We stayed at the Mt. Desert Narrows Camping Resort near Bar Harbor, Maine so we could visit Acadia National Park. This is part of the Thousand Trails network, but was not included in our membership. It was on the same island as Acadia, so it was conveniently located.
The laundry room was under the backside of the office. Washers and dryers were $2/load (quarter machines, no change machine). Each site had a picnic table and a fire pit. There were some nice views of the water and the campground was large enough to get a nice walk in. The campground had free WiFi (standard campground level), but it was a nice feature for a Thousand Trails campground.
The campground had a pool (not open yet while we were there), an arcade, playground, camp store, and a laundry room. The arcade was only open on the weekends Friday to Sunday 9am-8pm. It was older, but the kids still enjoyed it. The games were $0.25 per game, except for the ball crane machine at $0.50. There was a change machine in the arcade. The laundry room charged $2 per load for both the washers and the dryers and were coin operated, but there was not a change machine in the laundry room. The laundry room was open during office hours. The camp store sold ice for $2.25 and firewood for $5.25.
Bathrooms, Camp Store, Laundry Room with book exchange
Most of the sites had trees for shade. It looked like most of the sites were pretty level, although there were a few that were on part of a hill that could be harder to level a RV. The campground was large and made for some nice afternoon walks, especially since the tent area was empty while we were there. It faces the ocean, so if you get closer spots, you could have some great views.
Our site, playground, pool, ocean view at low tide at campground
Bar Harbor was 15 minutes, Acadia National Park was 10-11 minutes away (to the Hulls Cove Visitor Center entrance). There was a grocery store in Bar Harbor called Hannaford’s that was 15 minutes away, and Walmart was located in Ellsworth and was 15 minutes away.
SIDE NOTE: The campground used well water, so it did have a bit of an odor to it that we were not used to. We just used our awesome Berkey* and filtered all the drinking water. The Bar Harbor area gets its water from Eagle Lake and wells, nearby Seal Harbor from Jordan Pond.
For our stay in Charleston, South Carolina, we stayed at the Mount Pleasant/Charleston KOA. The campground is located in Mount Pleasant, about a 15-20 minute drive from Charleston.
The campground had some nice features, including a camp store. The campground is located near a plantation, and offers wagon rides when the plantation is open. Unfortunately, the plantation house was under construction when we were there and the wagon rides were not going on.
The campground had corn hole, a nice walking trail, a community fire pit, hanging swings by the lake, fishing (catch and release, no license needed), pool (not heated), rec room with camp kitchen (2 stations) and little library, dog park, and bike/canoe/paddle boat rental. The office sold firewood bundles. There was a propane station and an ice machine near the office as well.
The laundry room was on the side of the office building and had 4 washers and dryers. Although there was not a coin machine in the laundry room, you could get quarters at the office. Washers were $2/load and dryers $1.50/load.
The bathrooms and showers were located on the backside of the officel. They are separate though: women’s bathroom on one side, individual shower rooms in the middle, and men’s bathrooms on the other side.
We enjoyed the walking trails. The trails go by a little creek and we saw some small crabs and turtles.
There was WiFi available. The signal was pretty spotty where we were. However, they do offer routers to borrow. These are on a first come basis. We were finally able to get one with only 2 days left in the trip, but it made a big difference! The speeds were a lot faster plugged in.
The campground was close to grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, and several parks. Charleston was about 15-20 minutes away. The Costco and Walmart were within 2 miles. It was in a pretty convenient location.
The night before we left, we found a postcard on the door reminding us of check-out time.
COVID Review: Masks were required in the office. The office staff was friendly and always had them on. However, employees working outside (including those that show you to your site) and other campers really didn’t wear masks.
