For 50 years, Orangeland RV Park longtime employees have welcomed visitors from all over the nation. Front row (from left) Elaine Ramos and Cindy Wimbish. Middle row, Abe LaLande, Rogelio Serrato-Perez, Sandra Slezak and Debbie Burkhart and back row, Luis Gomez, Hector Serrato-Perez, Paul Newton, Sean Newton and Larry Jordan.
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Orangeland RV Park
Orangeland RV Park, with its high-tech design and concierge service, is a family business that has evolved with the times. Since opening in 1972, hundreds of thousands of visitors have made memories at the only RV park in Orange.
“Orangeland was dad’s vision and design. He wanted it to have an open feel,” says Owner Cindy Wimbish of the 8 1/3-acre parcel that was once an orange grove. “When you enter, you see a beautiful pool inviting you to come and have fun.”
Orangeland started out with 212 spaces. “In 1972, you had your airstream or a little trailer,” recalls Wimbish. “Now, you have a motorhome or a fifth wheel with slide outs, so spaces needed to be longer and wider.” They redesigned the park to accommodate the larger rigs. Today there are 195 sites—both “dailies” and monthly sites, each with 50-amp full hook-ups. “We have also become very technological. Everyone wants everything now,” says Wimbish.
Orangeland was the first RV park in the state of California to have Wi-Fi, which they installed back in the early 2000s. “Today, Wi-Fi is considered another utility, like water and electricity,” says Abe LaLand, who serves as tech consultant. “Now we have fiber, which is something you find in very few RV parks.”
Most of the 18 employees live onsite and assist guests with questions. “We constantly fix,” says Wimbish. “We are 50 years old but I don’t want us to look like we are 50 years old.”
Rosemary Ford has lived at Orangeland for 41 years, moving there in 1980 when she and her husband were 60 years old and retired from their life in Columbus, Ohio. “We were just going to stay until we decided what we were going to do, but we became very comfortable and saw no point in leaving,” the 101-year-old Ford says.
For a long time, the demographics of visitors was predominately baby boomers. “The millennials and gen Xers would say ‘that’s what my parents did or what my grandparents did,’” notes Larry Jordan, who serves as general manager.
But the folks at Orangeland say the younger generations are getting onboard with RVing. “Disneyland drives our business but the amenities are what attract people here,” notes Wimbish. Families swim, play miniature golf or shuffleboard, use the exercise room and pool room. The clubhouse hosts bingo, bunco and poker. A special treat for guests is the 200 citrus trees, free for the picking.
“I’ve had people say this place feels different to me. I feel welcome here,” says Wimbish. “That is the sense of community they feel.”
Orangeland RV Park
1600 West Struck Ave., Orange CA 92867 / 714-633-0414
