Roller World — Local services in Saugus

We had my twins 13th birthday party at roller world this past summer. 1st of all the bathrooms are a huge concern as they are disgusting & dirty & never maintained. The level of ecoli & bacteria alone has got to be against health codes. (Feces smeared on the walls) There are some huge concerns for cleanliness there. At the end of our party one of our guest had been skating with her sister because she's not a great skater(she needed help) and this group of kids just kept on taunting her & skating by her really fast, making fun of her, she finally had a reaction of yelling at them & the security came over & made it so much worse by yelling at her telling her she had to leave immediately. Mind you this child is on the spectrum & she was scared, her parents weren't there, so when I was finally notified by one of my kids in our group it had escalated, I quickly gathered up my group & we left. Roller world never asked her side of the story & here they were ready to kick a child out on good old route 1 south. They didn't offer to speak to her parents or ensure that she had a plan as to leave. Thank God I was there to facilitate & make sure she got in touch with her parents for a ride. This is not a safe space for kids of any age to be left to hang out, the staff has no concern for these kids safety what's so ever. There have been many incidences of violence & knives being involved. They claim to have metal detectors but clearly they don't work. It's just not a good place & really should be shut down. I will never spend another cent at this establishment & I will tell anyone I know not to send their kids there. If your going to have a business that your primary customers are young children you should have people who care about providing a safe environment for them to enjoy, this place couldn't be any further than that. After reviewing all the reviews & reading all of the very inappropriate & unprofessional responses from the "management". I am not shocked by the response I received. It is very clear this is what they do & they never take accountability for there poorly run business, they fabricate stories & place blame. I see a lot of people agree that the management & staff have no idea how to deal with children or people in general. I would advise other parents not to bring...

I visited for the first time on March 12, 2024, it was for adult night. I must say, I was impressed with the facility when I walked in. It has that nostalgic "old school" roller skating rink smell, that everyone who stepped into one during the prime of roller skating in the 1980s and 1990s. The staff were all friendly, they search your belongings when you walk in (I think that is added piece of mind) that someone won't get stabbed or capped on the rink or even in the building. The music is plenty loud, enough to get those feet moving and a groove started. The song selection was great too. They play a mix of everything. The floor is nice, it has a nice feel when you're rolling. It's wood, the best kind of skate floor you can be on. They even have a JR rink off to the side, where you can go work on technique or even get your skate legs. I am not giving it a complete 5 star, because I think they can do better with organizing the rink a little better. I am an experienced skater and a couple of times; I thought I was going to be run over and killed by a some of them who are just skating recklessly. And then others who are doing tricks in the travel area, which jams up the ability to spread out. Not everyone wants to speed skate. I frequent other area rinks and they set the rink up for all ability levels and all speed levels. And if you are flying around the rink, you get a warning and told to "slow down" and then anything subsequent, the consequences get a little stiffer. Just a little food for thought. I otherwise love this place and you have gained a regular patron. I do recommend anyone reading this, to give it a try. I think you will like it. I loved it. It is a great place. It is one of the senior skating rinks, in the area, having opened in 1981 and 43 years later is still doing something right. Thank you, Roller World. I'll be in on adult night, from here forward. Great job to all the staff for being so organized, as far as checking in and getting...

Absolutely the worst rink I’ve ever been to in all my years of skating. Avoid Roller World at all costs.

After paying all our fees, an employee told us we’re not allowed to bring water inside, so we said, “Okay, no worries, we’ll just go outside and pour it out.” Then she said we’re not even allowed to bring our empty water bottles back in, because, quote, “Then you might just fill them at the bathroom sinks and you wouldn’t buy the water we sell.” Extremely and flagrantly greedy, but whatever. Maybe the venue’s short on cash. (We later discovered that there are actually two water fountains inside! But one of them is a useless dribble and the other shoots water so far that there was a big puddle on the ground that everyone was rolling their skates through. Considerably more dangerous than just letting people bring their own water.)

The skating experience was miserable. Freakishly loud—genuinely hearing-damage-inducing—music that made it impossible to speak or hear. Tons of rough, jagged, unpolished patches of rink. Advanced skaters flying around the learners’ rink at high speed, bumping into my friends who were just learning to skate. A patron who inexplicably screamed an obscenity at one of my friends, making her cry.

At one point, an employee called me “sir”, which is an easy mistake that I get sometimes because I’m gay and I look a little butch. Not a big deal at all. I very politely said, “Oh, it’s actually ma’am, haha”, with a smile so that she wouldn’t feel bad. But instead of correcting herself, she just sneered and didn’t say anything, which made it pretty clear she had done it on purpose.

This place is an absolute disgrace. Egregiously greedy policies, a dangerous rink, and openly homophobic staff. In Eastern Massachusetts you can do way better. My friends and I will be going to Chez Vous...