Is there always parking available? Is it 2 hours free and then a hourly rate?

Free for as long as you need during daytime..........

1 hour ago, sanook 1 said:

Is there always parking available?

Guess you are aware about the chaos on (long) weekends?

People reported up to one hour to get OUT of the mess.

I would drive there on weekends  only if there is an essential need.

When in Pattaya I mostly get around on the motorbike.

And the motorbike parking is a story to its own. Overcrowded even on normal weekdays in the afternoon. 

 

My personal experiences with car to Central are from Udon Thani and Khon Kaen. Udon Central parking on a weekend. Absolute No-Go for me.

Edited September 15, 20241 yr by KhunBENQ

1 hour ago, KhunBENQ said:

My personal experiences with car to Central are from Udon Thani and Khon Kaen. Udon Central parking on a weekend. Absolute No-Go for me.

That's a long day out driving to Central Festival Pattaya from Udon Thani or Khon Kaen 😉

If you get there around 10 am no problem. 

1 hour ago, Pattaya57 said:

That's a long day out driving to Central Festival Pattaya from Udon Thani or Khon Kaen 😉

About 7 hours from my place.

And the car rests at the hotel parking for most of the time.

2 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Guess you are aware about the chaos on (long) weekends?

People reported up to one hour to get OUT of the mess.

I would drive there on weekends  only if there is an essential need.

When in Pattaya I mostly get around on the motorbike.

And the motorbike parking is a story to its own. Overcrowded even on normal weekdays in the afternoon. 

 

My personal experiences with car to Central are from Udon Thani and Khon Kaen. Udon Central parking on a weekend. Absolute No-Go for me.

Thanks for sharing!

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

If you get there around 10 am no problem. 

They don't open until 11.

 

13 minutes ago, richsilver said:

They don't open until 11.

 

Food court and supermarket in basement are open much earlier

1 hour ago, Pattaya57 said:

Food court and supermarket in basement are open much earlier

Correct but the OP was about "always" available 

4 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Correct but the OP was about "always" available 

No idea what this means but I wasn't responding to OP, I replied to a guy who said central only opens at 11am. The Supermarket in basement opens at 9am, as does some of food court

2 hours ago, Pattaya57 said:

No idea what this means but I wasn't responding to OP, I replied to a guy who said central only opens at 11am. The Supermarket in basement opens at 9am, as does some of food court

What about the parking,opens at 9 or 11 am?

12 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Correct but the OP was about "always" available 

Well the discussion was about the car park......does that make you wait until 11am like the main part of the Mall does? I have a recollection of waiting there once... these days I park in Big-CX, opens early. 

Edited September 15, 20241 yr by jacko45k

How about T21,is the parking there bigger,less hassle?

1 minute ago, sanook 1 said:

How about T21,is the parking there bigger,less hassle?

Always a lot of traffic in the area......

44 minutes ago, sanook 1 said:

How about T21,is the parking there bigger, less hassle?

I went there for the first time on Saturday night.  It was unbelievably complex with queues of traffic following attendants with illuminated signs.  I eventually found a spot 3 or four floors up.  Once inside it was like a ghost town.  (The Indian restaurant, 'Chutney' was excellent.)

I once spent 60 minutes trying to exit the Central carpark - at that point I found a place to double park, and went for a coffee and nicotine.  Returned an hour later and nothing had improved. Another 30 minutes before I got out.

 

It was a holiday weekend before the Mexican beer crisis. I was on Level 5. One hour felt like a week. Crawling forward at a meter a minute, mayhem ensuing in front when somebody exits a park and the guy that wants that park doesn't have the room to manoeuvre.

 

Cars double parked. Cars entering the queue from lower floors adding to the congestion. The muppets at the entrance allowing more and more vehicles to enter the fray. If I had to guess I'd say the occupancy rate of parked and unparked cars was probably around 300%. 

 

The Missus' solution was to join the Central Festival Members Club. They get reserved parking on level 3 and there are always empty spots.  Exiting is much quicker on busy weekends.

20 hours ago, sanook 1 said:

Is there always parking available? Is it 2 hours free and then a hourly rate?

Get a car wash and polish, free parking. The car wash station is positioned directly opposite central shopping entrance. 

 

Central visits definately fit into my " off-peak " make things easy for myself lifestyle. 11am weekday, ( non holidays ), if you have the freedom to choose your time.

How about Royal Garden,busy nowadays or easier parking?

46 minutes ago, sanook 1 said:

How about Royal Garden,busy nowadays or easier parking?

Easier.......

19 hours ago, richsilver said:

21 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

If you get there around 10 am no problem. 

They don't open until 11.

 

 Duh.... that's why you get there EARLY.

 

Sheesh.

4 hours ago, Gsxrnz said:

Central Festival Members Club

I always wondered what that entailed.

 

Up in Udon Thani, there's a reserved parking area that's manned by guys who will move barriers that have pictures of a Central "T1" MasterCard so assume it's some membership privilege? The cars don't appear to have any visible window decals to identify them as qualifying, but they do tend to be newer, high-end marques with the usual smattering of Lao-registered SUV's.

 

If membership involves paying money to Central who I never buy anything from (I use Tops and the Royal Farm shop in the basement and sometimes the bank), I am happy to use the free 45-minute "express" parking at the far end. There's absolutely nothing in Central to entice me to stay longer... although the stunning, Hokkaido Ice Cream Cake girl had me pushing that envelope once.

8 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

I always wondered what that entailed.

 

Up in Udon Thani, there's a reserved parking area that's manned by guys who will move barriers that have pictures of a Central "T1" MasterCard so assume it's some membership privilege? The cars don't appear to have any visible window decals to identify them as qualifying, but they do tend to be newer, high-end marques with the usual smattering of Lao-registered SUV's.

 

If membership involves paying money to Central who I never buy anything from (I use Tops and the Royal Farm shop in the basement and sometimes the bank), I am happy to use the free 45-minute "express" parking at the far end. There's absolutely nothing in Central to entice me to stay longer... although the stunning, Hokkaido Ice Cream Cake girl had me pushing that envelope once.

 

I recently got approved for a T1 "Luxe" credit card... the VIP parking is handy.