He is actually right for once. Game day or Concert parking is 50 bucks unless you spend 80 bucks at the casino then it is waived. After the casino has been open for a month they may continue to charge parking reguardless but it will be like 7 or 10 bucks per day during the week, and 55 or 60 for game day unless you spend the 80 in the casino. There are a few articles about it. They are even thinking about coming up with a season pass which works out to being 60 per game or something stupid, but if you have kids they have to get out of the car prior to you pulling in because they cannot even be in the garage if they are under 21.
We just got back from there and I’m not sure how they can track how much money you put into the slots unless you have one of the player’s cards. We were going to get them but the line was too long and I didn’t feel like waiting.
Overall it was a nice night out. Was there for 5 hours, ate at the buffet which was ok but not worth the 25 bucks per person, and we only lost $80 bucks between the two of us after we cashed in our winning vouchers at the end of the night. Spent most of our time on the $5 Roulette and $5 blackjack machines. Mostly at the Blackjack. Slots are pointless to me.
With the opening of the Rivers Casino garage on Aug. 9, patrons of the museums and stadia clustered on the North Shore may think that 3,800 spaces are being added to their parking menu. But not so fast, the casino’s management warns.
Even during the month of August, when parking is free in the garage, game day parking will cost $50 per car, or $55 for valet. That will be the standard event-day rate for the Rivers Casino parking garage.
Starting Sept. 1, everyone who pulls into the garage on non-event weekdays will pay $5 per day, and $7 per day on weekends.
Steelers season ticket holders can get a 10-game pass that amounts to $60 per game in parking fees, with guaranteed space. But the kids in the car will have to get out before the garage entrance, as no one under 21 is allowed anywhere on the casino’s property except in the outdoor amphitheater.
“One of the reasons we’re considering paying for parking is as a deterrent,” said Ed Fasulo, the casino’s president and COO, hoping the fee will ward off employees of nearby businesses. “But if you play long enough, it’s free.”
Long enough means you drop $80 worth of coins into the slot machines during your visit, according to George Matta, the casino’s director of business development and community relations.
The casino will also have a taxi stand, staged away from the main building, where a valet will radio in to dispatch cars upon request.
If you’re planning on coming by bus or want your bus company to do business with the casino this fall, then Kerrie Moriarity is the name to know.
A bus marketing specialist at the Rivers Casino where she coordinates the arrival of bus tours and large shuttles, Moriarity has already booked the Rivers bus staging area through the end of September. That’s six to seven buses a day, from Monday through Thursday.
Moriarity manages the comings and goings of buses ranging from 24-seat shuttles to 56-passenger coaches. The advantage of bus reservations is a complementary $10 on each player’s club card for a four-hour trip, and an additional $5 food voucher for a six-hour stay.
The buses must be filled to 50 percent of capacity for patrons to receive the incentive. No buses are accepted on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The casino doesn’t have a parking lot for buses, so nearby Lenzner Coach Lines is extending to the casino’s bus traffic the service they now offer to their affiliated Coach USA buses. For $30, buses can park in what will likely be 10 spaces at Lenzner’s parking lot, a few blocks away from the Rivers. Drivers can pass the time in the drivers room — standard amenities include a couch, a television and vending machines — or walk to the casino and receive the same incentive package as their passengers. Roy Hoffman, division manager for Lenzner, said buses will be accepted on a first-come first-serve basis.
