Motorhome Rental?

[amateurfishing]

wife is already starting to plan next years family of 5 vacation to Yellowstone via black hills. while the new dodge is plenty roomy for such an excursion I wanted to brainstorm the idea of a motorhome rental. with 3 kids under 10, thought fridge, extra sleeping room, toilet, etc would be great perks to have whenever the need arises while still lodging at a hotel or whatever especially when we r hearing nightmare stories bout 2 hour waits in construction zones for these busy travel areas during summer in this part of country.

but also finding out 16-20ft vehicle is not cheap (or even reasonable IMO) to rent one for a week. 1 grand plus gas plus mileage, etc adds up to 2 grand really fast @ 10mpg.

am I missing something? do ppl really spend this kind of extra coin on vacation to ride in something with these perks? I was trying to do it for extra space for 12 hour drives, give us all little more moving around room while on the go, and not have to worry bout any "personal" emergencies while in a 2 hour construction zone wait.....or went renting one people just expect to sleep in them as well and not stop at hotel or lodge.

would love to hear from anyone that has rented one, get tips on what requirements to look for, best places to look at etc. not looking for anything special like t.v's, entertainment packages, or any big extras, but just table, fridge, toilet, & minimal sleeping quarters for kids to rest in on the road.

thx for any advice or input.

[Ufatz]

Rent a suitable motor home and use it as your transportation AND your lodging. Begin adding cost of lodging, food and fuel and you might find that a suitable motor home rental is not so outragious as you first thought. But you will need to make reservations in the appropriate campgrounds well in advance and you will have to bone up on how to drive and handle a motorhome, how to operate its systems and how to get the most out of it.

IF you take the time to plan it properly and make the right reservations you will have an enjoyable and interesting trip. Yellowstone and the Black Hills are VERY busy in the summer. But everybody should see them at LEAST once in a lifetime. Can't recall the number of times I've wandered through Yellowstone Park and will do it again soon.

Also, allow as much time as you can-if you begin chasing a schedule you will ruin it for you AND the kids.

Oh. One more thing: if you can, persuade the kids to put away all the devices, gadgets,toys and communications whiz-bangs while going through the parks. Perhaps they will see and understand more.

Have fun.

[nofishfisherman]

I think the point of renting an RV/motorhome is to use it as your lodging as well as transportation, thats the only way it makes sense. Renting an RV and using all that extra gas just isn't practical if all you want is a little extra room while driving.

Like Ufatz said if you plan to use it for lodging as well the price starts to make a little more sense. When you are likely looking at $200/night on hotels for a week thats $1400. Plus the RV allows you to stock up on food which prevents having to stop for lunch everyday. For a family of 5 thats conservatively another $30/day or $210/week. Now you're up to $1610.

You'll still need to reserve and pay for a spot at campgrounds along the way so you'll eat into that $1610 but it still becomes more financial viable.

If you are set on staying in hotels I'd probably skip the idea of the RV, save the money and put it into nicer hotels with more ammenities.

[amateurfishing]

im sure it would be comparable if sleeping in it but think we will need more space than that, kids may start to get a little clostraphobic in there and Yosemite not the place to "learn" rv'ing, will probably just take the new family vehicle & search out rental homes

[Biggerfish]

Rented a 24 footer 2 years ago and did the Yellowstone/mount Rushmore thing for a week with the family. Also try to get to the Grand Tetons just to the south of Yellowstone. You will not be disappointed.

Was the best trip we ever took. Kids had a ball and ask all the time when are we doing it again!

Even if costs a little more it is worth it. DO IT....

[Scott M]

Great thread. There's a place in Lonsdale that rents out RVs. Flat rate plus $0.25 a mile. Seemed to me if you had enough people it would be worth it, but the whole point is to give everyone some room. I've also seen rentals for cheaper on the list. But without some insurance or other piece of mind, I'd be nervous.

[traveler]

16 to 20 ft is gonna be way small for a family of 5, we just got back from an AK 10 day trip, 4 of us in a 31 and I wouldn't have gone much smaller, maybe down to a 28 or so but thats about it. I've never checked prices down here, but with an early booking special our trip came to about 2,400, so 240/day all told. Hotels or cabins are expensive up there, so I figure we were slightly ahead of the game when we figured in the $$ we saved eating "in".

GREAT advice above about (extremly) limiting the kids electronic gadgetry. We did, and our kids are 15 and 20! Told them there was no way I'm paying to take you to Alaska just so you can be online/texting/whatever. You wanna go, you agree to my conditions up front:) They did...and a great time was had by all:)