EP8 - 2024 Flordia RV Super Show Guide

Link to the things we talked about: www.millersinmotion.com/links

RV Unplugged / Today is Someday Meet Up: https://todayissomeday.net/tampa-meetup

Rv YouTuber Meet Up (Wayward Waggs, Brazen Brits, Our Everyday Getaway, The ROADsmiths, This is our Adventure) :
Session 1 (5pm - 7:30PM) - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rv-youtuber-meetup-session-1-500pm-to-730pm-tickets-757521877327?aff=oddtdtcreator&fbclid=IwAR2DUetPqlk_dcHB3qy_GJU67k5Pt0VgkzpwBC3mJNPbI3zUgDc13DYbgs8
Session 2 (7:30PM - 10pm): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rv-youtuber-meetup-session-2-730pm-to-1000pm-tickets-757910620067?aff=oddtdtcreator&fbclid=IwAR0W0FrP9tJx3JQMcEHt-Gq-HYk0Ts2H32ggJ6Q-ei9m3HKmzoVkMMZYUbY

Imagine yourself navigating the vast world of the Florida RV Super Show, surrounded by the latest and greatest RV models, meeting industry experts and influencers, and learning about the RV lifestyle. That's exactly where we, Ryan and Lauren of Millers in Motion, found ourselves, and we're here to share that incredible experience with you in this podcast episode. From comparing and contrasting RV floor plans to unearthing hidden gems among the vendors, we're giving you a front-row seat to all the action.

Would you believe us if we said you could meet your favorite YouTubers, podcasters, and even industry experts all under one roof? At the Florida RV Super Show, that's not just a possibility, it's a reality! We delve into the rich and diverse community at these shows, highlighting the opportunity to make meaningful connections and participate in exciting meetups. We also share heartwarming charity events like Phil and Stacy's Homes for Heroes meetup and RV Unplugged's sponsored meetup. But there's more to these shows than just socializing and charity - we uncover the wealth of resources available, from practical products to campground memberships and travel planning tools.

Now, attending such a massive event can be overwhelming, and that's why we've compiled the ultimate survival guide for RV show attendees. We discuss the importance of setting goals, prioritizing your interests, and making the most of your time. We also share tips on accommodation options, from the popular Super Rally and boondocking in the parking lot to nearby campgrounds and hotels. Plus, we talk about the importance of staying hydrated, taking breaks, and above all, enjoying the experience. So, buckle up and join us as we take you on an exhilarating journey through the Florida RV Super Show.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:11

Welcome back to the RV shenanigans podcast. I fight not saying unplugged every time every time. I'm Ryan.

Speaker 2: 0:19

I'm Lauren, and together we are Millers in motion. We are enjoying a new season of life in our Alliance Valor toy holler and taking you along for our mini adventures and this week we are coming to you, still from Texas.

Speaker 1: 0:31

I promise this is probably one of the last shows.

Speaker 1: 0:34

I think it's also a little bit almost Christmas time, so hopefully you either are about to or just had an amazing Christmas and we are Florida bound here pretty fast warm weather, beaches or central Florida, whatever you speak in my language now there we go we when we first got into RV life and picked our first rig when we were at the 2022 Florida RV Super Show and we realized that if you've never been before, or even if you have been and don't really know what to do when you have no interest in buying an RV, that there wasn't a whole lot of like audio guides out there right, tons of YouTube videos that it's. It's hard to encompass everything in just one video, so we wanted to put together kind of a guide our tips, thoughts and any fun things that we noticed in the couple years we've done it. So we're going to take a quick break and we're going to start talking about the Florida RV Super Show. So, first of all, it's obviously called the Florida RV Super Show. It's put on by the Florida RV Association.

Speaker 1: 1:44

They put on a bunch of shows in this area, but the Florida RV Super Show or Tampa I'm using air quotes because if you're not watching, this is kind of the premier event for them I would argue it's one of the premier events as far as the RV industry is concerned that everybody can attend. Sure, there's RV open house in Elkhart, but not everybody can attend. That's really just media and dealers and the other two just briefly, being the Hershey Pennsylvania show. It's known as the world's largest. I would argue it's probably about the same size as this one, but that's fine, oh we're going to ruffle some feathers there.

Speaker 1: 2:22

That's fine, whatever it's, I think, a lot of manufacturers that shows highlights, because they release a bunch of new floor plans in 2024 but you can't necessarily buy them yet. Then you have the Florida RV Super Show, which all those things have settled on. The 24s are rolling off and it's really your first opportunity to not just see some new floor plans but actually purchase new floor plans. And then you have the third guy, which, of the big ones, is kind of that other stepchild that's over there on the West Coast and that, being court site, it can hold its own. The problem is it's literally like right after Tampa and so it's tough for everybody to get all the way over there.

Speaker 2: 2:58

So it is, and I think it has a little bit of different attendance as well, so you'll get a little bit of difference there.

Speaker 1: 3:04

But anyways, that's why that is the smaller of the three. So okay, this year's show or 2024, I guess technically is not this year's show, but the next one coming around is January 17th through 21st of 2024, which is still weird to say.

Speaker 2: 3:19

Fun fact, it's usually during Ryan's birthday, which is January the 19th, we get to celebrate every time.

