log on July 19th...only to find every site booked by people who "played the game" by reserving that week AND the week before (giving them a week-long reservation "head start" on me...some/many of them probably planning on cancelling that earlier week anyway and eating the cancellation fee as the "cost of doing business". 

Perhaps the really shrewd thing, if we really only planned on being there for 3 nights, for example, would be to book a 14-day block starting 11 nights earlier? 

How common is this practice?  I dont' like stuff like this...this isn't "me" or "us" at all...but we do want for our kids to have a nice time and to see the Keys. 

Use such a tactic and view it as a "necessary evil"? 

If we just log on 11 months to the day at 8:00...and choose 2nd-tier sites that hopefully won't have hundreds of people clicking "Send" at 7:59 A.M., do we have any realisitic chance of getting a site in June?  25%?  75?

Any input is greatly appreciated...I'm feeling kind of put-off and apprehensive about this, the more I read about it and learn about the reservation situation. 

Thanks! 

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

      Hi Steel, I can't give you any real experience on reservations in June, but in 2008 we knew that we were leaving St Petersburg April 1st, and I checked daily for a site in several of the State Parks along the Keys for almost all of the winter.  It kept telling me that they were fully booked at every park.  Then, the last week of March, a site opened up in Marathon for April 2nd or 3rd (I can't remember).  When I get to the park, it is over half empty for the week we were there.  So, my guess is that you won't have problems getting in mid June without the need to play games.

Ed

 

[Back2PA]

That game you talk about is being played by everyone else, so if you don't play there's a chance you'll get blocked out.

I just did the exact same thing at Buffalo Bill State Park, and was in fact given advice on how to do it by the reservations agent. Book the longest block you're allowed, as far in advance as allowed, which just covers the days you need. Then, when you're closer in and the timing and rules allow, modify your reservation so it's what you really want, and eat the change fee.

I don't like it either, but that's what everyone else is doing.

Oh, and set your alarm cause you'll need to start trying at 11:59pm in the appropriate time zone cause it'll be gone a few minutes later.

 

[steelmooch]

Thank you, Ed and Scott! 

I think it's 8:00 A.M. for Reserve America...can anyone confirm that for sure?

Follow-up question...

If I "play the game" with the 14-day max reservation window, is that going to preclude me from making other reservations further up the road in Florida? 

Does the system, in practice, work so that "first priority" booking will likely have to be done with the 14-day window...days modified 18 days later like the site says...cancellation/change fee "eaten"...and then see what I can scrounge for the days occurring during that 14-day window when we plan to be elsewhere? 

In other words, does the system block you from "playing the game" to the extent that you have overlapping reservations going on in different places?  Is this a "husband's charge card for reservation 1", "wife's charge card for reservation 2" kind of situation?  Completely separate Reserve America accounts? 

Thanks! 

 

[JudyJB]

I dislike playing that game and never do it personally because I think it is unethical.

However, I do sometimes schedule a few days extra in the previous park I am staying in and that gives me a couple of extra days to try to get into a good spot.  In other words, if I want a good spot starting June 19, I would make sure I have a place to stay by booking through June 21 in another park and then cancelling them.  (I think cancelling end days is not unethical, but maybe others will disagree.) That means I can try to get a spot on June 19, June 20, and June 21. 

Be warned that some states do not let you cancel the first day or days of your stay!  Or they make you wait a month or so after the reservation to cancel any reservation days.

On the other hand, know that June is not as popular in the Keys as are December through April, so you should be able to book a spot with no trouble.  I have a week in each campground in October, and it was reasonably easy to book a spot I liked for that month.

A tip is to be online line and logged in early so you are ready.  Pick out spots and put them in separate windows, and then watch clock and hit Submit three seconds early. And check about 5-10 minutes afterwards to see if someone has released a spot.  And yes time is 8:00 am Eastern time. And it does allow overlapping reservations.

 

[steelmooch]

Thanks, Judy!  Great info...I really don't like the whole premise of it either...but I suppose that you've gotta do what you've gotta do. 

I didn't really understand the "cancellation" situation...

Say we really want a 4-night stay.  We "play the game" and book a 14-day window ending with the 4 days we really want. 

It says on the site that they make you wait 18 days to modify/cancel...but you feel that this should not prevent us from making a different, overlapping reservation elsewhere, correct? 

I've seen both $17 "cancellation" fees and $10 "change" fees for a $42/night site...any idea if this is a one-time fee per changed reservation?  In other words, drop those 10 extra days for $10?  Or is it $10/day for $100 total for the dropped days?  Thanks!

