Mt Pleasant Ice Arena — Attraction in Baltimore

So I come from upstate New York (Rochester near Buffalo) where hockey and figure skating are common sports and have skated for about 6 years. We have a lot of hockey games and therefore we have to have a good amount of hockey rated ice rinks. I have recently moved down here in middle river for an 8 month internship and have been searching for a good ice rink. I have been to Ice world, Patterson Park and Mount Pleasant multiple times Friday-Sunday. so i just wanted to give a up to date review on this place and I think it deserves a higher rating. The Review: So my experience here has been very pleasant. This ice rink seemed to be the most up to date, up to spec and most resembles the ice rinks from upstate new york. the rinks size is what i really like since it is NHL size. In contrast to what the previous comments have been saying, this ice is pretty solid. IMO the ice is harder than ice world and Patterson park. it has a good environment similar to Patterson park where they there are a lot of mature skaters and little kids who are not racing or endangering others. It is true that the ice is only Zamboni-ed once but at the end of the day, it is still harder and in better condition than ice world since no one is icing people or doing stupid stuff. The ice rink here is also pretty cool. he doesnt do tricks or try and hang out to avoid his job. he actually checks up on people and helps them, unlike ice world where spraying (icing or covering people with snow from stopping) is ok to do.

so in conclusion, this ice rink is the best one I've been to that both resembles the ones I'm use to and has a great environment, IMO its is not a 3.0 star rink, more like a 4-4.5 star rink when compared to the others

also here how i would rank these ice rinks: Mount Pleasant Patterson...

I have been using this facility as a player, coach, referee and casual skater since 2008. The city recently dumped over 2 million dollars to "fix" the place up. Took over 2 years to complete. They addressed some things but left many important things out for an ice rink. Seems like they were more concerned with fancy lights in the main lobby. Who goes to a rink to hang in the main lobby? They put showers in all the locker rooms which is a plus. BUT..... now there is barely enough room for a team to fit in the rooms to change. Second, the scoreboard needed to be replaced and wasn't. Many lights are out and you can't see things on the board. This is a huge negative as a coach, official, and fans. They did absolutely nothing to address the lighting in the building above the playing surface. Dark and dingy. Really not safe for competitive hockey. There is still no officials room to change in. We get an office upstairs with no shower facilities. Without officials ,games can't be played. Whoever was in charge of this project made huge errors. They obviously didn't consult with anyone that has renovated an ice rink. Such a shame and a waste of taxpayers money....

Pros Super cheap Staff is kid-friendly and helpful Good ice quality when there's enough staff to resurface during public sessions (see below) They carry hockey rental skates in addition to figure

Cons Understaffed. This leads to: -- Not many staff means they sometimes can't resurface the ice midway thru a public session. This leads to rough ice. -- Can take a long time to pay admission and/or get your rental skates Gets super crowded on winter weekends (I think ALL the local rinks suffer from this problem, though)

Takeaway: If it is a winter weekend, get there 20 mins early.

Personally, I love this rink, but I'm biased because it is only 5 min drive from my house, and it is super cheap. But all in all a decent...