Speaker 1: 3:24

So if you're gonna be there, I expect presents and cake.

Speaker 1: 3:30

I do like cake, I'll take cake pops. That counts. So we wanted to talk about kind of the RVs. If you're there for an RV, some tips around what you're trying to look for and maximize your time a little bit about some of the community, some of the vendors that are there, because there's a whole bunch of not I mean it's all kind of RV related, but there's a few things that aren't necessarily an RV. That's there. They also have educational stuff and then some lodging, depending on how you're planning on staying so that's right.

Speaker 2: 3:59

so if you've never been and would like a little bit of info, we're here for you, and if you want to go in a different capacity, we're gonna give you some different ideas.

Speaker 1: 4:05

And if we don't answer your question for some reason by the end of this show, do us a favor and shoot us a note. There's a link down below to our website. There's a little contact us form at the bottom of that. Shoot us a note, we'll be happy to answer it. So, all right, let's dive on in. Of course, where do we start the RVs? That's what most people are there for, or the reason why they're there. For us, it's the reason why we're there, more than picking one out. But to say there's a few RVs would be a massive understatement.

Speaker 2: 4:34

Massive, yes. So many manufacturers, so many floor plans. There's so much to look at. It can be a little overwhelming, but kind of in a fun way sometimes.

Speaker 1: 4:43

It is.

Speaker 2: 4:44

Unless you're trying to do something businessy and needed to stay focused, that can be a danger.

Speaker 1: 4:48

I don't know what you're talking about.

Speaker 2: 4:49

Yes, so the first time that we went we actually wanted to be in a couple different floor plans.

Speaker 1: 4:55

Couple.

Speaker 2: 4:55

And hey, we narrowed it down to about a dozen.

Speaker 1: 4:58

After how many?

Speaker 2: 4:59

Yeah, let's not start there but and we wanted to be in a couple of our top contenders and kind of see how traffic moved and how we felt and just kind of put our eyes and hands on it mostly and be able to do it in sequence, because some of these were at different dealerships here and we weren't able to do it quickly.

Speaker 1: 5:15

I was about to say that's perk number one of an RV show, not just the floor RV soap show, really any of them, but Almost all the manufacturers bring almost every single floor plan they have at least they're predominant ones.

Speaker 1: 5:28

And so it's really nice to be able to look, compare a, to compare B. It's like being at the optometrist, but right after, like, you can go from from rig to rig. Plus there's so many people there, which it can be good and bad, but because there's people there that typically have been in these RVs or maybe they own the model you're in, we did this when we were buying ours. We asked people questions like well, what do you think of that? And they're like oh, it's great, but you got to worry about this.

Speaker 1: 5:54

Because, in RVing there's always a caveat. Always like we love our floor plan but we have to open our slides just a little bit to be able to get to our fridge.

Speaker 2: 6:01

That's it and for reference, when he says a lot of people, we're talking in the vicinity of 80,000 people in attendance every year.

Speaker 1: 6:07

Oh, over the duration of the show not all at one moment in time.

Speaker 2: 6:11

They come and go a little bit, but that is. That's a lot of people. You can get a lot of opinions in that time frame. You can.

Speaker 1: 6:16

So you have everything from pretty much every version of an RV you can imagine to obviously drivable towables. There's even a teeny-weeny bit of little tent camping going on.

Speaker 1: 6:27

Oh yeah, they've got like your teardrops and your your pop-ups, everything all the way up to your pre-vose, and spend more money Than I would ever hope to right, but it all comes back to the fact that you can see as much as you want to see in in one spot. So if you're actually looking to make a purchase for an RV, whether or not it's the best time to buy, I'm gonna stay out of that conversation.

Speaker 2: 6:50

That's a whole different show price.

Speaker 1: 6:52

Yeah, show pricing versus. You know Regular discounting pricing. Are you getting a better deal? You're not.

Speaker 2: 6:57

I.

Speaker 1: 6:58

Depends on the dealership depends on what we're talking about. That's very loaded so, but as far as making a decision, you can really fine-tune what you're looking for and even like go sleep on it and come back, mm-hmm, and I will say there's nothing saying you have to buy from the show now. If you so inclined, they will be happy to sell it to you.

Speaker 1: 7:16

They will be happy to take your money but just know to if you're ever going to an RV show. You're not typically buying that RV, nor would I actually recommend you buying that RV.

Speaker 2: 7:25

Yeah, because those 80,000 people just went through it.

Speaker 1: 7:27

Yeah, and they break things and the kids touch stuff. And so it's just. Yeah, it's kind of chaos. So you're typically purchasing a version of that RV or ordering it right, depending on your specs and what you're doing. So but yeah, like Lauren said, there's everything from super fancy pre-vose all the way down a little teardrops that are very inexpensive. So One of the cool things you can do is typically you get to see manufacturers that you wouldn't normally see at dealerships either.

Speaker 1: 7:53

Exactly so you're gonna have like new horizons, new horizons. Is there who? They're a custom manufacturer, so they have not really. You just kind of tell them what you want, they figure it out. Spacecraft is there they have some generalized floor plans but then they adjust from there. They typically only bring one or two rigs because there's not a reason to bring a ton, because it is so custom. But you can at least see build quality, those types of things.

