Thousand Trails Member Discussions

[DanZemke]

There used to be an active TTN (Thousand Trails Network) Yahoo Group.  But activity plummeted when Yahoo decided to phase out their free Yahoo Groups.  Earlier this year, all Yahoo Groups were replaced by Yahoo mailing lists.  Instead of showing discussions about a particular topic, each post resulted in an email to every member of the group.  For most Yahoo Group participants, that turned out to be cumbersome. So activity plummeted.  Tomorrow (12/15/2020), all Yahoo Groups/mailing-lists are scheduled to go dark.

The purpose of this post, is to start a new thread for TTN members.

[DanZemke]

Here's what I sent to all Yahoo Group TTN members:

I was uncomfortable about losing access to the most helpful community of TTN members I know of.  So I started a new topic for TTN member conversations on the Escapees website.  For those of you unfamiliar with Escapees, it's a club dedicated to RVing. There is no fee to use their discussion forums.  You do have to sign up, but in my experience (more than a decade), you won't get spam as a result.  Please consider becoming an Escapees member - I am.

Is the Escapees' website the best choice?  I think so.  I'm not aware of any other RVing website that would be superior.  

P.S. Yahoo provided me with a list of all of your email addresses.  I promised not to use it for any commercial purpose. 

Edited December 14, 2020 by DanZemke
clarity

[Barbaraok]

Since mentioning TT in this forum brings a deluge of negative commits and myths, this is probably not the place for it.   Isn’t there Facebook group for TT not involved with the company?  

[RV Spirit]

Thanks so much Dan for setting this up! Joining was a breeze:-)

Hoping to get back on the road in May, Covid-willing🤞

[Bill Joyce]

I have been using the RVillage Thousand Trails group for my posts.  

[Miket11]

Dan

Thanks for the information.  Sorry we lost the Yahoo Egroup

Mike

[Barbaraok]

5 hours ago, Bill Joyce said:

I have been using the RVillage Thousand Trails group for my posts.  

Yes, that would be a good place to ask questions.

[k4rs]

19 hours ago, Barbaraok said:

Since mentioning TT in this forum brings a deluge of negative commits and myths, this is probably not the place for it.   Isn’t there Facebook group for TT not involved with the company?  

Some of us refuse to use Facebook.  I am one of them.  It seems to me that discussion of an RV network on an RV forum is a logical match.

Now we are just waiting for the Covid-19 mess to abate so we can begin using our TT membership again.

Safe Travels (or not)...

[ToddF]

I would enjoy more TT discussions here. I will not use FB. I joined TT in Oct 2016 on the zone pass option. In Oct 2019 upgraded via a "used" Elite membership found on Ebay. I had 3 years to try out the system to learn that I loved everything about it. I managed to do a 5 week trip after Labor Day that was primarily all TT parks on my membership. Unfortunately, due to COVID 19 hitting home, I had to come back to MN after the 5 weeks. (I had planned to go another 8 weeks in Florida). Without TT, I couldn't do these long trips without spending much more $. But it isn't just the $. I like the parks, ease of making and changing reservations, FHU at many (not all), amenities, etc.

[Kirk W]

Would such a specialized forum need to be exclusive to Thousand Trails or might it be appropriate to get something like a membership RV parks forum? I doubt that we could sell management on a brand exclusive but if enough people support it I would think you could discuss any such park on a shared forum, since anyone could then start a TT specific thread as a subject. It would seem to me that there would be many things that are common subjects to any such park?

[DanZemke]

On 12/14/2020 at 5:09 PM, Barbaraok said:

Since mentioning TT in this forum brings a deluge of negative commits and myths, this is probably not the place for it.   Isn’t there Facebook group for TT not involved with the company?  

Barb,

I recall several mentions of a TTN Facebook group. But some folks, including me, will not use Facebook. Some of the posts above, appear to confirm this. I suspect that a focused Escapees TTN member specific thread, will draw fewer barbs.  If that becomes and unmanageable problem, we'll move to another site.

[DanZemke]

On 12/14/2020 at 5:18 PM, Bill Joyce said:

I have been using the RVillage Thousand Trails group for my posts.  

Bill,

I investigated the RVillage Thousand Trails group, based on your recommendation, a few months ago.  It seems to have a wider focus than the old Yahoo Group.  And it also seems to have a higher signal to noise ratio, for TTN members, than I wanted. 

From the RVillage website: "A group for people interested in, or members of, Thousand Trails.  Share your favorite preserves, ask questions about the memberships, talk about the latest news.  While this is a positive group, legitimate concerns are welcome."  

