How early to arrive for good rv camping

We have been going to sun n fun in Lakeland, Fl for over 15 years. This year we plan to attend oshkosh for the first time. We were thinking of staying the whole length of the show (Monday to Sunday i think it is) but I have heard from a few sources that it may be necicary to arrive a few days before the beginning of the show to get a campsite in camp scholler. We definately want to be camping on site and not at some 3rd party campground and need to drive in and park our car each day. I thought I would ask some of the experienced airventure goers if they have any experiences that they could share that could possibly help us get an idea of a) how early should we arrive/secure a site in order to get a decent spot within the campground, and b) how early should we secure a site to be able to get a site anywhere camp scoller.
What are your experiences?
Electric and water would be nice if there happens to be something when we get there, but it seems as if they sell out weeks in advance and it would be expensive to reserve. Basic sites will be fine. But just want to be sure we will still be able to even get one of those.

I appreciate any inputs.

Thanks.

In 2019 I got there the Saturday before the show and it was packed with RV's trying to get in. That was also the year that the rain caused them to close Camp Scholler for several days. We tent camped and I got my credentials before they stopped giving them out, so we parked along the highway and hiked in to stake out some spots.

I have a feeling this year is going to be more crowded than usual. I would recommend getting there the Thursday or Friday before. Scholler is a giant campground though, so as long as you get there a few days in advance you will be able to find a spot, though it may be a distance out.

I am driving up that Saturday but will be camping in the North 40 with my friend's plane. I hope you have a fun trip. Oshkosh is amazing but I want to warn you.... once you start going you will want to come back every year!

The Sunday before Monday might be more fun to watch arrivals. Skip the last Sunday if you want instead.
Normally spots should remain available near highway 41, I think. Just a longer walk.

We usually arrive Saturday before noon and that puts us 3/4 of the way to the highway. If you find a spot closer, ask yourself why it’s not taken. It’s probably a low area that’ll be ankle deep after the first downpour. You could try Thursday or Friday, but earlier than that and the law of diminishing returns kicks in. The best spots will always be taken by the rich folk who stake out their sites a month in advance. Forget about electric and water. If you don’t have it reserved now, you’re not getting it.

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Originally Posted by turtle

The best spots will always be taken by the rich folk who stake out their sites a month in advance.

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yes, it’s discouraging to arrive thursday and see huge estates marked out already

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Originally Posted by turtle

Forget about electric and water. If you don’t have it reserved now, you’re not getting it.

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This is not true. RSVPs for the improved sites will not begin until July 2 this year. It'll be interesting to see how soon they sell out. They usually have availability up to about a week or so before the show. Just might sell out sooner this year, although they did add quite a few sites.

Thanks for all the good insight.
Sounds like Saturday might be the time to arrive.
I saw the airventure campground map but I did not see anything indicating the scale, maybe I missed it. But approximately how far would you say it is from the entrance of the convention area to the sites out by 41? 1 mile? More/less?
Just interested in a general idea.
Jeremy mentioned parking by someone with a plane, do they allow you to park an rv by a plane? We have a freind who may be flying in. At sun n fun they don't allow rvs by planes unless its warbirds. Additionally, at sun n fun they have additional areas to camp on the grounds outside of the main campground that aren't publicly advertised. (You'd have to ask about it) for example they have about 30 sites in the light plane camping area. Its typically where the volunteers camp but anyone with a regular camping pass can park there. When we arrive we may look into that possibility if they have anything like that there. That may be another good reason to arrive early so we can spend some time finding a good site without missing any of the show.
Thanks for all the great inputs.

https://www.mappedometer.com/

Zoom in on the campground, you can poke around and see how far things tend to be.

No RVs or cars in the North 40, which is GA camping. You can camp next to your plane in a tent though, which is what we do. My friend does some reporting work for the local chapter so he gets press credentials with a parking pass, which we use to park the vehicle in one of the nearby lots, usually the Warbirds lot.

Scholler is a HUGE place. They have shuttles that pick people up and take them to the front gate as well. But bring good walking shoes. Lots of people on bicycles as well.