Speaker 1: 8:16

Oh, and, like the Lance campers, I forgot about those they even have the truck by campers, yep, and there's different versions of them too.

Speaker 2: 8:22

So I'm just imagining all kinds of fun.

Speaker 1: 8:25

Yep, there's Are we could. I mean, really, the reason that anybody truly goes is because of the RVs.

Speaker 2: 8:31

I have a test for you. This year. I want both of us to go into one of the B plus fans and put that theory to the test. Oh boy, we just bought one of the biggest fifth wheels that we could, yeah, and he says we, he thinks we could be fine in a B plus and I'd like, I'd like to put that to there's okay for starters.

Speaker 1: 8:49

There's a lot of caveats when you say there are.

Speaker 2: 8:51

I know I'm giving him a hard time.

Speaker 1: 8:53

Are the dogs coming? Are all your clothes coming or just a normal amount of clothes coming?

Speaker 2: 8:58

Good question.

Speaker 1: 8:59

Yeah, so to go along with the RVs, there's all the stuff you need. You always need stuff, need or want needs. There's a, there's some need. Don't get me wrong, it's gonna say I bet the sewer hose is a need. That's a need. Water hose is a need. There's there's a handful of things that are needs wheelchocks, but there's a whole lot of water.

Speaker 2: 9:18

There's a whole lot of wants, things you didn't know you could want.

Speaker 1: 9:21

I Actually very surprised on how much stuff there really is or how or can be related because you have in the accessories land or Vendor areas. It's everything from our friends at the NRV TA doing their home study guide so they're selling knowledge. Was that weird?

Speaker 2: 9:39

always. You always find a way to make it weird but you are gonna have your standardized stuff.

Speaker 1: 9:43

You actually, I believe General RV does like an actual store, so like if you bought an RV you could literally go buy your sewer or is right there. Unless you're taking it, then I don't know why you would do that, unless it's just super cheap. But you can check out and ask questions of the manufacturers of all these accessories.

Speaker 1: 9:59

So, if you're a first time RVer or just looking to get something like. A hot topic thing for us this year is water filtration. We've always had just kind of minuscule versions of it and we really wanna up our game. So we stopped buying so much bottled water, cause we have plans to boondock and we just don't wanna have that much waste.

Speaker 2: 10:16

Right, and so you can do the things in that kind of land, or you can even go with things that are really wants, like golf carts, kayaks, et cetera.

Speaker 1: 10:25

I'm really impressed you led with golf carts.

Speaker 2: 10:27

I am, you know, I wanna say the cricket golf carts. I'm gonna go talk to them.

Speaker 1: 10:31

I'm does not surprise me at all. Cricket is a miniature golf cart you can fold. You could have actually put it on our more ride tray we had in our solitude the only way.

Speaker 2: 10:38

400 pounds. Yeah, I almost weigh 400 pounds.

Speaker 1: 10:42

I don't almost weigh 400 pounds and we're on a diet, so I will hopefully less, but yeah, and I think that's a cool thing, cause you can really dive in the stuff there.

Speaker 2: 10:51

You really can.

Speaker 1: 10:52

Yeah and understand it a little bit better from people that actually make the products. Cause sometimes you go and I'm gonna use like clear source water, like you can dive into the filters and go talk to the people that actually make that product Right and answer all your questions, versus maybe getting a sales person or a customer service representative, that like camping world style thing that really may or may not know. It's just kind of a toss up and get your questions answered correctly.

Speaker 2: 11:18

And the same is gonna go. They have a bunch of the big brands there, so you're talking more. I did the medic, the lipid, all those things who, and they all produce things, Some of which are definitely needs, you know, but some of them are more wants. But you're gonna get to put eyes on those things and ask your questions.

Speaker 1: 11:34

Well, I was gonna say too, and you can see the real life thing. It's one thing like we use more right as a great example, which we love, the guys over at more ride. It's hard to justify the trade. You really need the tray.

Speaker 2: 11:46

Yes, you always need the tray.

Speaker 1: 11:47

And I completely agree with her. The only reason we don't have one yet in our front pass through is because we're still trying to figure out where our batteries are gonna go. And once we know what that is and those are installed, then the tray is hopefully going in. Yes, absolutely and so. But to be able to touch it and feel it and actually see the quality in this scenario, or maybe see some things you didn't realize, you didn't know, so like we have our cord reel up front that I or not, cord reel, the the cord keeper, the cord keeper, that it takes your seven way pin connection to the truck and just kind of nice and neat, tucks it up without messing anything up Again one of those things that I didn't know I needed and it's so simple, but it's. You can put your hands on it and see the quality of the work.

Speaker 1: 12:30

There's all kinds of vendors. It's honestly too many to dive in everything. It's mind boggling really. It really is. I mean, there's even gutters, there's rain gutters. There's always the rain gutter guy at all these things. I don't know why and there's always like the cooking, the knife sharpener guy.

Speaker 2: 12:44

Always, and there's always a store designated to like pet supplies. Oh yeah, all the things you didn't know you needed for your dog and your RV, they have them. But you know, like the no spill or no splash water bowl, hey, if you need one of those, you can get it.

