Visited on a Sunday evening for the adult skating session. $24 includes the skate rental and admission. This place is not maintained well, staff are all rude and condescending. This place is not inclusive at all. People visit to give skating a try, and you’re met with patronizing staff members who criticize you on your every move. It was very evident early on that this establishment is catering to a specific crowd, those who only know how to skate well. I witnessed first time skaters who could barely balance themselves on skates get forced into the middle of the rink by one of the skating rinks “safety guards” or whatever you may call them, because they weren’t enforcing any safety standards by any measure. I felt really bad for this one guy who couldn’t skate well because he kept falling and it was OBVIOUS he needed to hold on to the edges of the rink for balance and support, and instead of allowing him to continue supporting himself, they told him and many other skaters who couldn’t dance and skate at the same time, to move into the middle of the rink and pretty much get out of the way of the rest of the more experienced skaters. This was just outright negligence on behalf of the staff members because you are now subjecting inexperienced skaters to compromising their safety and that of others. It was just an atmosphere of inconsideration on behalf of ALL of the staff members, including the DJ who made an announcement that all the “dancers” (experienced skaters) to move to the outer part of the rink so that they could have more space to move as they want. If you were to stop for just a few seconds, you were immediately approached by a staff member who would tell you that you need to keep it pushing for god knows what reason. I honestly did not see any of the inexperienced skaters posing any harm or danger to any of the other more experienced skaters. In fact, the more experienced skaters knew how to maneuver themselves well around those who couldn’t skate well so clearly there’s not much of an issue there. It was clear that they just wanted to cater to the more experienced skaters that evening and discourage anyone else from taking up any space on the rink. Staff isn’t there at all to assist, or to even assess any potentially unsafe situations, instead they encourage an unsafe environment all in the interest of those who are more adept at skating. The staff member on the rink that was wearing the referee jersey that night would just spend her time doing laps for her own enjoyment and policing those who weren’t up to par to her skating expectations. This does not make for an inclusive environment whatsoever. We all paid money to your establishment that evening and therefore we should all be treated fairly and equally rather than being judged for our inadequacy in our skating efforts. This place needs to do better in creating a safer and inclusive environment because it’s clear that you don’t want any inexperienced people on the rink. People get hurt in these types of situations. And the patronizing attitudes from your staff members do not help those who could use some assistance in learning. Not once did I witness their safety staff member on the rink help someone up from falling. All you were ever met with was a scrutinizing attitude whenever you did something wrong. Don’t discriminate against your clientele that can’t skate, they pay the same money that those who can skate do and at the end of the day this is a BUSINESS and business doesn’t discriminate against those who pay. If you want to host a night exclusive to experienced skaters then advertise as such, we’re all there to have a good time and not to be made felt badly for our...
Read moreIt's great to see skate Express hanging in there. Was there only on an adult only 20+ skate night, the place was packed when we left with just 90 minutes left of the 2100-0100 Friday night session. Perhaps over 200 people there. Rough estimate.9feb24.
Apparently they allow food and drinks to be brought in by the adults, so they shut their snack bar down. The location is doing several reconstruction projects , redecorating, and other projects.
They are much more relaxed than the old days in some of the old behavior and standards and employee behavior. The DJ published skating rules such as fast skaters to the outside and slow skaters to the middle and the floor guards would escort beginner skaters to the middle, and chase some slower skaters to the mid lanes or inside lanes if they skated too slow, but would ignore some skaters either dancing in place at the end of the ovals in the lane of traffic or slow couple skating on the wall, even after chasing other slow skaters away from the wall. The selective enforcement leaves consistency to be desired.
One of the two floor guards was wearing her referee jersey over her neck with only one arm in the jersey, and the rest bunched up around her neck. The DJ only talked to the audience while music was playing, so it was difficult to hear his instructions. This is either due to speakers being old or his voice was not distinct to rise above the music being played he was speaking over.
This Friday night session had about six to fifteen novice skaters at any one time on the floor, and the skill and pace of the rest of the skaters made a slightly dangerous environment for the beginners, but as it got crowded the staff did a good job of escorting skaters back and forth from the entrance of the rink to the center and back as needed. The floor guards were about 90% on it for protecting any skaters standing back up after falling. So that was very good. Twice with a bad multi skater pile up the DJ told everyone heads up, but again it was not that distinct over the music. If you already were not paying attention you might have missed it
Only a couple people were observed listening to their own music with ear buds.
The rental skates were in good repair for rental skates. The floor was well maintained, the new carpet looked great. Everyone there seemed to be having a great time. Was a great vibe. The music was advertised as hip hip/ r&b. Most of the songs did not seem to have much in the way of distinguishing lyrics, not being current in the last twenty years of hop hop, was not familiar with any of the music. Not that important.
There was only a few skaters that smelled of thick marijuana, no evidence of drug use in the building were observed, no drunk people were observed or at least behaving on a drunk manner. So the behavior of all the patrons was good (except for the 4 individuals dancing and not rolling at each end of the...
Read morefirst night i went forehead gashed wide open. why am i giving this place 5 stars? it’s family friendly and music is age appropriate. it’s clean and reasonably priced. did i mention it's clean? vending machines are $0.50-$1.00. lockers are $0.50. water fountain has FREE water. i don’t understand all the reviews claiming snacks are overpriced. maybe if you’re obese, have self inflicted diabetes, and desperately require sugar water within a 90-120 minute session, otherwise, they sell a large pitcher of ice water for $1.
come on people. it’s a small family friendly skating rink with over 10 people working at a time. the temperature and atmosphere is healthy. if you feel $3.50 for a large soda is overpriced then maybe you should consider changing eating habits and not take it out on a small business trying to make ends meet with a niche recreational sport. glendale skating rink is 44 miles away, fullerton skating rink is 42 miles away, and this one the only one within a 10-15 mile radius. free clue... glendale / fullerton prices are the same if not more and require an additional 60-90 minute round trip drive to do the exact same thing.... skate!
i walked in here expecting $8 sodas and $5 water bottles based off other reviews. this place is reasonably priced and considering they block off time in three hour increments find it absolutely outlandish that people are complaining about the cost of snacks like they can’t survive for 90-180 minutes without their beetus juice. if you're that cheap that you can't support a local skate rink with their "overpriced" food & beverages then there is a taco bell within 50 steps, a circle k within 40 steps, and mcdonalds within a 0.25 mile radius along with a plethora of other eating options.
seriously, ignore any review mentioning food or beverages and giving a low star rating. there is a water fountain with FREE... yes, FREE water by the restrooms people. why are you complaining? you can pick up a 250 calorie snickers bar for $1 from the vending machine... and honestly if you can't skate with that many calories within an 180 skate session then... maybe you should consider changing your lifestyle and eating habits and stop taking it out on skate express.
5 stars!
edit: 01132018 - had birthday party for my little girl in the royal room. everything went great, kids had a blast, and it was fun. thank you to the entire staff for making my daughter’s 8th birthday a memorable unique experience. great, clean, and healthy fun...
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