This was our site in Milton Florida for the winter of 2012-2013.
Another season comes to a close, and it is time once again to more on to new adventures. Met a lot of nice people here and made new friends. We were asked if we were returning next winter… the answer was sadly… no. It’s a great camp with lots of good people, but it all comes down to economics. We did not make much extra income this winter, over and above the required hours for a site and utilities. This summer we will be visiting Brandi and the girls… so no extra income there. Next Fall and winter we will need to supplement our income, as in more then just a few hours paid per week. The best place for us to do this is in Orlando. We have two Membership Campgrounds there just ten miles apart. Most workamping jobs require 18 hours of work per couple in exchange for the site… and this is perfect if you don’t have campground memberships. It doesn’t cost us anything extra to stay at our memberships… so if we work 18 hours per week at Disney or someplace else… all the hours we work are paid. Workamping is a great deal if you want to be someplace special and just work for your site, to have the benefit of being someplace you really want to be. So if it’s not something special, or only a little extra pay is involved, we are much better off staying in our Membership Campgrounds. Why work 18 hours a week for no positive benefit. Of course, we have workamped jobs were where we had the economic benefit of working full time (each getting paid 40 hours per week plus a free site) and it was someplace special we wanted to be, and we had great managers and fellow staff… so there are always many things to the plus, depending on what you are looking for. Workamping jobs basically have 3 categories of benefit. 1. Work for site only. 2. Work for site plus some paid hours, and 3. work for site, or site free, plus near full time work and paid for all hours worked. Different Rvers need different things at different times of the year. And there are still campgrounds that give you a free site plus all hours worked as paid. Something to soot everyone’s needs. So plans are in place for the next 12 months. Goodbye to new friends and coworkers… ya never know when our paths will cross again. Happy trails! Until we met again.
Having campground memberships makes this decision all the more critical when weighing the benefits. But, then again, our memberships are close to Disney and everything else. Plenty of places to work, places to enjoy, and things to do in the vacation capital of the world. Membership dues… yep, we pay about $1,000 /year (whether we use them or not). The two memberships potentially gives us unlimited use year round. Two weeks in one, two weeks in the other… on and on, and on. If we stay there 6 months, our cost would be $166/month (which includes electric), or about $40 a week. Plus on the other side of the coin, if we would work those same 18 hours a week, and get paid for every hour worked, verses working 18 hours for the site, that’s another $600 in our pocket every month. If we stayed there year round, our cost would be at $20 a week or $80 a month ( dues divided by weeks used )… and the +$600/month income gives us about $7,200 extra a year in wages to spend on things we want, and not used to get a workamper site in exchange. Easy math. So as things get economically tougher, the decision to workamp just for a site ( or with little paid hours) becomes more improbable.
Workamping can be a great thing, less to some, more to others depending on your wants and needs. For us, we need a couple of things to temporally leave our Membership Campgrounds in Orlando. First, someplace we really want to be, and workamping for more hours with less or no hours lost for the site, and always a plus, working with managers and staff we really want be around.
So, getting back to original question. Are we coming back? The answer is no… or certainly not likely… but things do change… ya never know. But this no doubt gives you some insight into Workamping and Membership Campgrounds… and the in’s and out’s of dollars and sense of it all.
Hello…. Mickey!
Headed for Pirates, Princesses, Castles, and Fireworks!
Now here’s another plus. Not only can we stay at our Membership Campgrounds near Orlando for about $40/week (based on 6 months)… also make $600/month for 18 hrs worked / week (verses loosing it workamping for a site)… Being seasonal cast members at Disney also gets us free admission to all four theme parks. That’s worth about $1000 verses buying annual passes. Plus, we get perks and discounts. Plus, once we have worked so many hours, we get passes for family and friends to get in for free… between the two of us, usually 52 passes for family and friends a year. Going to Disney, and sharing it with family and friends…. Priceless.
Maybe we’ll see y’all in Orlando someday. Now there’s a nice thought.
And if you ever thought about working at Disney… lets us know… we can refer you to make it easier to get a job there. Get those Mickey Ears ready.
Our E-mail is in the top post when you open this blog.
Happy Rving!
