WinterSkate is the Cutest. Date. Ever…read more Outdoor activities are one of those things that make Twin Cities winters slightly more bearable. Rice Park is another one of those things, with its pretty twinkling lights... and the majestic Landmark Center backdrop doesn't hurt either. Together, WinterSkate comes to life as an outdoor rink right in the middle of St. Paul. This year, it's open from Nov. 26 to Feb. 5. They have a warming house for changing your skates and staying cozy. The rink itself isn't huge, but I basically just need room to lurch around like a Frankenstein and then fall... so I'm good. Best part aside from the fact that you have an instant date-night? Skate rentals are only $2 and the rink itself is FREE. So what are you waiting for? Oh yeah, winter has to come first. Thanks, Wells Fargo, for making winter a little more fun!

The opening of the WinterSkate rink in Rice Park is a kickoff to the holiday season for many of us…read morein St Paul. It's a free city event where you have the opportunity to see local figure skaters cut loose on fresh ice. After that, you can wander across the street for live musical entertainment. You can get a first glimpse of the upcoming year's winter carnival button -- and watch the official lighting of the Holiday tree (and all the other trees) in Rice Park, accompanied by fireworks. A perfect holiday night. Rice park is the perfect strolling park when you're on a date at the Ordway, Riverwalk Center, Xcel Center, or anywhere else in downtown St Paul. The skating rink also makes it a great stand-alone family destination in the winter from November (when the rink opens) to the new year when Rice Park hosts the annual Ice Castle.

Open skate was awesome. The ice arena was in great shape and kept very clean. The rink was well…read moremaintained and the ice was smooth/clean at the start of open skate. It was not overcrowded at all and everyone in attendance was respectful and friendly.

My son is back playing hockey after a 4 year hiatus. He is playing in a rec league. The parking lot…read moreis fine. The arena is old school with wooden oval roof and penalty boxes on opposite side of rink from player benches. The concession stand has some variety but looks like much is microwaved. I bought some Von Hansen's Cinnamon and Parmasean Pretzels in a plastic container for 2.75 each. The temperature wasn't bad for a hockey rink. But oh that smell...

We had a fun time, $19 to rent and skate. Old school games as well as concessions…read more We've also hosted a birthday party in the past and really enjoyed the experience.

This is our second time coming to the establishment and it was terrible. There was lil girl who…read moresnatched my mother-in-law cupcake while the lil girl was skating. The lil girl mother tried to get bold with my mother-in-law. When my husband tried to speak with the people in charge they gave the excuse of the lil girl being autistic and so it was okay. Nothing about this was okay! Keith said to my husband that lady had been coming there for a while and talks to people who work there like that all the time. You can not let people treat other people like that regardless if they come there a lot. I am disappointed especially with the manager saying it's okay for the lil girl or her mom to treat someone like that because they are not from the USA. Like are you serious? So you saying because she is from another country and her daughter is autistic that's it's okay. We will not be back

