Has anyone ever stayed in the Cabins?

Has anyone else experienced bad problems with KOA?

• I have stayed at many KOAs in Florida and a few in Georgia and Tennessee. The ones not in Florida were excellent, for value, service, and attitude. Most of the ones in Florida so far seem to bite big time. I had one in Lake City that was "on a lake" (the lake was mostly dried up and had 8 foot weeds growing everywhere, couldn't see the water), one in St Augustine acted like a Russian boot camp and would only rent the paddle boats between 1 PM and 5 PM, if they felt like unlocking them: On our trip, they said they weren't for rent because they had a tour bus comming in. What? One in Orlando (Lake Wippoorwill) advertized one-room cabins, but they aren't cabins, "they are hard-shell tents", and one KOA in Mims, FL says wood fires are not allowed, not even in the BBQ pits because it is against State Law, when the real reason is so they can charge a $100 deposit plus a daily rental fee for a "portable fireplace". Other KOAs deliver firewood. Has anyone else experienced KOA problems?

• Answer:

  I'm not sure where Lake Wippoorwill KOA is and I 'm from Orlando. If that's the one on US 192 next to Sams Club, I toured it for a review and found it unacceptible, mainly for lack of shade. We stayed in one of those wooden tents in Seffner, FL. My wife couldn't hold it through the night and had to use the trash can for a potty. The problems you mention is one of the reasons I try to stay anywhere else than KOA. We traveled to Alaska and back, from Brooksville, Florida, last year and stayed in a few KOA's, most we will never stay in again. Ocala KOA was $50+ several years ago, for what? being with-in 90 miles of disney? We found one in Souix City, SD that wasn't open yet they let us stay the night, very nice people. Farther up the road, in Wyoming, we couldn't get decent electric and left. On our way back one in Great Falls, Montana was $30 a night higher than any other campground around. Somewhere near Bismark, ND we stayed in one that was barely large enough for our 35' motorhome, no place for our towed. We have seen those nickle & dime you to death campgrounds and they aren't just limited to KOA. You must really watch yourself out there. We are in the planning stages of a return trip to Alaska for next year and you can bet there won't be any KOA's in our trip. We plan on a campground every five days on the way up. WalMart and Flying "J" fuel stops will be our campgrounds for this trip. Good luck and happy camping.