Hershey, Pa. RV show this coming weekend - RV-Dreams Community Forum

CJSX2fromCT · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hershey, Pa. RV show this coming weekend

cavalry6869 · RV-Dreams Community Member

I know my wife and I will be there on Saturday morning.

Lets get moving · RV-Dreams Family Member

We will be there Thursday thru Saturday.

Ran n Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

We should be there from Wednesday through Sunday.

Bobc · RV-Dreams Family Member

We will be there Thursday through Saturday also. want to narrow down our options for our future full time home.
Hit list
is
Exel
lifestyle
DRV
Heartland ( LandMark)
New Horizon
Forks

last 2 may be too expensive and heavy for us, looking for something between 39'-42'
want to keep the truck, no bigger than F-550 or Dodge 5500 with a hauler bed ( was hoping to keep it to a F-450 but don't think that is going to happen)

is there anything else we should pay attention to for full time use for 5th wheels

we are 90% sold on our new home being a 5 Th wheel

We will look at a few motor home put have never seen anything in a MH that is as homey as the 5 th wheels

the entertainment areas just don't look comfortable to me for the long term . Don't want to always be watching TV at a angle .

jjm219 · RV-Dreams Family Member

We will be there Sunday just to look. We just got our temporary 5th wheel. Can't buy the long term one until the house sells. Six months on the market and no offers yet.

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bobc wrote:

New Horizon
Forks

last 2 may be too expensive and heavy for us, looking for something between 39'-42'
want to keep the truck, no bigger than F-550 or Dodge 5500 with a hauler bed ( was hoping to keep it to a F-450 but don't think that is going to happen)

is there anything else we should pay attention to for full time use for 5th wheels

You can pull most New Horizons with a Dodge 5500. They are a very capable truck and probably my number 1 choice at the moment in the pickup class. You should be able to pull almost any 43' or less NH with that. It will depend on the weights of course, which depends on your options more than anything else. The 450 is not a "player" in the heavy trailer segment because of the pitiful rear GAWR.

As far as the expense goes - the saying "you get what you pay for" is pretty valid when looking at RVs. In both the Forks and the New Horizon you are paying more, but also getting more - including the ability to TOTALLY customize the coach. If you do not take advantage of the customization capability you are likely better off with a DRV or a Lifestyle. IMO.

marianne57 · RV-Dreams Family Member

We'll be there Friday and Saturday. Picking up our new Grand Design Solitude on 9/25 but our dealer is going to be there representing Grand Design. Last year we never got to look at vendors inside we were so busy looking at all the campers getting more and more confused, so this year we'll check out the vendors as well. Have fun everyone!

The Restless Youngs · RV-Dreams Family Member

We're going on Sunday!!! We found last year it was a lot less crowded on Sunday....hoping that's the case again this year!!

jrzygrl64 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bill and I are probably going Sunday as well. Will probably spend more time on vendors this year instead of RV's since we already have ours!

marianne57 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Is anyone camping close to show or is everyone traveling?

RickandJanice · RV-Dreams Family Member

We will be going Wednesday and Thursday for sure, don't know about the other days yet. This is our first time to the show so not sure how much time we will spend there each day. We are camping at the Thousand Trails Hershey Preserve which is about 20 minutes from the Giant Center.

Lets get moving · RV-Dreams Family Member

We don't have a rig yet so we are camping in a hotel 😉.
We will be there Thursday and stay till Saturday. It would be fun to get together if anyone is open to that. Maybe a drink or dinner after hours one of the evenings?

French Bikers · RV-Dreams Family Member

We went last year and for someone that is looking to buy there is a lot of choice. Before going I read that you should plan at least 3 days and I think it's realistic, wednesday and thursday or great not too many people, friday the crowd is growing saturday it is the worst and I don't know about sunday. According to their chart saturday is the day that they get the biggest crowd. They have good seminars inside of the arena. Before I forget food and drink are expensive for what you get. The Hershey chocolate factory tour is a must to do. In our case we are planning to attend the Tampa RV show in january. House will be on the market next february hoping to start FT in sept or oct 2015 and attend the fall rally in Michigan.

Jean

-- Edited by French Bikers on Tuesday 9th of September 2014 01:59:55 PM

Tashinhurst · RV-Dreams Community Member

We are going for the weekend and staying at the Hershey Park Camping Resort. We made reservations late and were surprised they still had sites left. After researching a bit I found out that the park is sandwiched between a quarry and railroad tracks. We probably won't get any sleep but we'll be close to the show.

jcordar2 · RV-Dreams Family Member

We just got back from the Hershey show and had a blast! Wish we could have stayed longer! We spent most of our time at Heartland, Evergreen, and DRV. We were a little bummed there were no Excel Limited's there. At any rate, the DH wandered through the DRV MS 39DBRS3, sat down and said "this is the one!" This is the same guy who told me all last winter "nothing over 39'"! We both loved it. Also really liked the Landmark Newport but the cc was only 2200, plus the 7,000 axles etc. Overall DRV had everything we wanted. Now we just have to wait a year or so until we can find a used one......and start the research for the truck to pull it! Hope everyone has a great time!

