Patriot Ice Center — Attraction in Newark

We had my daughter’s birthday party here today and it was a complete fiasco.

It seemed like it was going to be a mess from the start because I could never get anyone on the phone (they said they were having issues with the phone lines). I normally would have not gone forward with it because of the communication issues, but the lady I emailed back and forth with seemed to know what she was doing, and my daughter had her heart set on ice skating.

We were supposed to be scheduled for the penalty shot private party room which was $349, from 12-3. I had all the kids in their skates ready to go at 12 and was told they can’t skate until 12:30 because they had a “learn to skate” class going on until 12:30. I showed them the email confirmation I had from the party coordinator that says skating was from 12-2 and we had the party room until 3. Their response was basically there’s nothing they can do.

I asked to speak with Heather, the person I had exchanged the emails with. She came out and said it wouldn’t be fair to the learn to skate class to have the birthday party kids go out and offered us free skate passes for another day 🤨 I responded that we aren’t coming back another day, this is a birthday party that I am paying hundreds of dollars for! She finally apologized and offered to take $100 off of my invoice, which I accepted. She also told me the learn to skate schedule had recently changed; however, I spoke with them 2 days before the party when I gave them a final head count and confirmed the 12pm start time. I had also spoke to the manager, Elizabeth, a couple times who confirmed all of this.

When I went to pay, no surprise, $100 was not taken off of the invoice. They didn’t even have the correct party package listed. The poor girl at the front desk, didn’t get her name but I felt horrible for her for having to deal with this, she told me Heather told her to take $50 off. I had several other guests still there who confirmed they heard Heather say $100. By this point, I had a migraine and just wanted to get out of there so I paid the $249 (I had already paid a $50 deposit) and left.

I will say, all the kids had a blast. But when you’re paying that kind of money for a party, you just expect a better experience. I spent half the time we were there dealing with this rather than enjoying...

This review is really for those wondering about public skate, specifically for families with young kids, as we haven't done much else here.

This place is pretty much what you think of when you think of your local ice skating rink, with a few differences. This Ice Center does have multiple rinks, so various practices and games can happen simultaneously. It seems clean and is pretty inexpensive.

Bringing a toddler skating for the first time we liked that they rent toddler sized skates (starting at toddler size 7). As with any rink I've ever visited, the figure skating skates were looking rough, but not unusable, and the hockey skates that I rented were in good shape and were sharp. They rent "walkers" (for a fee) for little kids learning to skate, which is nice, HOWEVER, be aware that if you get there later, and/or there is a kids party, it's likely they will have rented out all the walkers. They also don't have helmets, so plan to bring one if you or your kids may be prone to falling.

They play music and do have attendants on the rink. We got there late in the public skate time and it wasn't crowded. We found that the faster, more experienced skaters were very courteous of those of us helping kids, as well as the kids themselves.

They also have vending machines as well as a snack bar, although I can't speak to the quality of this as we've never tried it. If you hang out after public skate you'll get to see the Zamboni, for those who have kids obsessed with "things that go".

It's a good rink, certainly kid friendly, and definitely...

Staff is always so polite & Helpful. Smooth ice, great to learn how to skate, & they offer a skating "walker" to hold onto for new skaters. They offer soo much here for ALL ages! Private lessons, (figure skating/ hockey) Stick and puck, Summer camp for the kids, Open Hockey, Curling teams, Huge Hockey tournaments - awesome to watch! FREE WIFI, a veryyyy nice party room, great for birthdays, or even office/work place party/events! They always have VERY CLEAN locker Rooms and bathrooms. Great food!! Cute hoodies, Tee-shirts and Tights in their little store. They have lockers to rent for public and cosmic skate, Weekday Public Skate from 11:00am to 12:30pm for ONLY $7 -$3 for skate rentals, and I must say ... They have very clean and sharp skates, you'll never get a dull skate! Friday nights they have Cosmic Skate from 8:00pm-10:00 pm Always have the best music playing! Sometimes they even have themed nights which are always fun! -you can always check their Facebook or Instagram for upcoming events. I've never been disapointed here. Always have awesome service and a great time!! An awesome, chilly spot to stay cool on a hot...