RV Sites: Pull Through, Back-in (mostly gravel, saw a few concrete pads)
Pop Up Tents/Gazebos/Outdoor Rugs On-Site: No stakes allowed in the ground due to underground wires
Amenities: picnic table and fire pit at sites, some upgraded sites had a grill, cable, two playgrounds, pool, rec room/camp kitchen, little library, corn hole, dog park, bikes for rent, paddle boats and kayaks for rent, ice machine $2/bag, firewood $7/bundle (although after taxes/fees it came to $8).
Cabins: Yes
Tent Camping: Yes
Full Hook-ups: Yes
Amps:
Pool: Yes, not heated
Food On-Site: No, but camp store has a few items
Camp Store: Yes
WiFi: Yes. Routers provided at office, first come first serve, to help boost signal
Accepts Mail: Yes
Fishing: Yes, no license needed, catch and release
When we booked this campground (The Oaks At Point South) several months ago, it had good/okay reviews. When we looked at it again on our way in, it now had horrible reviews due to mud and ruts. We tried to find another campground, but they were all booked. We were told it was the busy season, as Georgia’s summer brings bugs and flies.
When we checked in, there was a packet with our parking tag and the site map in the red box at the driveway. They were doing a no-contact check in. The reviews were right, it was very muddy and our site had deep ruts from where someone must have gotten stuck. We had gravel in the middle of the site, but the hook-ups and where our truck would have to park were very muddy and did not have gravel. TIP: If you do stay here, go slowly once you are off of the highway. You turn right by the Waffle House!
The site was a little small for us. The truck fit, but we had to park very close to the RV. We couldn’t really put out the master bedroom stairs and use that door. We put our rain boots on before we set anything up, which helped a lot.
After a couple of days, the mud began drying up. Ben and the boys once again put on their rain boots and stomped down the ruts to fill them in. We bought several bags of gravel from Walmart to cover the spot with. It wasn’t perfect, but at least we left it better than when we got there.
Some of the roads were tight. The roads were definitely single lanes, but were not dedicated as a certain direction. Garbage was to be placed in the dumpsters. The campground did have a laundry room with 4 dryers and 3 washers. Washers and dryers were $1.75/load. There was not a change machine in laundry room. It seemed like they really wanted you to use the app. A third party was in charge of the washers and dryers, so when one of them ate my quarters, I had to call the company, as the office said they couldn’t help.
The campground was close to a McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Waffle House, and a couple of gas stations. It was about an hour to Savannah, GA, Hilton Head, SC, or Charleston, SC.
The map (both online and the one we were given at check-in) stated there was a vehicle washing station; however ,when I check with the office, they said there is not one but you could wash at your site. It was not recommended, as it gets muddy easily. The campground has a lot of trees, which would make for nice shade in the summer, but also has your car covered in bird droppings and pollen. We found a few car washes nearby, but they were pretty expensive. We finally found a do-it-yourself one near Tybee, which cost us about $5.
The horseshoe pits and putt-putt looked run down and like they hadn’t been used in a long time. I was told they were closed by the office. The walking trail to the ponds was really nice and we got to see several small alligators and turtles, as well as lots of frogs at night. The footbridge located on the map is still there, but not in great shape, so I would be careful using it. It was a dead-end path, so we preferred walking the loop around the ponds. The walking trail was the highlight of our stay here!
Walking trail images. Bottom right corner: foot bridge
The walking trail also leads to the next-door KOA, which has a coffee and wine bar called The Swimming Mermaid, which is open to the public.
We would not stay here again. It was very quiet and the walking trail was neat, but there was nothing else to do! The pool was closed while we were there. Mask wearing was not prevalent. We were 45-60 minutes away from the larger cities. There are several campgrounds closer to Savannah, including some state parks, that had great reviews. We were trying to make the most of our Thousand Trails membership and I think we missed out on finding a great campground.
Sorry, the boys forgot to do their video at this campground.