Speaker 1: 12:57

There you go, or a bandana.

Speaker 2: 12:58

Or a bandana.

Speaker 1: 13:00

But in addition to stuff you can buy, there's also a bunch of great resources there as well. So, for instance, like some of the bigger campgrounds are in the area, so maybe you didn't know about some of these locations or those types of things that you can really dive into, or the campground memberships, like the Thousand Trails, the.

Speaker 1: 13:18

KOAs those types of things, and so you can get a lot of questions answered because you're talking to them. Our friends at open roads are there. So open roads is typically. It's a fuel saving card. If you don't know what it is, If you wanna sign up for it and save yourself a little bit of gas money and buy us a little bit of gas, there's a link down below. But you can actually physically go talk to them there versus just talking through email or on the phone and kind of trying to figure it out that way. Some people just prefer that. Let's have a conversation right here, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 13:47

In addition, oh boy, but wait.

Speaker 2: 13:50

There's more.

Speaker 1: 13:52

I know that there's like some of the tech finder stuff.

Speaker 2: 13:54

Oh yeah.

Speaker 1: 13:55

Like the Caldwells, they have that where he's a tech and owns an alliance. So we've gotten to know him a little bit since we picked up our Valor. But they're there and they're kind of promoting their services that help you find techs, and so there's not just a bunch of stuff but there's also a bunch of information.

Speaker 2: 14:14

There really is, and, like you were mentioning, the campgrounds, the resorts, different things, and so if you're trying to plan your traveling, there can be some huge benefits to being there and seeing all these different options.

Speaker 1: 14:24

And speaking of traveling, it's like if you want to go to Alaska but, for instance, you don't necessarily want to even tackle the planning process, Cause it can be, I've started it, it's a lot, and, but there's tour groups that are there and so you can look and see when they're going. Does that fit with your schedule? At least get to know these people a little bit, because you might come back and go wow, they're really excited. I'm a little more low key, or maybe they're a little too low key. I need the ADHD guy.

Speaker 2: 14:52

Or maybe they plan to travel differently than you do, correct?

Speaker 1: 14:55

So it's really just wandering around and in addition to that and I'm going to throw this in there there's typically you're going to have your favorite YouTuber, podcaster, that might be in those booths with some of our, some of our friends, essentially that we work with. And so it's always an opportunity to come meet like us, and us get to meet you, and so on and so forth.

Speaker 2: 15:14

Well interacting through with people through podcasts and YouTube. Sometimes it feels a little one-sided because it's always technical. It's not. You know that face to face and everything.

Speaker 1: 15:25

Not that I enjoy talking to you right now or staring at that screen. That really is just us looking back at ourselves.

Speaker 2: 15:31

But it's nice to see people in person all the time.

Speaker 1: 15:33

I still think Phil and Stacy have the best answer of like what's their favorite part of the show. We asked them last year on a video this and I swear they planned this.

Speaker 2: 15:40

This was too smooth.

Speaker 1: 15:41

Well, I'm not even talking about that part, but they say each other at the same time. It's interesting. But they even say it's a time for them to actually get and to hang out with everybody in person, cause not everybody can go to their meetups or their campouts or those types of things, and so it's an opportunity to try and like just hang out with as many people as they possibly can.

Speaker 2: 16:01

And that's Right. Community is really big for a lot of our viewers.

Speaker 1: 16:04

And that's how we look at it too.

Speaker 2: 16:06

Speaking of community Wasn't that a good segue?

Speaker 1: 16:10

It's like it was planned, it really wasn't actually Community is a big portion of this, even if it wasn't more relevant. If you just show up for five minutes and see everybody going hey, hey, it actually um you can camp on the grounds and it's called the uh super rally and it's literally exactly what it sounds like. It's a mini rally, and by mini I mean massive um rally that they have on the grounds that you can go and camp there. Now we'll get into we have a lodging section of this and we'll get into the camping side of that.

Speaker 1: 16:42

but I know like, um, switch it up has like 25 to 35, something like that. I forgot what Todd said. Rigs that are there together and so they're doing one of their crew camp outs, because Todd and Sheila aren't actually right there.

Speaker 2: 16:55

An alliance will do one.

Speaker 1: 16:57

Let's say the alliance owners have a, have a group of them that are doing that as well. Um, I know the big motor home association has one as well. I think Integra has another one. All these associations do this, and then on top of that you have people that just sign up to go do it. We signed up to do it last year and didn't get to use it, but we wanted to have the fun with everybody else.

Speaker 2: 17:19

Well, they do so at and also just when you walk through the campgrounds. People just get together and they have dinner together and little fires and stuff. So even if they didn't come with a rally, they make friends while they're there.

Speaker 1: 17:29

Well, and I think, speaking on from like our experiences there too is, you know we meet so many of you guys and other creators and we make so many friends, especially in the creator space. We scatter for the most part. Occasionally we might see somebody else out but, believe it or not, it might seem like there's billions of YouTubers out there that do RV stuff. But you know we're close with a handful like our RV unplugged friends and we don't get to see them very often.

