The Rink — Local services in Edgewater Park Township

I’m going to be completely honest here. I’ve been going to this skating rink since I was a kid. Back when it was called “Holiday Skating Rink”. As a kid, you don’t think much of a place. You just go to have fun with your friends. The last time I was here was in 2017. Same as I remembered from childhood, not much to say about that. Then the pandemic hit, the place was sold to someone new. There’s new people working there, under new management, etc. I went last night (July 15th, 22) for the first time in some years. The young girl at the pay counter spoke through a microphone connected to the glass window. It was garbled and I barely understood a word she said. I kept asking her to repeat what she was saying then it seemed like she had an attitude of some sort. Not my fault it sounded like she was eating the mic. On the website, it says $12 to skate for late night session. It doesn’t say an additional $5 for actual skate rental. Not a big deal but that info should be added there. After a slightly frustrating experience with paying, I head to the skate counter to get the rollers. The young guy working there had no type of friendly customer service vibe. He didn’t say hello, or how are you. He just stared until I asked for my size skate and type. I was unaware they no longer take your shoes in exchange for the skates. I asked him where I was supposed to put them and he just points in some direction then walks away. I watched after him in shock and confusion, still not sure where to put my personal shoes. After starting to walk away from the counter, I noticed the inside of the skates he gave me were very WET. I was uncomfortable even touching them. I was not going to put my feet in those wet skates. I’m not sure if it was from sweat or whatever spray he uses but I took them back and asked for a different pair. He, again, no type of friendly customer service vibe, just silently exchanged the skates. I looked again in the direction of the point he gave and saw some lockers. Some of them you had to pay quarters for and some were free. I reluctantly put my shoes in a free one. Now, got the DRY skates on, I’m ready to hit the floor. Once I got out there, (7:23 pm), I noticed there was no safety skate employee on the floor in case someone got hurt. It was just a small cluster of skaters so far. I also noticed the actual floor of the rink. It needed to be redone BADLY. There were small chunks of missing wood, not much of a wax shine to it, no slickness, no care for it at all. I felt under the blades the pulls from the unevenness of the floor. Now we get to the “DJ”. Bless his heart, but he would sometimes play good songs then play bad songs. Not bad songs as in explicit language but just not a skate rink vibe. (That’s my personal opinion with the music). 7:42 pm now and I finally see a safety skate employee on the floor in case someone gets hurt. The late night session starts at 7 so almost an hour until he showed up. There were some fast skaters zipping past everyone and even cut some people off and caused a couple of kids to trip and fall. Not sure if that’s allowed there but it happened so I guess. All in all, it’s good to see the place from my childhood still standing and operating but I’m hoping the young kids who work there can maybe be nicer to...

I would like this message to be clear in regard to CUSTOMER SERVICE because that can make a consumer return to a business and or spread the word about a business; good or bad! There were a lot of problems I incurred while I was there. My event was a College graduation party. I explained that to the 1 person I dealt with in the beginning. That did not seem to resonate. The tables had little cups and plates for toddlers inscribed with “Happy Birthday” on them. If the company wasn’t able to provide plates for the event I was holding they should’ve explained that to me in the beginning. The minute my guest set foot in the door the person had a very unpleasant attitude. She was dealing with 2 different functions. My guest had to wait. I had toddlers with new Paw Patrol skates that I asked about so I could utilize the funds accordingly for an adult. The person said, “It doesn’t matter if they don’t know how to skate they are being charged $20.00 too. WHY? I paid to bring in my own food. I paid for a private room. I was told that we could NOT start taking food to my area when I first got there. I had to open up all of my bags. This was wasting a lot of my time. I’m grown. I’m not going to break the rules that were explained to me and written. It was so darn HOT in there. I was walking around and I was sweating. I was wasn’t even skating. I had to ask someone to turn the A/C down to cool the place off. Why in the world should I have had to ask them to cool the place off? People were skating so it should be cool in there. The snack area could’ve at least provided more than 1 pitcher of water. I had to keep going to the Cafe for refills. WHY? If this is a new business management should do some employee house keeping in regard to the staff. CUSTOMER SERVICE is important to me. I called to try to get some clarity to some of my issues. That person was just as rude as the lady who signed us in that Sunday. I did try to relay my concerns. I would’ve liked some clarity about the issues I had. It was a one way conversation She didn’t try to listen. She was argumentative towards me. WHY? MY FAMILY WILL NEVER...

The Rink is such a fun place for the entire family! The facility is clean and the skates are clean after each use. If you are unsure of the exact size no problem they will let you try on different skates to find the perfect fit! Love the fact that you can choose between roller skates or roller blades. For beginners there are these gliders for the kids to use hold on to so they don’t fall. My kids love playing the fun games through out the skate session in the middle of the rink. The music is up beat and kid appropriate when the sessions are kid friendly. Check out their events!!!!! The adult skate is so much fun! I attended a friend’s 40th private birthday party and all of us had a blast!!!!! It was a great idea and awesome theme for us Adults! The Rink is family friendly affordable and I forgot to mention the food! The menu is great. My kids love the sweet treats and the price is reasonable quality and quantity also. The Staff is extremely friendly and helpful. My son was having a hard time on his skates and a staff person tightened up the wheels just a little bit and before we knew it he was skating around with no problems and felt confident enough to not use a glider. While on the staff they are very attentive to help keep everyone safe going in the right direction help those that are struggling to get up if they fall. This is just a classic activity that I loved as a kid and so happy to enjoy and experience this with my kids locally. My kids 8 and 9 are requesting a rolling skating birthday party because how much fun they had. I have mentioned it to their school PTO to hold an event at The Rink. Roller Skating School parties were the best when I was a kid. A core childhood memory! I want all the kids to be able to...