SUMMARY OF CAMPGROUND:
Our rating: 2 out of 5 hitches
Cell Phone Reception: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile
Laundry: Yes, $1.75/load
Bathrooms/Showers: Yes
RV Sites: Pull Through (grass/gravel/mud), a few looked like back-ins
Pop Up Tents/Gazebos/Outdoor Rugs On-Site: Nothing stated in rules at check-in, but we saw a few around.
Amenities: picnic table, cable (our hook up was wrong), dog park, pool (closed while we were there), walking trail to ponds, firewood for sale $7/bundle, community fire pit. There were only a few sites that had a fire pit of their own.
Cabins: No
Tent Camping: Yes
Full Hook-ups: Yes
Amps: 30/50/20
Pool: Yes
Food On-Site: No
Camp Store: No
WiFi: Yes, in Clubhouse/Office
Accepts Mail: Yes, packages. No 1st class mail. Will not accept or sign, it just gets put outside the office door.
General: The Thousand Trails RV Resort in Orlando is a huge campground (I believe they told us it has 1000 sites). There are several ponds on the campus (map had alligator warnings). It is located off of a busy road, but close to grocery stores. The campground interior roads were nicely paved. The newer section had paved sites, but WiFi was listed as not available there. Most sites were grass/sand. We had a 50 amp site, although our bonus 20 amp plug at the electric box did not work.
COVID: Mask wearing was a problem. Our escort to our site wore a mask, but the gate staff did not (had it on, but wore as a chin strap/neck warmer). Very few people wore masks unless it was inside.
Check-in: Check-in is at 12:00, preferably at 12:01 (per the front gate). We were there at 11:50 and told we had to turn around and come back. We got there at 12:04 and had a line of at least 18 in front of us. The check in lines were huge and took up the entire 1/2 mile driveway. To check in, you enter the campgrounds driveway, give your name to the front gate, proceed to the Recreation Building’s parking lot, check in and get the campground map/book, wait your turn and are escorted to a site. Our site was a corner lot, which gave us a little extra room, which was nice.
Noon time check-in line, daily occurrence. Waiting in parking lot for escort to site.
Review: This Thousand Trails location was much better than the other ones we have stayed at. They offered a few planned activities (Saturday donuts, Candy Bar Bingo on Wednesdays, walking group, knitting on Tuesdays, Poker, paid painting class, Food Truck Thursdays). There was no cable, but we were able to stream Netflix through our hotspot.
All in all, we enjoyed the amenities this park had to offer. Most of the sites in the park looked nice, although there were a few in the back that were really tight.
Amenities Food trucks. We did not get any even though it smelled delicious. The food truck employees and campground guests were not wearing masks nor social distancing.Recreational Building: library, mail room, store
They offered propane refill for $3.25/gallon (our standard 20lb. tank, like on a grill, is about 4.6 gallons).
There were also several birds, including sandhill cranes around the campground. They walked everywhere, but were not aggressive at all. We also saw a couple of gopher tortoises, which Nick loved.
Cell Phone Reception: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile (Internet on all networks worked, but did get spotty at times.)
Laundry: Yes
Bathrooms/Showers: Yes
RV Sites: Back-in
Pop Up Tents/Gazebos/Outdoor Rugs On-Site: Yes
Amenities: picnic table at site, playground, dog park, pool, shuffleboard, pickleball, basketball, horseshoes, checkers/chess, mini golf, Saturday Donuts, some planned activities. Community fire pit (although not allowed while we were there for fire danger?), library/book exchange
Cabins: Yes
Tent Camping: Yes
Full Hook-ups: Yes
Amps: 30 or 50
Pool: Yes
Food On-Site: No, not all the time. (They had food trucks come in on Thursdays. There are some food items in the camp store. There was also a restaurant on the map near the office; there were cafeteria style closed windows that may be a restaurant but it was closed while we were there.)
Camp Store: Yes
WiFi: Paid, free in common areas (per office staff)
Accepts Mail: Yes, but no 1st Class mail (no mail fee)
For our visit in New Orleans, we wanted to be close enough to walk into town. Parking can be a pain in the rear, especially with a truck, and New Orleans has limited free parking (even a lot of street parking is paid parking).
