I've been thinking about posting a review for a while now, but I was worried about the backlash I could receive from posting this. Below are just a few reasons why I do not recommend ever spending your money at Chilled Ponds.
They do not care at ALL about figure skaters. If they didn't need the money that the figure skaters bring in, I believe they would get rid of figure skating altogether. I've personally been told by the manager that the freestyle sessions bother her. The ice is some of the worst I have ever skated on and I've skated on outdoor rinks in 60-degree weather. The Optima rink constantly struggles to keep its humidity levels right, so there are huge bumps on the ice from water dripping from the rafters.
Their rental skates are rarely sharpened. Only one or two guys employed by the rink know how to sharpen the rental skates, and they were only given a quick crash course on how to do it. Also, they are probably about 18 years old, give or take a few years. Many have to be repaired and even then they are not supportive, which is not the best for new skaters to use. The quality of the skates is likely to cause ankle injuries, or even worse. The ice resurfacer, which is an Olympia brand zamboni, is constantly having problems and its blades only get sharpened before a showcase or playoff weekend for the junior team. It's not uncommon for the ice resurfacing to be running late, which, I admit, is typically due to issues they cannot control (such as a game running late). However, a couple weeks ago when a couple of figure skaters and myself realized the ice was never resurfaced for the freestyle session (the last resurface was at noon, it was now 3:30 pm and the next resurface was not scheduled until 6 pm). The maintenance manager replied "I'm busy" when asked if it was going to be cut. As far as we could tell, he was just replacing ceiling tiles in a back room. Meanwhile, the ice was dry, bumpy, and dangerous and they expected the figure skaters to skate on it. They will not give a refund/credit for any reason. Even if you did not get on the ice, they won't do it. I was an employee there and gave credit to someone because before they could get on the ice for a puck shoot they got a call to come to the hospital because their mother was in a car accident. When my manager saw that I credited their account, I was chewed out for it. The other rink I work at has given credit to people who got injured or never got on the ice. They are the only rink in the Hampton Roads area that does not have separate prices for admission and skate rental. At Hampton Roads Iceplex it costs $6.50 for admission and $2.50 for skate rental. At Chilled Ponds, it costs $12, even if you have your own skates. Although they do offer a military discount ($10), only those with a military ID will receive the discount. This means that if a military dependent has not yet reached the age to receive their dependent ID, they will not be given a discount if their parents already used their military ID to pay for themselves. If the people that work there seem like they hate their life, it's because they do. The ladies that work the front desk will get blamed for things that are not their fault and are never listened to by management. Some of them can also be very rude, cold, and completely disrespectful to customers. While working there, I suggested multiple things that I believed were necessary for the rink or could improve business. It took almost eight months after I left for them to take my recommendation of buying an automated external defibrillator (AED). The carpet in the lobby, which is the same carpet from when I first started skating there 18 years ago, is made up of patches of random carpet pieces. I wouldn't recommend sitting on the floor in the lobby. A dog left a trail of poop through the lobby and even though it was cleaned up, picking it off of the carpet only does so much. The locker rooms for the guest teams or men's league teams are in horrible condition; toilets won't work, the sinks are broken, and if someone takes a shower there will be a puddle of water in the locker room for days. I believe they have improved them some since the last time I saw them. The maintenance staff typically doesn't have time in between games to clean the locker rooms, so they can get disgusting. If you go on a busy Friday night, be careful because their skate guards are typically 14-16 year olds that typically don't pay attention to whats happening on the ice. Public skates are also super wild, unorganized, and a lot of times fights break out between teens in the lobby and even on the ice. The Junior hockey team always gets priority over everything else that goes on in the rink. Good rink? Theirs. Prime ice times? Theirs. Smooth fresh-cut ice? Yup theirs too! The boys are sometimes rude to the other customers at the rink (Figure skaters, coaches, and others) and they have a persona like they are more important than everyone else in the rink. read more