Speaker 1: 17:54

No unfortunately, and so you know, a lot of us have commitments at the show and so it's an opportunity for us to get together and see them and hang out. I know they're trying to get a dinner together with all the RV unplugged OGs or season one, because the season two is coming out pretty fast which is crazy so in addition to actually being there on site and seeing the community, you also can meet part of the creators.

Speaker 1: 18:22

There's a social media meetup section that's actually in the show, so some creators or YouTubers, or whatever you want to call it, actually book time. In that it's really close to the Alliance booth, or at least it was last year, I'm assuming. It's in the same place and Alliance is the same place, and so that's one way so they do meet and greets there.

Speaker 2: 18:40

I know a lot of other YouTubers also do, like dinners and those types of things and a lot of these will actually have charity, give back components, and so pay attention to that, because it may be five or 10, 20 dollars, whatever it is to walk in the door. Sometimes that'll include food, sometimes it won't. So make sure you understand what you're getting into and you don't get hangry like we did last year. But also, yes, they'll benefit different charities along the way, and so they're great causes and you're networking and meeting friends and all kinds of fun things.

Speaker 1: 19:11

And speaking of, there are specifically two that I want to call out. So if you are going to the Tampa show and you want to go to a meetup that's kind of an after hours dinner style thing there's two that we would actually say try and go to if you can, because they're both 100% going back to a charity of some kind. The first, and the one that I promise we're going to be at because we're on the website, is Phil and Stacy, from today, some day is doing their normal homes for the troops or homes for heroes, whatever the name of the charity is meet up. There's three sessions. It's actually at the Elks Lodge. We do it in conjunction with them there. It's sponsored this year by RV Unplugged. So for every dollar raised by ticket sales, rv Unplugged is going to match it Very cool.

Speaker 1: 19:55

And you're going to have some of the fun too, and that's going to be on January 19th. Also, that's my birthday.

Speaker 2: 20:00

That's his birthday.

Speaker 1: 20:02

It's on January 19th in the evening and it is, I know, from season one. It's RV blogger. So, mike and Susan us, chris and Martha from Venturesome couple, howard and Caitlin from New State, nomads, chris and Katrina from our everyday getaway. Am I missing anybody? Phil and Stacy, obviously, so, I believe, obviously, and so. Tony's going to be there, tony is the director, also from Tony and Todd. If you watch the NRVTA stuff, the beard and the bun show it's the bun. It's the bun. Doesn't have a bun anymore.

Speaker 2: 20:38

Confusion all around.

Speaker 1: 20:39

He'll be there as well. Obviously Phil and Stacy, because it's theirs. The other one is Wednesday, the 17th. Again, it's ticketed. It goes to a local military base charity.

Speaker 2: 20:51

I don't think they've picked it yet this one does require reservations, so just make sure, both require reservations.

Speaker 1: 20:57

So both you have to get a ticket before you go and space is limited so I'll put links to both of those in the show notes or the description below so you can pick and choose which one you want to do. But the one on Wednesday is being hosted by a slew they're just calling it the RV YouTuber Meetup, and that's hosted by Dustin Leslie, the wayward wags, Lawrence and Natalie Brazen, Brits. I'm trying to remember the other channels. I believe Chris and Katrina are everyday getaways doing that one as well. Road Smiths, Ken and Pam Smith, the Road Smiths and Joel.

Speaker 2: 21:28

Oh and Tonya.

Speaker 1: 21:29

Joel and Tonya from this adventure. I think I got that channel right If I didn't. Sorry, joel, but they're doing their own little meetup. Again, that's going to be at a brewery. I don't know if dinner was included. I didn't read that hard, but definitely check those out if you're looking for something to do. We're we have our own things. Like I said, we're going to be at the Phil and Stacey. So if you want to come see us, come to that. And then also we're doing podcast recordings. So when we're live we can't exactly talk, but in between the shows we can absolutely talk, and that's going to be in the Alliance booth.

Speaker 2: 22:03

So but don't worry, somebody is always willing to talk to you. When we were there for the first year, remember there were people that would actually go look at other rigs for us and come back and talk about them.

Speaker 1: 22:14

We employed people.

Speaker 2: 22:15

It's like camp for adults Like you're. There's no strangers. Everybody is very willing to talk about something, talk about common ground, ask questions, so that community aspect and you get a real glimpse into the RV community on the road.

Speaker 1: 22:28

When you see that, yeah, that's a great point, and if you're a first timer or a new timer that is looking to get into it, don't feel intimidated. Just to ask the question. Um, we said this in multiple videos. Uh, we witnessed a small travel trailer leaving the campground. We were not hooked up. They were and their ball came off and we stopped to try and help. And you know, if they just would have asked, I did obviously wasn't looking when they hooked up If they would ask they had the wrong size ball. So don't ever, don't ever hesitate to ask. That, Trust me, everybody wants to help and if you're nervous to ask, just pop your hood or get on your roof. Somebody will come ask if you need help.

Speaker 2: 23:02

Getting on the roof is really good. Everybody always asks.

Speaker 1: 23:05

Yeah, or wonder what you're doing Either one.

Speaker 2: 23:07

Hey, they stop and ask.

Speaker 1: 23:08

They do, especially when you're trying to get down off the roof. So, um, there is other components to the show that aren't necessarily stuff and things are meeting your favorite personalities. There's a whole education component to this thing.