We stayed at the French Quarter RV Resort. It is outside of the French Quarter (on the other side of Rampart, the dividing line), but within walking distance to things. Most places were within a 20 to 30 minute walk, and Cafe Du Monde in the Quarter was a 22 minute walk. The RV Resort was on one of the bigger streets and by the highway, so we didn’t have to try to navigate around the French Quarter (which really would not work with bigger RV’s). Being so close to the highway made it easy to get to places, even if New Orleans loves one-way streets and U-turns.
French Quarter RV Resort in relation to the French Quarter. Outlined area is the French Quarter (per Bing).
Everything in the RV Resort was paved/cobblestone. It was mostly flat, although we did have to adjust a little. There was a lamp post between each spot with a number for the site. Each site was a 20/30/50 amp with full hook-ups and cable. The connection boxes were cute and also had a light around the top. All spots were back-in. There were not garbage cans around the park; you put your trash by the lamppost and someone collected it. There was a dumpster outside the gates. Each site had a little bit of grass and/or a palm tree (not enough for shade). Each site had a bump-out of sorts for vehicle parking. We fit without a problem.
Map of the French Quarter. Campground Map and TV guide.
Behind the office was the pool area. The pool was open, although it was not heated. There was also a hot tub and several lounge chairs and other seating in the pool area. The pool area also granted you access to the gym (had snack and drink vending machines), breakfast area (microwave, table/chairs, free coffee), laundry room, bathrooms/showers, and the pool and hot tub.
The laundry room could also be accessed from the campground street. The washers and dryers were some of the more expensive ones that we have used: regular sized washer $3.25/load, larger washer $4.50/load, and dryers were $2.25/load. The washers and dryers only accepted credit cards. There was a sign on the washers that said no American Express. There was not a vending machine for detergents/dryer sheets, so bring your own supplies (or there were several grocery stores within walking and driving distance). TIP: If you use laundry pods, I found that they did not dissolve on cold water cycle here. Sometimes they worked on warm, and on hot they dissolved. We ended up with several items with the pods stuck on after they went through unnoticed in the dryer. It is not fun trying to get a dried on laundry pod off of your clothing.
Pool, Breakfast area, bathroom/shower, gym, vending machines in gym roomLaundry room
They do accept mail, which made it really nice since we had some things we needed to order. However, they will not hold mail that arrives before your visit, so I would wait until you are there to start ordering. There was a spot for outgoing mail (envelopes/postcards) on the office counter.
FQRV was tucked into its location. Claiborne Ave and I-10 run along the entrance of the park. St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 and a processing plant was on one side, with a park on the other. The lot on the backside of the campground was under construction. It looked like they were building either a hotel or apartment buildings. It could be a little loud from air (helicopter/plane) and street noise.
The campground was gated and you needed a code for the car gate and the pedestrian gate. There was a night time security guard, although from our experience you still need the gate code to get in as you do not get an identifying hanger for your rear-view mirror. Due to its location (being near the highway and downtown area), it was not in the best area. However, the walls, entrance gate, and spikes on top of the walls, made us feel safe inside the campground. The underpasses frequently had homeless camps as well. The campground does recommend not walking back in the dark, and I would agree with that. If we were going to be out late, we drove. There were Ubers/Lifts/taxis around as well.
Although the campground did not have a camp store or restaurant, DoorDash and UberEats did deliver to the campground, you just needed to meet them at the gate.
The office had a book exchange shelf and tourist brochures by the poolside door.
WiFi is available, although it was listed as available mostly to the common areas, not through the campground. We were close enough to the pool/office, that we could get the signal. It was spotty at times though.