Bobc · RV-Dreams Family Member

Also at the show today.
Went to DRV. Disappointed there were no Elete suites.
Was also disappointed I the DRV units that were there. I was expecting more for the money.
Loved the New Horizon. Just have to get over the extra money
Even thou more money there seemed to be more value for the money spent with the NH.
Also really liked the Forks, but way to heavy for me.

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bob, there will be an Elite at the HDT Rally, as well as a Forks show model, and probably 2 other new customer-owned Forks that you can see. Also, our new 2015 New Horizons will be the show model for the Rally. It has a more contemporary interior than the NH show model you saw. It also has a LOT more options that may interest you.

The two customer owned Forks units will be more contemporary than their show model. Spacecraft will also have a display unit at the Rally. There will be a number of other NH units at the Rally you can see, as well as at least one used one (2012) for sale. PLUS you are 1.5 hours drive from the factory and a factory tour. Well worth the expense to go, plus you will learn about tow vehicles..AND have a great social time.... :)

-- Edited by Jack Mayer on Friday 12th of September 2014 04:32:10 PM

Bobc · RV-Dreams Family Member

3 major concerns for us with HDTV. First we have never driven one, 2 the wife would never drive it, 3 cost of up keep would be much higher.
After to day at the show and again talking with Cole for a long time and crawling around under the show model for a while I think New Horizon is going to be our first choice

Bobc · RV-Dreams Family Member

Just back from the Hershey show.
Went to finalizes our search for our future full time home
IMO here is hope we came away rating them

#1. Great rig, very well built with lots of detail. Was surprise to see the pricing the same as New Horizoning, I was expecting them to be even higher than NW ( problem for me is the weight, all most 5,000 lbs heavier than the NH) We have to rule them out because of the weight.

#2 New horizon also a great coach built to last a long time, great detail, you can tell a lot of care goes into these coaches, and great people to deal with. If we were ready right now to buy these woul be our over all choice. But not ready to buy until the spring.

#3. DRV And this is a distance 3 mind you, I was looking for a Elite suite but was disappointed to not see one they only had a Estate and a couple Mobil suite. I was also disappointed in the quality that I saw for the money.They were good but but not even close to the first 2 , just a different league..

#4 Exel, Landmark,trilogy,etc. these guys were way behind even the DRV IMO. Not even close.
All had good points but IMO to Many negatives for full time use for me.

Over all we had done a lot of research before the show and so we spent a lot of time looking at the details.

Now I understand that there is a big difference in the cost of these units. But over a 5 to 10 year period of full time use the cost will seem small with the advantages the NH coach will give us over that time. All this is just MO for our needs.
Sorry for the long post

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bob,

You didn't mention a brand name for #1. Was that Forks RV, by chance? I think you had mentioned that as an interest to you in an earlier comment or thread.

I'll agree that you should be disappointed that you couldn't see a DRV Elite Suite. If you had, your third choice might not have been so distant. If you happen to get to see one at a dealership, I think we'd all like to get your opinion then.

Terry

Bobc · RV-Dreams Family Member

Sorry about that yes 1 was Forks

IMO Fork and NH were very close. But weight for the Forks was a killer for me.

So fare what I see of DRV newer units is that they are going in the wrong direction. Is is no longer the same unit they were building a few years ago. Again still good and better than most. But they look like they are coming back to the pack and really depend on there dealers to fix the stuff they don't want to take the time to get right in the first place. Just my opinion.

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bobc wrote:
3 major concerns for us with HDTV. First we have never driven one, 2 the wife would never drive it, 3 cost of up keep would be much higher.
After to day at the show and again talking with Cole for a long time and crawling around under the show model for a while I think New Horizon is going to be our first choice

You can drive one at the HDT Rally. Mine for sure, and others.

You wife can be taught by other women how to drive an HDT. It is not hard. I also give lessons to women.

Cost of upkeep is not any higher than an F550. I know - I have owned both. I average around $1000 a year in upkeep, over a 12 year period on 2 HDTs. That includes oil changes. Consider that an HDT will last your lifetime - you cannot say that about an LDT. Get the facts before making decisions. After you get the facts you might decide that an HDT does not work for you.