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Originally Posted by Caleb1

Jeremy mentioned parking by someone with a plane, do they allow you to park an rv by a plane?

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But approximately how far would you say it is from the entrance of the convention area to the sites out by 41? 1 mile? More/less?
As near as I can guess from the last time I went, 2018 and I was only 71 and pre knee replacement, I'd say about 35 miles !!! After that trip, I got a Titanium knee !
Bob

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Originally Posted by robert l

But approximately how far would you say it is from the entrance of the convention area to the sites out by 41? 1 mile? More/less?
As near as I can guess from the last time I went, 2018 and I was only 71 and pre knee replacement, I'd say about 35 miles !!! After that trip, I got a Titanium knee !
Bob

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Robert, i looked at Google Earth and from an extreme location in the south west corner of Scholler, to the gate near the bicycle parking corral, it is about 1 mile, straight line. But remember that busses run thru there and take you to the gate. If you are camped at Scholler, you will not ever have to go the the "entrance to the convention" gate. You will get wristbands (maybe you have pre-ordered them) so no need to do anything but go thru the gate there. Maybe there is another one closer, but that gate is just south of the four main exhibit buildings (A, B, C and D).....I am planning on flying up but if I don't I will be camping at Scholler. We are pretty much the same age, but your titanium knee is probably better than my original equipment.

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Originally Posted by Inspector Fenwick

Robert, i looked at Google Earth and from an extreme location in the south west corner of Scholler, to the gate near the bicycle parking corral, it is about 1 mile, straight line. But remember that busses run thru there and take you to the gate. If you are camped at Scholler, you will not ever have to go the the "entrance to the convention" gate. You will get wristbands (maybe you have pre-ordered them) so no need to do anything but go thru the gate there. Maybe there is another one closer, but that gate is just south of the four main exhibit buildings (A, B, C and D).....I am planning on flying up but if I don't I will be camping at Scholler. We are pretty much the same age, but your titanium knee is probably better than my original equipment.

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Yes indeed Inspector Fenwick, my new knee is ssssoooooo much better than the original and is virtually pain free, just an occasional crack or pop and sometimes a little pain but I'll take it. Of course I was joking but my walking was cut way to short that year. This year I will be flying in with a friend in our 1966 Cessna 150f and camping with the plane, I can't take much of that either but flying in has been on our bucket list for a while so we're going for it. We haven't decided if we're going to camp in vintage or just where they put us. I will spend a lot of time in the ultralight and sport plane area, and of course hit the fly market, camp store and get a tee shirt or two. We aren't going to try to see it all this time, just keeping it low key. Thanks for info.
Bob

This is all good information. We enjoy biking and 1 mile is nothing on a bike for us. So probably won't be too bad.

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Originally Posted by robert l

Yes indeed Inspector Fenwick, my new knee is ssssoooooo much better than the original and is virtually pain free, just an occasional crack or pop and sometimes a little pain but I'll take it. Of course I was joking but my walking was cut way to short that year. This year I will be flying in with a friend in our 1966 Cessna 150f and camping with the plane, I can't take much of that either but flying in has been on our bucket list for a while so we're going for it. We haven't decided if we're going to camp in vintage or just where they put us. I will spend a lot of time in the ultralight and sport plane area, and of course hit the fly market, camp store and get a tee shirt or two. We aren't going to try to see it all this time, just keeping it low key. Thanks for info.
Bob

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Robert I will strongly recommend Vintage as a parking area. Close to ultralight field. Close to Tall Pines Cafe. You will be walking or bussing to the camp store. Tramming to light sport and fly market. Stop in the I-195 rows and say high.

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Originally Posted by Inspector Fenwick

Robert I will strongly recommend Vintage as a parking area. Close to ultralight field. Close to Tall Pines Cafe. You will be walking or bussing to the camp store. Tramming to light sport and fly market. Stop in the I-195 rows and say high.