One con for us was the price. This was by far the most expensive campground/RV resort so far. When we booked in January 2020, we knew it would be more expensive as we were going over part of Carnival season. We paid half at booking and would pay the other half the day of check-in. However, when Mardi Gras was cancelled, the campground did not adjust what they charged us (even though the other days were more expensive due to Carnival/Mardi Gras season).
For our stay in Tucson, Arizona, we stayed at the Lazydays/Tucson KOA.
There were so many different kinds of sites to pick from: full hook ups, covered sites, sites with an outdoor fireplace, grass sites with a fence for dogs, tent sites, pull-through and back-in sites, and cabin rentals. The lots were gravel with a small paved parking pad for cars/trucks. It seemed to have plenty of room at each site. The sites also had some type of outdoor seating, but that also varied per site. There were fruit trees scattered around the campground. We saw limes, lemons, grapefruit, and the boys think they found an orange tree.
This campground had lots of amenities: 2 pools (heated) and a hot tub, laundry room, office store (mostly souvenir type stuff), office had pool table/bookshelves/shuffleboard, 2 bathroom/shower buildings, a gym, restaurant (sit down or would deliver to the pool or your RV), pond with bench seats, a bike course, putting greens (I would not call it putt putt, but the boys had fun with it), pickleball courts, WiFi (no streaming), cable (bring own coaxial cable), playground. There was also a tortoise, although we never saw him. The office also had the clubs, paddles/balls for the outdoor games. By the office was a large patio with outdoor seating and fire pits. If you wanted a fire at your site, you could rent a fire pit from the office as well. The gates closed at 7:00 pm, however you could still get in through the main entrance. You had to buzz or call in and have them open the gates.
Garbage was placed at the end of your site. You could also get a recycling bin from the office.
Laundry was the most expensive of the campgrounds so far, $2.50/load in the washer or dryer. There were plenty of machines and we didn’t have to wait. We had two loads, so it cost us $10. There was a change machine in the laundry room.
The campground did a nice job with having a variety of planned activities. While we were there it ranged from breakfast (coffee/juice, danish/muffins) to friendship bracelets to yoga. The activity list was posted in the office and laundry room.
There was some train and plane noise. Most of the plane noise seemed to come from military jets.
Arizona does require masks, so in the campground staff and guests must wear masks indoors.
The campground was well maintained. I would stay here again if we were in the area.
For our time in San Diego, we stayed in Chula Vista at the Chula Vista RV Resort*. This is a RV Resort; so there were RVs only, no tent camping. (*NOTE: This site closed in 2021. They opened a larger resort close by.)
Chula Vista is in a great location a little south of San Diego. It was close to highways for easy access to San Diego and grocery stores. The closest grocery store was less than 10 minutes away. There are a ton of Costcos in the San Diego area. Most of the beaches and attractions were within a 30 minute drive. Los Angeles was about 2 hours north. Chula Vista was also close to Tijuana, Mexico (we didn’t cross the border though due to COVID).
There were lots of amenities at Chula Vista RV Resort: an office store, a laundry, a heated pool, a hot tub (closed-COVID), a putting green, three horseshoe pits, two community charcoal grills, a fire pit, a nice sitting area by the bay with chairs, two bathrooms/showers, a fenced dog area, and a dog wash.
The laundry room had 8 washers and 10 dryers. It cost $1.25/load to wash and $1/load to dry. The coin machine was in the office. There was a small fenced dog area and a seating area with glider chairs by the laundry room. We often sat in the glider chairs while waiting for the laundry to finish.
The office sold ice (always a crowd pleaser) for $2.16/ 7lb bag. They also sold a variety of convenience type items: RV essentials, some groceries, and a few souvenirs/postcards.
You can get mail sent to the Resort as well. We loved this option. I even managed to sneak in a few Christmas presents (gotta love Amazon Prime)! The mail is sorted and stacked in the courtyard behind the office. It is covered, so we didn’t have any problems with weather while we were there.
