Kraken Community Iceplex — Attraction in Seattle

Save your money on Snowplow Sam classes. Kids can automatically jump to Learn to Skate Basic level #1 once they turn 7. Snowplow Sam 1 and 2 are a bit helpful but make sure your child can hear and isn't being hindered by other kids falling over them because of the overcrowded classes and varying skill levels.

Skip Snowplow Sam because: classes are overcrowded, teacher/child balance is too large. Is it IMPOSSIBLE to hear on the ice. Classes contain way too many varying levels of students which further inhibits students from hearing instructors or learning any skills. Once a "level" is over, kids are automatically given the card to enroll in the next level... EXCEPT, if you MISS the last class and do not get the card for the next level, EVEN IF you enroll for the next level! When you get on the ice for the first class, they look at the badge to see what the last level was and upgrade you then. Our son didn't get his badge for session #4 because he fell the last day. I enrolled for #4, but his badge said he was in #3 so we repeated a level at $216.

Emailed the school, they said they'd assess him and move him up but determined he should stay in #3. I asked what they would do to actually teach him the skills to keep moving up since he didn't learn it in original #3 and wasn't learning it this session either? No response - he was subject to the chaotic learning conditions (aka learned nothing.)

If your child needs a bit more instruction and is actually there to learn, don't get your hopes up. They will go through 4 levels of snowplow sam at $216 per level when we could have just done 1 or 2 and just waited until he was 7 and registered for Learn to Skate.

I could have skipped the last $450 spent on these last two sessions since he's now 7 and I can just enroll him in Learn to Skate, you do not need to complete Snowplow Sam to graduate to Learn to Skate.

Since it's been opened, rental skates are in poor condition (no shock here) and ice isn't cleaned between lessons so learning to glide is near impossible (another reason to save $450 and skip last two snowplow sam sessions.)

There are barely any places to sit and put on skates. Is this really an ice rink? Where are all the benches to put skates on? At one point was told they'd open the locker room, but it was always locked so I'd always have to ask them to open it which they gave me major attitude about so I stopped asking.

Not ADA compliant in any way shape or form. I had major knee surgery, parking is awful and even worse if you need an accessible spot. All the doors inside are heavy and not ADA compliant. There is barely any place to sit inside the rink on the lesson side. I asked and was told "stands were always out" but they are not - the few metal bleachers I did find were small and freezing. Again, if you have any accessibility needs, this is not the facility for you.

Growing up a figure skater with far older rinks, this rink, despite being brand new, disappoints is so many ways.

Fix the parking mess, make this ADA friendly, and for pete's sake - add some standard rows of benches so people have places to put skates on and store their stuff under...

I went public skating here, and overall, I had a really good time. The rental skates they gave were pretty good quality, at least compared to many different skating rinks I've been to. I actually felt like I could skate for prolonged periods of time here (of note, I felt in better control of the skates, and didn't feel like they'd slip to the sides, like I felt with many other rental skates). You can also rent skate helpers here, too, though they're first-come-first-serve.

I haven't tried all the amenities at the Iceplex yet, so maybe this review could be subject to updates later. But from what I've seen, this place seems pretty well-run, and has a bunch of good features to it, like being able to see the Kraken practice, and skating/hockey lessons. And if course, it's just great to have a good place to do skating all year. I hope to see this place continue to be maintained well.

UPDATE: after being here for over a year, I still quite like this place! However, there are a few things that I've seen in other ice rinks, that this place could use improvements on. Of note, I think the staff is pretty hands-off, when it comes to resolving issues on the ice. By that, I mean that often, they're just not present, and it becomes apparent when people do anything dangerous on the ice (like drop hockey pucks around, or purposefully skate dangerously close to people for fun), and no one really intervenes or gives any warning. Having some monitoring can help for that. Also, I have seen other places switch the siding from counter-clockwise to clockwise more frequently than here, and I think that would be helpful to have here. As of now, I feel like the Kraken Iceplex helps you learn how to skate to the left the best. But these don't lower my experience here; I think it's these would just be great to...

Very nice complex with multiple rinks and nice people. The shoes run a bit big so recommend getting a size smaller. You apparently put your shoes and maybe bags if you have any on the bench outside laying out in the open. We put our stuff in a locker room nearby (no gender identification found) but I think you're supposed to leave them outside. Also, don't recommend bringing your things. Just leave them in the car if you can and they won't ask for an ID.

Accident: The rink (#3) did have a lot of divots, holes, and large water puddles, making skating a bit more difficult than what I had previously experienced with a rink in Texas. Unfortunately, when I was slowing down I can't remember how but I think it was a divot in the rink or my loss of balance when I slipped backward and hit head first then butt on the ice. A man nearby was kind enough to help me up and lead me to the exit wall where a lot of parents saw my fall. Definitely embarrassed. I got checked for a concussion by 2 people and asked if I needed an ambulance. Luckily I didn't have or need either but did have a head trauma injury where my head was spinning, I had a prominent headache, ears felt like they had water in them, sweating, etc. A man who might've worked there though not quite sure was very kind and helpful who shared the same experience as me and could relate. A mom who helped me too was kind, though kind of reprimanded me like their kid for not wearing a helmet but I know now in the future and I hope this incident doesn't stop me from...