Tips: - Rink access is on level 7 (top deck) of the parking…read moreramp. It's best to park at a higher level. - There are two parking ramps: - From 6th Street (21 East 6th Street) - entrance B - From Wabasha Street - entrance C - The parking ramp clearance is 6'3". My rental SUV had a few inches to spare. - If you are watching the Minnesota Wild practise, you need to sign a waiver. A few years ago, in September, I was invited to a Minnesota Wild practice session in the afternoon on a Saturday. Sadly, my Air Canada flight was delayed by three hours, which meant that I would miss it. Ugh! It took three years to finally get a similar invitation. Going to a Wild practice session tends to be for Wild season ticket holders and it's free. I said yes over a month ago. I flew into the Twin Cities on a Wednesday. The following morning, I attended the practice session at TRIA Rink. This rink is on the fifth floor of Treasure Island Center. It's not far away from where the Wild play their games at Grand Casino Arena. While flying into MSP, I got an e-mail from Wild customer service on event details, where to park, where to go, and more. It also said to print out a waiver form and fill it out. It's the only negative detail about this event. I realize that some details may change, which may be why this message was sent less than 24 hours before the event. However, had I got these details two days in advance, I would have been able to print out this waiver form. I'm at neither home, nor work. I don't have a travel printer. Luckily, I ended up printing a form at the hotel where I was staying. Still, I shouldn't have to scramble to find a printer. What the message didn't say is that if you don't have your waiver filled out, you can fill it out at the check-in table. Why not say that?! I had no problem driving over to this rink in downtown Saint Paul. I turned right from Wabasha Street, into entrance C of the parking lot (ramp). I took a ticket and proceeded up a bunch of levels. I parked on level 6. The entrance to the rink is level 7 (top floor) of the ramp. I pulled into a spot, walked a bit, and entered through the door. I walked down a few steps and saw the check-in area. A cheerful friendly man welcomed me. I handed my form in. He thanked me and said to head up the stairs for breakfast. Nice! The check-in area was across from the skate rental place. I walked up the stairs to the top floor of the rink. Continental breakfast was available, thanks to Levy Restaurants. There was oatmeal with fruit, pastries, muffins, and hot beverages. I had breakfast at the hotel at 7:30 am. It was now 10:30 am. I was able to down two fruit danish pastries and a cakey donut. They were all yummy, but the cakey donut wowed me the most. It was so good. What I like about TRIA Rink is that there are shorter bench seats for one to two people to sit down. I did just that, as it was me and my continental breakfast. Oh, I got hot chocolate. It was delicious. I loved every sip. It went well with my donut. Seeing the Wild practice was such a delight. Boldy came on the ice without any skates on. He was practising shooting pucks on net. Johansson joined him and they chatted off to the side for a bit. I loved seeing the Wild do drills and the camaraderie between players. Kaprizov. Zuccarello. Huges. McCarron. Nick Foligno (his brother, Marcus, was injured and wasn't there). Gustavsson. Wallstedt. Ericsson Ek. Fleury. I was so happy! Mats Zuccarello is one of my favourite Wild players. It was great seeing him practise right in front of me. The practice lasted an hour. We then headed to the Saint Paul Event Center on the third floor. Wild CEO Matt Majka was there to speak about his time with the Wild. The elevators were huge and efficient. Staff were great directing us to the event centre, which was huge and inviting. I frankly didn't care much for this part of the event. He had stories to tell, but he couldn't remember the exact details by admitting this fact, which was a downer. He wasn't a smooth talker, either. I guess it's also because I'm Canadian. The part about the US hockey teams winning gold at the Olympics went on for what felt like forever. I would have rather been back at the rink to stuff myself with more pastries and get a hot chocolate refill. Yum! Afterwards, I needed to use the washroom. There was one to the left. The women's washroom was impeccably clean and bright. Wow! I headed back to the fifth floor, to get back to the parking ramp. It was nice seeing a quiet rink before leaving it. One male season ticket holder commented that I had the right sneakers on today. I looked down. I was wearing Vans with Minnesota Wild green on parts of them. I thanked him and reciprocated. You scan the QR code on your ticket to pay for parking. You then scan your ticket to leave the ramp. I had a memorable experience. I'd do it again! (129)

We saw the MN Whitecaps play the Buffalo Beauts at a Sunday 12pm game and overall the experience…read morewas fun and positive. Despite being a professional game the atmosphere feels more like attending a casual college game. Which I appreciate. We paid $7 for parking ahead of time but if you stay even a minute after the end time on the parking ticket, they charge you $11 which is the current rate for 1-3 hours in the parking garage. Still not bad overall for attending a downtown event. Parking couldn't be easier to get in and out of, and was plentiful. Tria has clean bathrooms. The vending machines were all down and no concession stands (because then they'd have to check vaccination status and that was not done to attend the game). We were able to bring in our own water bottles. It's a no-frills casual arena in the heart of downtown St Paul. We had a great time. Bring stadium seat cushions if you have them-- the bleachers have no padding.

Stopped by to say at the Po. It was our first time. The staff was great. We lasted 3 hours. The…read moresand/water park was a huge hit when the kids needed a break. Will come back!

