cost with popup?

[dinahvixen]

We are buying a popup camper for our local trips around our area, but the thought occured to me that it might be a money saver to bring the popup to FW and stay there instead of fly and stay in a resort. Does anyone have an idea of how much it would cost approximately to stay for about a week with a popup instead of a resort? Also, can we buy the dining plan if we stay at FW? Does anyone know how towing the popup (we have a toyota rav4) all the way down to FLA affects the gas mileage of our car?

[medic9016]

Our second trip to FW was in a POP UP. We had a really good time. Price will depend on the time of year you go and what kind of site you want or need. If your tow vehicle is rated to pull you POP UP and set up correctly you should not have a problem pulling to FW. Towing a trailer will effect your fuel mileage. I don't know about the vehicle you have. I have a 31 ft toyhauler travel trailer weighing about 7000 LBS fully loaded and a Dodge Ram Quadcab 4x4 with the turbo diesel. Not towing I get about 21 MPG and towing my TT around 13.5 MPG.
You can get the DDP while staying a FW, just not the free dining that is offered. The free dinning is only offered if staying in the cabins.

Just did a look on line 5 days in Oct at Pop Century is 539 and the same at FW in a POP UP campsite is 237. A $300 difference is really good. Now figure fuel vs. plane tickets.

[JRocker]

We've been tugging around a Starcraft pop up for almost 10 years now and I can't say enough about the money it has saved me.

Some of it depends on the family size also, since mine is a family of 5, I'll use those numbers for these rough estimates. And also traveling from Oklahoma City.

To fly down and stay in Pop
Flight $2300 (more or less)
5 Nights @ Pop 540 (technically I would need two rooms, but I'll ignore that for this illustration)
So transportation and room comes to $2840

To drive and stay in PopUp
Gas @$4.00 $700 (there and back)
5 Nights @ FW $240
Grand total of $940

By driving down there, I would save around $1900.
Not sure that its worth it or not.

For my family that is just the icing on the cake.
1) We eat at the camper for most of our meals which saves even more $$. A lot more than some realize.
2) We sleep in our own beds...and we are the only ones who have slept in them.
3) We get to bring our dogs.
4) Don't have to mess with not altogether pleasant TSA.

Other notes:
A pop up is a low profile camper, so there is not as much drag when you are towing. That in itself saves on MPG vs. a normal height pull behind camper. You will see a decrease in mileage from normal, but it won't be as drastic as you would see with a taller, heavier camper.

Properly inflated tires on your vehicle and especially the camper will have a big impact on mileage AND on the way the trailer behaves when you pull it.

Because of driving habits etc. keeping tabs on the mileage for a couple of short trips will tell you more than anything we can tell you.

[Janmac]

First, kind of off topic but I'm wondering - what's your tow rating on the Rav4? By that I mean, how many pounds is it rated to tow?

Okay, back on topic, another factor is length of stay. You have two costs - travel and the cost of the resort stay. If because of the gas involved, vs the plane fare, the driving down/towing down figures to be more than flying, you can still wind up ahead with the campsite being cheaper than the resort room. Which is where length of stay comes in. A short stay may only result in your breaking even.

As JDRocker said, the number of folks traveling with you makes a difference too. We happen to be staying at a resort on our next trip, but we're still driving down. We got such good fares for my niece and grandson, who are flying down, that I did the math for DH, me and our grandniece. With gas at $4 a gallon, we break even, which surprised me. We opted to stay with the driving down plan, since we'd have our vehicle there at Disney just case (we still use Disney transportation most of the time) and because our grandniece will likely tolerate the drive better than 3 hours to the airport, 2 hours in the airport, 3 hours in the plane, etc.

A way you can save on your fuel cost is to slow down. You may think you don't even notice that pop-up back there and take off down the highway at your normal, non-towing speeds, but your gas mileage will feel it.

We generally tow at 55 or 60 mph because even at that speed a panic stop generates a LOT of panic, trying to get the vehicle and trailer stopped.

Have to agree also with JDRocker I do appreciate having my own bed and not toting those dadgum suitcases around - altho we're doing that this time (my sister has a time share and somehow she exchanged into OKW - can't pass up a free room ).

medic9016, we have a '03 Dodge Ram Quadcab (I guess - 4 full size doors?) 4x4 diesel (love my truck ). Our son-in-law, diehard Ford fan, has the same thing in a Ford super duty I think it is. We met at Custer State Park in South Dakota last summer - talk about stiff winds. Heading east, going home, his Ford got less than 10 mpg most of the time, but then he won't tow less than 70 mph. Our Dodge, at 60 mph got at least 14 mpg and once we got out of the wind, at least 15 mpg.

Probably doesn't help DSIL's mileage that he has a 5th wheel and we have a 25 foot travel trailer. But, with apologies to Ford fans, I like to think it's more the difference between our Dodge and his truck.

dinahvixen, enjoy your popup/camping and heck, even if it's not cheaper to tow and stay at FW, it'll be a heckuva a lot more fun!

Jan

[dinahvixen]

The toyota is rated for 2000lbs. There are four in our family and last year we stayed at POR, so I guess I'll look at costs from last year and take what you all said and figure out if it would work as an option for us! Thanks everyone!

[Auntie]

I'd figure closer to $5.00 than $4.00 for gas. Just to be on the safe side. I know I'd paid $4.49 today. I'm not seeing any drop in gas prices.
We are staying in FW this Sept. Only we will be renting a trailer from someone who places it on site for us.(5th wheel) We figured with the cost of the gas at this point, trailering from NY is going to cost a fortune.

I know at this point we are still getting decent flights out of NY..well under $300.00 for round trip. I'm not sure how long that will last, so I'm hoping to get 2 of those booked this weekend!

We have been giving some thought to a pop up. We have a travel trailer, and while we love it. The gas situation has put a whole new spin on things.

[NJ Camper]

we love the idea of saving gas but don't think we could go to a pop up after we have our TT we love it to much how much will you save on gas by going to a pop up over a TT ok maybe on a long haul you might save some but how much and is it worth it if it cost an extra 200-300 to go to disney then we just will cut cost somewhere else lifes to short to not go to disney and enjoy even if it is once a year

[Auntie]

Ha..I guess I should have said.."I'm" giving some thought to the pop up. My husband doesn't like the idea. He prefers to stick with the tt we have. Considering we're all paid for..it's not a bad way to go.
I guess I just figured the gas savings and the ability to tow with a smaller truck is part of what makes a pop up appealing to me.