Speaker 2: 23:23

And I think that gets overlooked so often, really, because there is a whole schedule. If you get on the website, there's a whole schedule of different seminars you can go to, and these are everything from your basics to different trips that are being planned, to really going into deep dives on some higher topics, and so they're all day, every day. You just have to look on there and see what exactly you want it to be. I think that, honestly, you could spend a whole I mean a whole day, maybe a whole week, I don't know, but you don't actually have to buy anything. And so if you just wanted to go talk to people for information and attend the seminars and attend the YouTuber meet and greets and talk to people, you could spend a lot of time there, gain a lot of information and not spend a dime.

Speaker 1: 24:05

Oh well, I mean, you're probably going to spend a small fortune in food. But yeah, essentially, yes, she's exactly right, and those seminars range from everything from like maintaining your diesel engine on it If you're in a diesel pusher or a big class A to another.

Speaker 1: 24:20

There's a cooking one, there's an RV in Alaska with one of the tour companies. It's all over the map. You can find all that information on the Super Shows website the seminar schedule, all of it is up there. So, in addition to that style of education, there's pop up stuff everywhere. And I say that in terms of like. If you just go like, if you want to learn more about RV suspensions, like the more right independent suspension, I guarantee someone will go talk to you for up to 30 minutes about it. Oh, absolutely. And so the education isn't just the blocked in seminars.

Speaker 1: 24:56

It's if you're interested in sumo springs, if you're interested in liquid springs for your truck, if you're interested in the independent suspension I'm fixating on suspension, but this goes for almost all topics.

Speaker 2: 25:06

It really does, and that's why these people are there. This is their opportunity to to explain their product, to sell their product and to answer your questions, so that you don't have to submit it through an email or call customer service. And so don't don't hesitate to ask the questions, because that's exactly why they're there.

Speaker 1: 25:21

Absolutely All right. So you're at the show, you're having all the fun, but now we got to get back to the should we or shouldn't we go position of this whole thing, of course, well, yeah, of course I would say always, always, take the opportunity to go if you can, just, even if you're not buying RV. I can't speak to the Hershey or quartzite, so we've never been to those, but as far as the Florida RV Super Show goes, it's always just fun.

Speaker 2: 25:45

It is, and even if you can't go for the whole time, go for a day or two, make, make it what you can of it.

Speaker 1: 25:49

Right. Also, if you do decide to go for two days, just know that if you buy your ticket at the door, it asks you online. So you're good there. But if you're going to go for two days, just tell them. You're going to go for two days. You buy one day ticket. They typically give you that second day for free. That least they did with us, and they were promoting it on the website for this year. So, but let's just say for a minute, where am I supposed to stay? So the obvious is there's the super rally. We already talked about it.

Speaker 2: 26:14

But fun fact that is already sold out for the year. It sells out very, very quickly, oh yes. So if you were just now looking at this for your 24 plans, you may be out of luck a little bit.

Speaker 1: 26:24

Now I will say that if you are interested in going and doing the super rally, there is no harm in shooting them an email.

Speaker 2: 26:29

They do have cancellations, I know because we've canceled.

Speaker 1: 26:33

So again, don't know the list or anything. So if that's something you really want to do, go ahead and reach out to them. The worst thing that they say is we're still sold out and there's no way. Sorry, if you do decide to do the super rally or in the super rally, just some expectations. If you don't already know, and if you've signed up for it, hopefully you know it is dry camping. So you do have electricity, they have a 30 amp, but they run it through generators essentially. So they have a series of very high power generators and then they run 30 amp cables out and around to wherever the sites are. They're kind of all over the place, so you are gonna have to dry camp by E, no sewer outs and no water in.

Speaker 2: 27:14

And I'm going to state the obvious. He said 30 amp. So if you come with your 50 amp coach, you're not earning 3 ACs all day.

Speaker 1: 27:21

Nope, just understand your rig. If you're a 50 amp coach, if you're a 30 amp coach, you're probably good, and if, for some reason, you're less than that, good for you and it is tight over there.

Speaker 2: 27:30

There's no doubt, but it's perfectly doable.

Speaker 1: 27:32

I will say anywhere on grounds if you're gonna camp, for the most part it's gonna be tight.

Speaker 2: 27:38

Just an expectation.

Speaker 1: 27:39

Now one thing that I know is still available is you can completely boondock no electricity, no anything. Still in the main parking lot. I believe there's still some spots available for that. Double check on that too, Again at the time of recording, so don't take my word for it. You do need to reserve that before you show up. Yes, if you show up, you're on the risk of there being nowhere to go, so they only put so many in there. We saw a lot of like class B vans doing that.

Speaker 2: 28:03

Right.

Speaker 1: 28:04

Because they're a little more nimble and can do those types of things. But I know they can accommodate bigger rigs as well over there. But that is an option. I believe it's somewhere. I'm not even gonna say prices.

Speaker 2: 28:13

Check out the website. Check out the website because they both do cost, they both require reservations.

Speaker 1: 28:18

Yes, then you have the obvious. Outside of that, you can camp any other campground that you can find.