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Well that works for me, I was wondering where would be the best place to camp, so Vintage it is. I'll come looking for you. Thanks
Bob

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Originally Posted by robert l

Well that works for me, I was wondering where would be the best place to camp, so Vintage it is. I'll come looking for you. Thanks
Bob

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Don't forget to print out a VAC sign. You can get the artwork for that on the EAA website. What I do is I use the other side of the sign for the VFR sign which you will need on your departure. The link to the sign artwork is on the first page of the NOTAM.

Larry

Kickin' up an older thread, but wanted some input.

We camped in VAC this past year, which was South 40. Holding up a VAC sign did nothing to get you close by. It just got you to South 40 instead of North 40. :(

To quote my buddy about camping with the airplane; "I am never doing that again.". So, we bought a 5th wheel. :)

What I gather is that unless you pay for a water/electric site on July 2nd (or whatever date it is in 2022), you won't get a water/electric. (True or False?)

So, how many days in advance to get a close in spot?

Thanks!
Chris

Yes, you must pay per day from when you start the reservation and yes the water/electric site reservations can fill up quickly. Since it all depends on when the many campers go online and make their individual booking I doubt anyone can predict when the availabilty closes for next year?

If you've already read all the posts in this thread and similar other ones you probably have a 'fair' idea how many days in advance of opening you need to grab one up for that 5th wheel? Personally it's why I book MY little motel room over a year in advance.

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Originally Posted by CHICAGORANDY

Yes, you must pay per day from when you start the reservation and yes the water/electric site reservations can fill up quickly. Since it all depends on when the many campers go online and make their individual booking I doubt anyone can predict when the availabilty closes for next year?

If you've already read all the posts in this thread and similar other ones you probably have a 'fair' idea how many days in advance of opening you need to grab one up for that 5th wheel? Personally it's why I book MY little motel room over a year in advance.

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Roger, Randy! Current thought is we don't want to pay thousands ($2-3,000) for water/electric. We will run suitcase generators in parallel.

Thinking maybe a late Thursday/mid-day Friday is a good guess at this point. Will get a spot, we can evaluate "how good" and adjust for 2023! :)

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Originally Posted by cbrown9064

Roger, Randy! Current thought is we don't want to pay thousands ($2-3,000) for water/electric. We will run suitcase generators in parallel.

Thinking maybe a late Thursday/mid-day Friday is a good guess at this point. Will get a spot, we can evaluate "how good" and adjust for 2023! :)

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I brought my camper out on July 2nd for a non-electric site. Got a great spot up in the woods, just behind the exhibition hangars. I flew back in on the Friday before the start (22nd). Campgrounds were packed. If you were arriving with a big camper on that day, you would have been in the South-East 40 of the campgrounds.

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Originally Posted by cbrown9064

Kickin' up an older thread, but wanted some input.

We camped in VAC this past year, which was South 40. Holding up a VAC sign did nothing to get you close by. It just got you to South 40 instead of North 40. :(

To quote my buddy about camping with the airplane; "I am never doing that again.". So, we bought a 5th wheel. :)

What I gather is that unless you pay for a water/electric site on July 2nd (or whatever date it is in 2022), you won't get a water/electric. (True or False?)

So, how many days in advance to get a close in spot?

Thanks!
Chris

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This past year (2021) we arrived Saturday before the beginning of the show, and they said that the water/electric sold out on the prior Wednesday (5 days before the start of the show). Of course it will be different each year but based on that its probably not going to be necessary to purchase in early July to get a water electric site, a week in advance might make do.

Even if you get a site far away, rv camping is definitely better than the aircraft camping for the fact that you can bring a bicycle in an rv!

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Originally Posted by Caleb1

Even if you get a site far away, rv camping is definitely better than the aircraft camping for the fact that you can bring a bicycle in an rv!

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If you have a DC-3, you can bring a bike AND airplane camp. It's settled, you'll get a DC-3.

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Originally Posted by mazdaP5

If you have a DC-3, you can bring a bike AND airplane camp. It's settled, you'll get a DC-3.