Chula Vista is a gated RV resort, so the front gate locks around 7:00pm. There is a night guard on duty, so you had to call if you needed in after hours (or to get out before the gates open). There is also a gate code for the bathrooms, and the pedestrian door leading out to the bay.
This campground was really great at maintenance and garbage collection. There were garbage cans situated every few RV spots. If you had recycling, you just placed it at the base of the garbage can and they would collect it. I saw them coming around multiple times a day to keep up with everyone’s trash collection.
They also offered weekend events. These varied from food trucks, to drive by Happy Hour (a guy playing a guitar and singing on the back of a truck that drove through the campground), $1 donuts on Sunday mornings, light up bike parades (they also offered the lights for sale before the parade).
We were very excited to see what they did for Halloween, as campgrounds are normally known for being very festive at that time. However, due to COVID, they cancelled trick or treating through the resort. They did come up with a replacement event with some games, crafts, and caricatures. This event was lots of fun for the kids. They had bag toss into pumpkins, ring toss, pop the balloons while blindfolded (the balloons had a piece of candy inside), and an egg balance walk (while mummified in RV grade, toilet paper). The caricatures were amazing. We talked to the artist for a little bit. He was a math teacher who also does caricatures. His name was Scot de Pedro (email is [email protected], shared with permission).
Although many people ahead of us took off their masks for the caricatures, we kept ours on. We thought it would be a great marker of the times we are living in.
The one slight negative of the resort, which they can’t really control, was some air noise. While there was not a lot of street or harbor noise, there was a lot of airplane and helicopter noise. It seemed like the helicopters were the main source of noise and they seemed to fly over frequently at all times of the day/night. (It was close to the Naval base and to the US/Mexico border.)
We stayed at Chula Vista RV Resort for a whole month. So we got the monthly rental rate, but we also had to pay an electric rate. Their rate was $0.22/kwhr. We managed to rack up a $200 charge for electric.
We really enjoyed this campground and would stay here again. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of regulations when it comes to calling yourself a RV Resort. In our opinion, Chula Vista lived up to the title.
Instituting a new campground rating system based on trailer hitches.
Chula Vista rated a solid 4 out of 5 hitches.
SUMMARY OF CAMPGROUND:
Our rating: 4 out of 5 hitches
Cell Phone Reception: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile
Laundry: Yes
Bathrooms/Showers: Yes
RV Sites: Pull Through, Back-in
Pop Up Tents/Gazebos/Outdoor Rugs On-Site: No
Amenities: picnic table, community fire pits, fenced dog area
Cabins: No
Tent Camping: No
Full Hook-ups: Yes. 30/50 Amps
Pool: Yes, heated
Food On-Site: When we were there there was food truck once a weekend and Donuts on Sunday mornings. There is a restaurant within walking distance.
We had not stayed at a Thousand Trails campground yet. It had been a long process to get our pass. There also were not TT campgrounds near the middle of the country.
We were looking forward to making use of our pretty pricey membership. We got to the campground and picked our spot from the ones that were still available. (With Thousand Trails you reserve a spot, but not a specific site.) The 50 amp sites were an extra $3/day. I would say roughly 3/4 of the sites were 30/50 amp and 50 amp sites. It was conveniently located to the highway and there were plenty of stores within 10-20 minutes. The Strip was about a 20 minute drive from the campground.
The other plus was that the staff was always present and seemed polite and nice whenever we interacted with them. There were three sets of bathhouses/laundry facilities. You could also get mail delivered there and they held it in the office for you. They had a pool which the kids really enjoyed. It even had the lift chair to get into the pool, a bathroom, and outdoor showers. They had an ice machine for $3/bag. There were two horseshoe pits and a activity room. (Link to the boys’ Campground Tour video.)
Now, onto the not so great stuff.
WiFi costs extra. We had our hotspot and phones, so we were ok. I’m not sure if that is all TT or just this location.