Speaker 2: 28:24

That you can find. Remember it's January in Florida. Plan ahead.

Speaker 1: 28:28

Actually what I was gonna say. So if you don't have reservations now, get on that pretty fast, or just know you might have to stay a little bit further out. I know we were looking at staying at a particular campground the week prior, moving on to the grounds and we got one of their last spots and let's just say it's a big campground, so. But you can find state parks, local municipality parks, county parks, those types of things. They all exist down there. You just have to kind of work to find them. At this point, Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 28:59

Now, if you don't have an RV like if it's your first time and you're thinking about buying an RV or your first RV.

Speaker 2: 29:04

I mean, there are tons of hotels, or if you just want to leave the RV at home and fly in. Some people do that too.

Speaker 1: 29:10

If you're especially if you're on the West Coast but you really want to come to this and you just decide to fly in. You can rent a car, you can fly in the Tampa itself which is the closer airport. Just know, mco or Orlando is not that far away Either. It's probably about a 45 minute to an hour drive, depending on traffic.

Speaker 2: 29:27

Oh, traffic is such a wild card there.

Speaker 1: 29:30

Yeah, it really is a roll of the dice, but it's not too bad of a drive as far as the Crow flies, traffic being the wild card there. When we went to our first show before we bought our first RV, we did fly in to Orlando because it was honestly just cheaper I don't know if it is or not this year and then we drove down. We actually stayed in the Lakeland plant city area it's the last kind of city town, whatever you want to call it just before you get into Tampa where the Super Show is. The fairgrounds are on the far east side of Tampa, so it is very much so the inland side. So, just know, you don't have to drive all the way to the coast, essentially. But we stayed at a chain hotel of some kind. I don't remember what it was, to be honest, you know Marriott by Courtyard, true, one of those.

Speaker 2: 30:15

And it was great it was. It served the purpose quite well. You don't have to stay that far away. You can certainly stay closer. We had some business also in Orlando at the end of that, so we needed to split the difference. But, yes, you can certainly stay in Tampa a lot closer. There's the hard rock. That's right around the corner. That, if you're into a casino and things like that you can do that.

Speaker 1: 30:33

That's specifically called the Seminole or Hard Rock, seminole, seminole, hard Rock, whichever order they put it in. It is also a casino and they have plenty to do, so if you're into that atmosphere, that's definitely an option. Our vibes a little more low-key, so we went a little further out.

Speaker 2: 30:46

And I guess you could try to Airbnb. It's something we have not ventured into, but always worth the asking if a hotel's not your gig.

Speaker 1: 30:52

Absolutely. I didn't be able to rent an RV. I'm not sure where or how or when. Or where you'd park it. I did hear that we lost one campground over there, the Lazy Days campground shutdown.

Speaker 2: 31:01

Really? Oh, I didn't know that. Do you know why? Nope.

Speaker 1: 31:05

I read the news little clipping, and I didn't read any more. We keep current on this thing, so there's a little bit of some tips and tricks in there. But we're gonna have a handful more again if it is your first time and you're thinking about going. So what's just number one for you, tip and or trick?

Speaker 2: 31:22

So my first thing is to understand a little bit about why you're going and to plan accordingly If you want to go in and see a certain handful of floor plans. It's really easy to get distracted when you first go in, and so try not to do that. Go towards your goal Now. If your goal is to just wander around and see whatever you want to see, go for it.

Speaker 1: 31:42

You mean that the street performers that are walking around constantly the fair food smell and Todd running around with a camera in a red like onesie and cape is in distracting.

Speaker 2: 31:53

Not at all, and so, but really you have to walk by the, the prevoes and the really big, expensive, shiny things and you have to walk next to everything that could distract you. So if you have and this is just if you have a goal, go try to tackle that goal first so that you make sure that you accomplish the whole reason that you went Now. And if you're just gonna go to wander, more power to you, have fun.

Speaker 1: 32:14

So I'm gonna kind of piggyback on my first tip with that same kind of sentiment, and that is, if you are there to buy an RV and you have a handful of floor plans you really want to look at, do it very early in the show and then go wander and have some fun and let those floor plans sink in and then come back almost in a day or two, if it's the same day, later that day. Just put some distance between the first time you see it and the second time you see it and if you still like it, then proceed Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 32:40

But yeah, I you see so many people like that's it, and then two seconds they're like nope, that's it. And like every fourth RV, they see that's the new one they're gonna buy. So just look, get an understanding, narrow it down, have the game plan like you said, but take your time if you are gonna purchase in that selection process.

Speaker 2: 32:57

And then my second thing would be that it can get overwhelming, and I mean that in a variety of ways.

Speaker 1: 33:03

Can.

Speaker 2: 33:04

Yes, if you're there for business purposes, it can get overwhelming. If you're there to pick an RV, it can get overwhelming. If you're there just to walk around the heat and, you know, not drink enough water or cold, not, oh, that was a rarity, but yes, it can, and so just understand that it's okay to stop and to rest or to take notes, whatever it is that's gonna help you make be successful and whatever you're trying to do.

Speaker 1: 33:26

I was gonna say not only is it okay, it's recommended, because it's just. I know when we went there we had. You had your spreadsheet. You didn't have an actual spreadsheet, but you had everything written down on the page.