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Ah yes, a DC3. I'll have to pick one of those up.

DC3 or Piper Cub, you still can't ride your bike on AV grounds.

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Originally Posted by steve

DC3 or Piper Cub, you still can't ride your bike on AV grounds.

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Since the North 40 is separated from the show grounds, you can get away with a bike to get to the showers or over to museum, etc...

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Originally Posted by cbrown9064

Kickin' up an older thread, but wanted some input.

We camped in VAC this past year, which was South 40. Holding up a VAC sign did nothing to get you close by. It just got you to South 40 instead of North 40. :(

To quote my buddy about camping with the airplane; "I am never doing that again.". So, we bought a 5th wheel. :)

What I gather is that unless you pay for a water/electric site on July 2nd (or whatever date it is in 2022), you won't get a water/electric. (True or False?)

So, how many days in advance to get a close in spot?

Thanks!
Chris

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Probably good to explore both ways of camping, I much preferred the atmosphere of plane camping. Schoeller is an absolute zoo and it’s still a long ways to the showers. A fifth wheel might get you around that, but you’re still going to put up with about 2 million motorized contraptions of every type and volume going by from around 5 a.m. to midnights. Either way is the price we pay for the aviation experience.

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Originally Posted by cbrown9064

Kickin' up an older thread, but wanted some input.

We camped in VAC this past year, which was South 40. Holding up a VAC sign did nothing to get you close by. It just got you to South 40 instead of North 40. :(

To quote my buddy about camping with the airplane; "I am never doing that again.". So, we bought a 5th wheel. :)

What I gather is that unless you pay for a water/electric site on July 2nd (or whatever date it is in 2022), you won't get a water/electric. (True or False?)

So, how many days in advance to get a close in spot?

Thanks!
Chris

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South 40 is actually more GAC. "South Fondy" is just a very far away part of vintage. A VAC sign by the way gets you nothing except perhaps the full Gilligan unless your plane is actually old enough to qualify to park in Vintage.

I've been arriving on Tuesday before the show for years. Plenty of spaces at show center then.

Since I didn't make it this year because my walking radius now is only a mile and not 3.75 miles as I had hoped for, I'm looking for a service that uses M-114's for trams? 160 hp Chevrolet power is where I began with my own car in 1957. Yeah, the nose stuck out a bit. But it was eminently air liftable for SVN. (reference? Hunicutt "Bradley")

This was a time when there were goals to use "commercial engines" instead of the Continental and Lycoming radials and major inline air cooled engines. I also rode in a school bus with the high school band that used an Allison four-speed automatic. This was a Hydramatic with a very hard shift. Would it tear up the road at Osh-Kosh? The M-114 was not very big.

Like all of my posts this is not a "I'm telling you." this is a "You tell me." I have never used head phones. My father was an amateur radio guy on 2 meters and 10 meters and then 75 meter phone in his 49 Plymouth and then 1953 and 1957 Ford station wagons. Static? Heterodynes? But not controlled airfields. The MS_FS 2020 has tried to take me through Class B and Class C airspace as well as filing clearances for takeoff and landing. What you might notice if you have been involved with airborne use of fighting vehicles is the M-114 began this concept for the U.S. Army but it wasn't alone as in 1969 a Indonesian Fighter Pilot who was an exchcnge with the USAF showed me a Soviet propaganda film on Motorized Rifle Divisions and combined Arms use of tanks, fighting vehicles and helicopters including armed helicopters. That led me to the Pentagon one day to pickup computer printouts of all the loadouts for the Rapid Deployment forces and the marine Expeditionary battalions. I needed them to define the engines that ended up on the C-17 as it evolved from the YC-15 STOL and the C-141. Hark! is that the crackle of a 265 cubic inch Chevrolet? Can you get to the Viet Namese flower shop and avoid the smell of a Texas Gulf shrimp trawler?

So...initially figured on arriving with truck/trailer on July 21. Now thinking of flying the Bonanza out on July 15thish, and "staking out" a spot to arrive on July 21-22...