The spots were tight and harder to get into. I am glad we had an end spot or it would have been really difficult. It seemed run down. Bushes and trees were trimmed and there were sprinklers for areas of grass, but there was just a general run down feeling. Our site had cigarette buts and even a rusty screw laying around on the ground.
The garbage bins were often overflowing. There were lots of long term residents with run down or broken cars and RV’s.
The spa (hot tub) was off limits, but there was still water in it and it was just poorly roped off.
It was between two busy roads. The wall near our spot had barbed wire on top. There was a lot of airplane and road noise. About 2-3 in the morning it sounded like people were drag racing. Almost every day.
Checking into our spot: Electric box, hose hook up
The area is not one where I would walk to anything. There were several things nearby (a donut shop, Boulder Station casino, etc) that were less than a mile from the campground, but I definitely did not feel safe walking in the area. I didn’t even walk around the campground by myself. The campground is walled in and has a gate at the front, but it is a gate that is easily walked around. There were also several homeless camps nearby. We saw someone arrested on the street in front of the campground entrance.
If we were in Las Vegas again, I would look further north of the city where the nicer areas are for a different campground. The staff seemed nice, but the area was not. Some of the things like road and airplane noise are out of their control, it’s based the location and maybe at one time it was better. But some things could be improved around the grounds.
SUMMARY OF CAMPGROUND:
Our rating: 2 out of 5 hitches
Cell Phone Reception: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile
Laundry: Yes
Bathrooms/Showers: Yes
RV Sites: Pull Through, Back-in
Pop Up Tents/Gazebos/Outdoor Rugs On-Site: No, not enough room
The boys and I still woke up early so that they could attend their “live” classes. We snacked on the donuts that we picked up yesterday from pinkbox. Everyone’s favorite was the DoughCro (a croissant/donut). Ben had taken a vacation day, so he finally got to sleep in.
Pretty good donuts. The pink one is funny, but it really is just a lot of icing piped on top of a regular donut with a glaze/shell over the whole thing.
Today was pool day! We were all excited to go swimming. The pool opened at 9:00 am and was operating at 50% capacity due to COVID restrictions. Once capacity was reached, there was a waiting line to get in. If you leave the pool area and it is at capacity, you would need to wait in the line to get back in. However, if you book a cabana, then you can come and go all day long. Masks were also required in the pool area unless in the pool, eating/drinking, or going directly into/out of the pool. There were staff members at exits with disposable masks for people as well. I did see a few stop people who were just walking around or sitting on chairs and give them masks to wear.
We had reserved a cabana for the day on the Mandalay Bay Beach lazy river. Ben had always wanted to try a cabana and it definitely helped with social distancing. The boys also still had school so it gave them a place to do their school work in the morning. Although we had prepaid, you still had to check into the cabana by 11:00am or give them a call to let them know you were going to be later. We packed up, checked out of the hotel room, and headed down to the pool area a little before 9:00. We brought the boys’ computers and the hotspot so they could continue with their classes.
We chose a cabana on the end to help with even more social distancing. The cabana had a loveseat, a table and two chairs, TV, towels, 2 inner tubes, a mini fridge with included Pepsi/Diet Pepsi/water/bucket of ice, 2 lounge chairs under an umbrella, and a safe. Food and beverage service was available for an extra charge.
Tipping and charges were a little different than what I was expecting. There was the cabana charge and the cabana host tipping option (they were the ones in the blue shirts). We didn’t really interact with them much. One person showed us to our cabana and another replaced the waters in the fridge towards the end of the day. The people in red were the food and beverage servers and were a separate charge and tip. We saw our server multiple times during the day, as she checked in on us quite frequently. She was very friendly. We ordered a frozen drink (Miami Vice 22 oz, souvenir plastic cup, $28) and an order of chips and guacamole ($11, way over priced for the amount we actually got). The drink was very tasty! The guacamole was good, a little spicy, but the chips seemed a little stale.
The main pool area had a walk up food/drink service as well, but it looked like the same menu.