 

[NY_Dutch]

To answer one of your questions, yes, the FL State Park booking window opens at 8:00am EST/EDT. One thing that has worked for me sometimes to get a site in a popular park, is to give it my best effort at 8:00am, usually with a few sites selected in multiple windows so I can click from one to the other in hopes of hit. If that doesn't work, come back at 8:15 and check again. Sometime folks using multiple windows, multiple computers, etc., hit on more than one site at 8:00, which locks the sites in for 15 minutes giving them time to complete the reservation. They pick the site they like best and drop the rest, and when the sites time out, they become available again. That's how we got a 2 week site at Myakka River State Park in the full hookup loop for next March a couple of weeks ago.

 

[TravlinOn-5TH]

To answer one of your questions, yes, the FL State Park booking window opens at 8:00am EST/EDT. One thing that has worked for me sometimes to get a site in a popular park, is to give it my best effort at 8:00am, usually with a few sites selected in multiple windows so I can click from one to the other in hopes of hit. If that doesn't work, come back at 8:15 and check again. Sometime folks using multiple windows, multiple computers, etc., hit on more than one site at 8:00, which locks the sites in for 15 minutes giving them time to complete the reservation. They pick the site they like best and drop the rest, and when the sites time out, they become available again. That's how we got a 2 week site at Myakka River State Park in the full hookup loop for next March a couple of weeks ago.

I can't say that I am very experienced at actually getting sites in FL sp's because of the problems noted in finding an available site, but I have noticed that often the first one or more sites that do come available are the least desirable sites. 

I guess the best we can hope for is that successful campers will cancel their unneeded reservations quickly.

 

[NY_Dutch]

I can't say that I am very experienced at actually getting sites in FL sp's because of the problems noted in finding an available site, but I have noticed that often the first one or more sites that do come available are the least desirable sites. 

I guess the best we can hope for is that successful campers will cancel their unneeded reservations quickly.

I usually work with a list of my preferred and acceptable sites for each park that I'm trying to get into. The selections are typically based on the park's site map plus Google's satellite view, other photo sources, and online reviews, unless the park is one that we're familiar with from previous visits. Over the years, I've found that one persons undesirable site, may in fact be a desirable, or at least acceptable, site for us. Reasons like "Too far from the bath house", "Too far from the playground", "Too far from the dog park", etc, do not apply to us. Our planned length of stay also has a bearing on which sites we prefer, with shorter stays not being as critical as longer stays of course.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Last I knew, the ReserveAmerica "change" fee was one time (per change) and not daily. I haven't used it in the past year or so, though.

June may not be a huge problem in the Keys - it's somewhat off an off-season there. After winter and before the sport lobster season (enfd of July), which is always a busy time for campgrounds. It's hot & humid in the Keys in June, so slightly less attractive to visitors, even though school may be out by then.

As Scotty says, there are typically late cancellations as people who reserved far in advance change their plans. It's scary to be relying on a cancellation, but they usually work out.

 

[TravlinOn-5TH]

I usually work with a list of my preferred and acceptable sites for each park that I'm trying to get into. The selections are typically based on the park's site map plus Google's satellite view, other photo sources, and online reviews, unless the park is one that we're familiar with from previous visits. Over the years, I've found that one persons undesirable site, may in fact be a desirable, or at least acceptable, site for us. Reasons like "Too far from the bath house", "Too far from the playground", "Too far from the dog park", etc, do not apply to us. Our planned length of stay also has a bearing on which sites we prefer, with shorter stays not being as critical as longer stays of course.

Yep.  Agree with what you said and am trying now to become more methodical in noting our type of preferred site at the CG's we like.

Adding to your list of commonly un-desirable sites are those that have trees/branches in dangerous locations, awkward turns into site that make straight-in hitchups impossible, sewage pipe locations that are uphill and/or 50ft away, soft mud sites located at bottom of water runoff,
and more. 

Stop!  Don't jump on me - the good sites outnumber the less desirable ones!  Just mentioning.

 

[BruceinFL]

Try for Bahia Honda first. Best beach, right near Big Pine Key and short drive to Key West. Very popular, even in summer (FL kids get out of school late May/early June). All parks hold several non-res sites so there's a chance one of those may be open as a walk-in.

 

[JudyJB]

One other tip that is specific to Florida State Parks only--if you leave early, they will give you a full refund of unused days without the change or cancellation fee.  You have to stop at the park office and ask for it, however.  Can't go online and cancel to get this.  You also have to do this before the checkout time.

I know this because I was in Sebastian Inlet and had four days left in a great spot, BUT the temps were in the 90s and I was tired of sweating.  Plus a raccoon had tried to set up housekeeping in one of my underneath storage areas.  (It has an 8" tall pass through between two bins, one on each side of the rig, so the critter decided the middle of the pass-through was a terrific place to tear up half a roll of paper towel into one-inch squares in preparation for nest building.)

After scaring her/him out and cleaning up the mess, I decided I had had it, so got a refund on last days and headed north to cooler places! 

 

[steelmooch]

Thank you for all of the helpful info, everyone!