Awesome time at ice skating what a great venue and very affordably priced to rent skates. I loved…read morethe disco skate night. Great

Came here for a roller derby tournament in July. It's usually an ice rink during the winter time…read moreand they de-iced it during the summer. There are two rinks, and the other one still had ice in it. There's an upstairs area where you can watch either rink from above. This was convenient as the that area was air-conditioned and the arena was super hot (it was the middle of July). The arena itself was very big, with lots of bleachers seats on one side of the rink. Makes me wonder what level of hockey teams play hear and how many people they bring.

Good ice good service nice concession. What better place to play hockey than in one of Minnesota's…read moreoldest rinks

Becky is a great figure skating instructor for adults and children. If you want someone who has an…read moreextensive skating background (30 years of experience) and you want to pass your tests the first time around, than she's your coach. The cool thing is that she also works with hockey players to help give them better skating technique and speed. I'm going to try her dance classes next. She's all around a cool chick:)

From the owner: Becky specializes in coaching basic skills, hockey power skating, freestyle, moves, figures, ice…read moredance, choreography, synchro, off-ice conditioning, off-ice jumps, ISI judging and USFSA skating skills. David specializes in hockey power skating, conditioning, stick handling and shooting skills. Dry land and on ice private and group training are available. Lessons are available during open skate sessions at Richfield arena and Inver Grove Heights arena. Skate rental is available from the rink and helmets are recommended for beginners.

This is now called the Bauer Hockey Experience, but whatever it's called, this place is awesome…read more Top notch service, great selection, and a fun place to shop with your favorite hockey player. I brought my son here to be fitted for new skates. It was really a nice experience and we liked that you can try them before you buy them. The staff is super helpful and really knowledgeable about any product. If you are a goalie, forward, defenseman, coach or referee, you will find what you need here. Plan on spending at least an hour here if you bring kids - it's a big store with a lot to see and do. I can't wait to come here again.

If I understand correctly, the experience part is about trying on gear. We went to purchase some…read moreBauer M5 goalie pads and waited until we were in town so we could "experience" the feel of the pads on ice. Not only was the ice closed, we weren't even allowed to try the pads on! Sales person said they didn't want to clean everything just because we were trying things on. Guess who's son just decided to go with Brian's leg pads?

Nice ice arena and mostly I love the high bar stool style seating vs having to sit on bleachers!…read moreTemperature inside was comfortable as I was not doing the usual shivering. Signs directing to rink 1 and 2 were clearly marked along with location to locker rooms.

Question - Who's got 2 thumbs and is finally the first to review something? THIS GUY!!! Let's get…read moreit on! What? I'm reviewing an ice arena? What you say? It's ice Scott, it's ice. What's to review about ice? Well sit back and lets me edjumacate yous. A - ice arenas are not all the same. not even close. B - the ice at each individual arena can be drastically different. DRASTICALLY! Thirdly - staff, staff, staff. Ok, on to the review; I take my son here for open skate either every Wednesday or every other Wednesday to keep up his skating skills for hockey - side note, 5-6 yr olds playing hockey is absolutely adorable - side note over. In general it is an exceptional arena for this. Not too cold, always clean, friendly staff - HUGE shout out to Tara who is a fantastic employee and really makes it fun!! However.....the ice is always a little soft for my taste. More edjumacations? Yes. Ice can be soft. GASP!! Soft ice = great for figure skaters but terrible for hockey and not so good for standard skating Also, it's getting a little thin. Even more edjumacations? Yes. Ice can be too thin. It causes cracks and ruts. Cracks and ruts = folks on their butts! Thats the bad. Overall not too big of an issue. Now the good; 1 - The aformentioned staff (what up Tara?), all of which are always friendly, courteous, and just plain nice. These are mostly late teens to early 20's kids people!! And they're nice! 2 - Clean, clean, clean. Love an ice arena that's clean. See one that isn't and you'll know what I mean. (I'm a poet and didn't even know it) 3 - Centrally located 4 - Relatively inexpensive (*ahem* date night, date night). $4 to skate. $2 more to rent if you don't own skates (and they are good rental skates) 4 stars because of all the good. Work on that ice and it'll be 5 PS; a word to the wise - this is skating, on ice, ice is hard, it will hurt if you fall. Wear padding if you are a beginner, no one will care and no one will make fun of you. Trust me. It hurts to fall.