There were a few restrooms around the different areas, but not specifically changing rooms that I could see. There was an outdoor shower area to rinse off the sand from the beach. The entry walkway also had a beach shop, but it had very limited gear. I had not not been paying attention when I packed my swimsuit and accidentally grabbed two bottoms. I stopped in the beach shop to see if they had any bathing suit tops. It only had tiny bikini tops and small one-piece suits, no larger swim tops/shirts. (Seriously, I tried on a top and there was no way I could swim and stay in it. I ended up just using my swim skirt bottoms with my bra and top.) Video: Walking Around The Mandalay Bay Beach pool area.
The lazy river was also operating at 50% capacity. When we got there in the morning, there wasn’t a line to get in, but towards the afternoon it got crowded and you did have to wait in line. There were times it was just a sea of people floating past us, so we took a dip in the Wave Pool to avoid any crowds. NOTE: You can also bring your own inner tubes for the lazy river as long as they are round, no rafts. There is a fill up station near the lazy river entrance. Video: Traveling Along The Mandalay Bay Beach Lazy River.
The lazy river was a decent temperature. It was a little cool when you first got in, but I quickly adjusted so it wasn’t bad at all. The Wave Pool was freezing. It would have been really funny to watch everyone’s faces as they got in the water, but I’m pretty sure I had the same “Holy Cow, this is cold” look on my face.
NOTE: The walkways are very slippery if they are wet or even just walking with wet feet! Go slow. The Wave Pool also goes off every 90 seconds, I believe.
The campground had a laundry room, pool and hot tub, and fenced in dog area. There were also waste bags along the fence line for dog clean up. It seemed like it had a good layout. The boys made a YouTube video of the campground.
Top: shower/bath house, pool, office
The pool is nice, with a few fountains off the side shooting in and a basketball hoop. The pool is not heated, so it will cool you off on a hot day. The hot tub is off to the side of the pool. There is a changing/bathroom and an outdoor shower in the pool area as well.
The office was small and only offered a few things for sale, although they do have brochures for local attractions. They did sell ice for $2.75/bag (City Market, aka Kroger, had for $1.99/bag with loyalty card) and also had some individual ice cream items (most were $1.75). The office closed at 5:00pm. They do lock the ice after hours, so get any ice you need before then. There was a spot on the office desk for outgoing mail. TIP: There is a small holder of postcards on a shelf for $1/each of area landscapes with the Milky Way. You can get these for free in various Biz Card holders around town (Two places that I know of: McStiff’s Plaza-outdoors on side of wall near right side of their parking lot and Red Rock Bakery-inside towards the back). There was also a lounge attached to the office, but was closed for COVID.
The campground offers Wi-Fi and cable. We didn’t have much luck with the cable, just a few channels, and the WiFi was the standard campground kind.
The laundry room was nice. It was even air conditioned! There were plenty of machines and there was a change machine in the room as well. A wash cycle cost $2.25 and the dryer $1.50.
The shower/bathhouse was amazing. It was the nicest one so far. There were separate rooms that contained a toilet and shower with locking doors.
I believe the campground is all RV spots, with most sites being pull-through. We had a 50 amp site, which we definitely needed in the heat to run both A/C units. No tents/gazebos/pop-ups are allowed. There are trees and grass at each site. The trees help a little with the heat. We had an end of the row site, which was great for parking, but meant that we only had shade on one side. If you wanted more shade, I would try to get a spot further in so you get trees on both sides.
Each site had a picnic table with a concrete pad that sits right next to your RV steps. No fire pits or grills are provided in the campground. Utah also had fire bans going while we were there.
The campground is close to town (7-10 minutes), Arches (15-20 minutes), and Canyonlands (45-60 minutes depending on traffic). There are several grocery stores in town, although pricing seems a little higher here than back home. We mostly shopped at City Market (Kroger) for the fuel points and coupons.