A prime motivation for trying to migrate members of the Yahoo group here, was that I was uncomfortable with losing the ability to actively collaborate.  If TTN tried to do something that harmed many TTN members, without a means to collaborate, we would be impotent.  I don't anticipate that will happen, but want a viable path for negotiation if it does.

[DanZemke]

31 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

It would seem to me that there would be many things that are common subjects to any such park?

I agree, there would be.  But the Yahoo Group was focused on TTN members.  IMO, for those members, adding all membership camping alternatives would just add noise.

I really didn't want to do this, but no one else stepped up to the plate.  I'm trying to help migrate members of the largest (by far) membership camping organization to a new discussion home.

You have better contacts than I, with the Escapee's organization.   Can you set a 30 minute sniff test meeting for you and I with the right people?  I'm OK with a conference call, or Zoom meeting.

Let's take the next part of this off-line.  Private messages will work initially.

[ToddF]

The Lazy Daze owners use the following source for their forum:

 

https://www.elkarte.net/

 

It's been awhile since I've been active on https://www.lazydazeowners.com/.

It was a wonderful forum with great tech, no ads, no fees, and awesome group of people.

[ToddF]

Just got an email from Thousand Trails announcing the temporary opening up of 4 parks to ALL Thousand Trails Members, with 2 being age qualified (AQ=55+).

Cactus Gardens Yuma, AZ     AQ

Foothill Village Yuma, AZ

Sunshine RV Resort, South TX AQ

Breezy Hill RV Resort SE FL

 

14 Day Stay Max

Don't need to be on the "Trails Collection" to utilize this special offer good through 04/30/20.

 

From now to 4/30/2021, you can access Cactus Gardens (an age-qualified resort in AZ), Foothill Village (AZ), Sunshine RV (an age-qualified resort in TX), and Breezy Hill (FL) under your Thousand Trails membership. Upgrading your current Thousand Trails membership is not required to access these four properties. You may stay at one of these properties in a recreational vehicle up to a maximum of 14 consecutive nights. The booking window and time out of the system will be the same as your current membership. Reservations are required and can be booked on the Thousand Trails website under “your properties” in your Member Profile. Reservations at these resorts depend upon the availability of RV sites, and requests can only be confirmed if space is available. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that you will receive a RV site at any resort. Only a limited number of RV campsites (approximately 25 at each resort) are available for this limited time promotion. You must comply with the Rules and regulations of the individual property. For age qualified [AQ] properties, one member of your party must be 55 years of age or older.

 

[GR "Scott" Cundiff]

On 12/15/2020 at 7:04 PM, DanZemke said:

Bill,

I investigated the RVillage Thousand Trails group, based on your recommendation, a few months ago.  It seems to have a wider focus than the old Yahoo Group.  And it also seems to have a higher signal to noise ratio, for TTN members, than I wanted. 

From the RVillage website: "A group for people interested in, or members of, Thousand Trails.  Share your favorite preserves, ask questions about the memberships, talk about the latest news.  While this is a positive group, legitimate concerns are welcome."  

A prime motivation for trying to migrate members of the Yahoo group here, was that I was uncomfortable with losing the ability to actively collaborate.  If TTN tried to do something that harmed many TTN members, without a means to collaborate, we would be impotent.  I don't anticipate that will happen, but want a viable path for negotiation if it does.

Can't help but mention that I actually wrote that description.  I started both the Thousand Trails and Fulltimers groups on RVilliage.  After a few months I lost interest in keeping them going and passed the leadership on to other, more interested parties.  I think that since then, the leadership has been passed along at least one other time.

For now, I continue to do blog reviews of Thousand Trails and other places we stay.  I also started a Facebook group focused on photos and reviews of Thousand Trails.  That group started slow but has now grown to over 800 members.  

[ToddF]

Scott, I love your Thousand Trails FB group. (Peeked via my partner's account). Wish I could be on FB but I can't deal with social networks. Lots of great pictures and reviews!

Edited December 19, 2020 by ToddF

[GR "Scott" Cundiff]

2 hours ago, ToddF said:

Scott, I love your Thousand Trails FB group. (Peaked via my partner's account). Wish I could be on FB but I can't deal with social networks. Lots of great pictures and reviews!

Thanks Todd - so many of these type of groups become places for people to come and gripe about not getting their own way about something.  By keeping the focus on photos and reviews the general "feel" of the group is more positive and helpful.