Speaker 2: 33:37

Oh, I did have a spreadsheet. Well, not with you.

Speaker 1: 33:39

Yeah, but we had everything we wanted to accomplish, the things we wanted to look at why, we liked them. Why we disliked certain things? Right, because for all we knew we were gonna walk in see all these floor plans we had, all these are gonna be great and go well, crap we don't like any of them in person.

Speaker 2: 33:53

Or we really like this one, but it's not going to be cost-effective. So how can we get these things in something else that is more cost-effective? And so, for us, kind of taking a break and a step back was pivotal for us, sure, and so we went a couple days in a row, and even when we were on the grounds we would leave whatever it is we were doing, go get something to eat or drink, sit down and kind of take a breather and make sure that we were still just not being exhausted and rushing into anything.

Speaker 1: 34:19

So that leads into my second tipper trick actually, and I say leads into you just kind of mentioned that they're briefly, food there is really expensive, it's and for the most part, not the best quality of thing. I'm not saying it doesn't taste good, because funnel cakes are awesome and ice cream is great, but at the same time it's expensive, fair food.

Speaker 2: 34:39

Are you saying you didn't love my falafels?

Speaker 1: 34:40

No, the Greek food was good. It was still expensive, it was, but it was really good, and so my tip if it's kind of a double ammy here If you're staying on the grounds, go have lunch in your RV. If you're not staying on the grounds, either bring something or maybe consider taking off for lunch. I don't know how much I would actually leave for lunch, because traffic's a little chaotic and then you may have to part-pay to part-pagate it back in. I'm not sure.

Speaker 2: 35:01

But maybe have like a good breakfast before you get there, so that you don't have to have a big lunch.

Speaker 1: 35:05

Yeah just understand that you're gonna walk a ton and I mean, when I say a ton, that's probably an understatement. If you wanna see everything, you're gonna be hoofing it pretty hard. So just know you're gonna get hungry and I can tell you right now, besides the Greek stand, there was not a lot of like decently healthy food options.

Speaker 2: 35:23

There was a lot of Greece available. There were a lot of novelty things available. What to say?

Speaker 1: 35:26

tons of burgers, tons of corn dogs, fried Twinkies. I mean, think of the state fairs in your neck of the woods and that's pretty much what you're gonna get without all of the like savory stuff. It's a lot of sweet tasting foods.

Speaker 2: 35:40

It is and, like your mother said, wear good shoes and drink plenty of water. So I'll leave it at that. You'll hear that on every channel.

Speaker 1: 35:48

I was gonna say now, the last year and this year I'll be I purchased new shoes and I have new shoes that I will buy right before we go, simply because that's how much we're on our feet.

Speaker 2: 35:57

Absolutely. And then my last, my final thing have fun. Remember this is enjoyable. It shouldn't be stressful and tormenting and you shouldn't be in tears and upset and things. So have fun. And if it's not fun, maybe something's gone awry and we need to reassess.

Speaker 1: 36:16

Well, find a group that's having fun. Last year we were walking around the show and we had a little bit of downtime. We didn't really have downtime but I was editing a video back at the RV. You went in to go look at some stuff and I was coming to catch up with you and apparently I was playing, find the needle in the haystack and I came across a music video shoot. It was switching up and Todd was in his 60s outfit and so just know, like, even if you just slow down for five seconds, you will see something. Go what is happening over there? Wander over there, go check it out and just take a big deep breath. And yeah, it's probably Todd, yeah, so I don't know that I have any other tips or anything except for, like Lauren said, just relax, have fun. Rving is meant to be a relaxing, fun thing.

Speaker 2: 37:02

It is.

Speaker 1: 37:03

I mean there are times I'm not saying it's 100% that all the time no. Little things are gonna stress you out. You're coming up on that bridge and overpass and you have no idea your height and it's really close. Yeah, it's stressful, I'm not gonna lie, but the destination is the relaxation that is a big portion of it. This is meant to be an extension of that.

Speaker 2: 37:22

Yes, so if you're feeling rushed or pressured, you're probably something's gone, or I reassess that. But also if you have a question we didn't ask, please make sure to let us know.

Speaker 1: 37:32

Yep, there is a link down below in the show description or the comments, depending on what you're watching or listening to. That'll take you through and there's a contact us at the bottom of that webpage. So with that, we hope that we are gonna see you in Tampa. That would be amazing that would be fun.

Speaker 1: 37:47

Like I said, we will be at the Today is Someday meetup Again. Links to that one down below. If you can't make that, go check out the other YouTuber meetup with Brazen Brits and everybody else. And Wayward Wags both those are charity organizations, so they will definitely be given back. And we're doing these live and I say live, we're not gonna stream them. So if you're not gonna be there, sorry, but if you are gonna be there, come swing by. We are gonna be inside the Alliance booth. You will not be able to miss us because we're gonna have a huge purple tent that has RV Shenanigans and Millers in Motion plastered all over it.

Speaker 2: 38:18

Good job marketing department.

Speaker 1: 38:19

You are welcome. Thank you, guys, so much for joining us. Do us a favor, share the show with one friend this week. We would greatly appreciate it and we will talk to you next week. Music.