3.5 Stars: experience
4.5 Stars: facilities…read more
2 Stars: additional (expensive) fees
1 Star: entrance signage, ticketing, directions from staff (vocal/crowd control)
Took advantage of winter in NYC & finally went to Wollman Rink! It's surprisingly very close to the subway R/N 5th Avenue stop, about a 8-10 minute walk. Used my NYC/Queens/Brooklyn Library Card & got free admission (up to 2) on the Arts & Culture sight. You have to choose a date & screenshot the ticket, but the entrance time is open all day (mine showed only available dates for the following week - so plan accordingly).
This is a great program and hopefully New Yorkers take advantage of these Library cultural partnerships - HOWEVER things are not entirely low-cost & you still need to pay even before getting to the ice. It's $12 for skate rental (exact change, cash preferred at the ticket office) & $8 for locker rental (you need a phone, good wifi & credit card/apple pay at the lockers). I was scared for a teen tourist who left her new Doc Martin boots over in the corner, refusing to pay.
First - finding the entrance to the rink is confusing. You come across the exit, but there's no A-frame or signage & the poor guard is constantly stopping people. You have to walk further down around the path, or through the viewing area to the entrance. At the entrance, there two ticket kiosks, a ticket booth with staff & one attendant.
That one attendant at the "entrance" isn't there to scan your ticket, he's there to point at a QR code to scan & electronically sign a waiver. You also need good Wi-Fi because after filling out the form on that website, it'll email you the link, you have to go into your email & tap that link. The entrance attendant barely makes announcements, there's a group of people standing loosely around him & at first you're not sure if people are in line, undecided, waiting for their group... He lets me go in to the 2nd scanning point however my culture ticket with a barcode actually needs to be exchanged up at the ticket booth. So I head back up. After watching tourist families debate the pricing & a child needs to have one adult with them (free), but the other parent needs to pay. They can pay for their skate rental there, but they need to pay for their skate training walker thing inside. Finally, I'm in past the empty corralling lines.
It's be great if there was 1 giant sign at the front entrance with numbered directions about the whole entry process and costs. AND multiple A-frames with the QR code for the waiver.
I came on a Tuesday, open 10 AM - 2:30 PM; and it was busy enough for the space & facilities there, short lines outside. I can't imagine how it is on the weekends. The facilities are very up-to-date & clean, bathrooms also (& routine cleaning). There's actually good signage for skate rental, café, exits, a little gift shop, skate school meeting counter.
FYI, if you are a half size shoe size, you need to go up - bring thick socks! My skates were very old, the hard shell tongues had a slight crack, but there was black felt lining all in the inside - which was well worn & spilling off up the edges of the shoe. The shoelaces were long & old, but overall the skates did their job. There's slim "carpet covered?" benches (bed bug central??) for you to change out of your shoes. 2 attendants/guards are posted in the area, but lots of sign's saying "the rink is not responsible for lost or stolen items." The small lockers are a good size - pretty deep, can fit probably 4-5 pairs of shoes.
The music outside at the rink is just loud enough that it's annoying if you're sitting there watching, but on the ice it's OK, or maybe you're concentrating so hard that you tune it out. I got there around 12:30 PM. Don't know about the different qualities of skating ice. It was fairly rough by that time of day. A small center area's blocked off by cones for experienced skaters, with very shiny smooth ice. The ice at the entrances of the rink & around the edges at the walls weren't very level & were extra slippery/wet.
The ice rink staff were very attentive & moving around the rink, quickly went over to a boy that fell & was holding his knee.
Glad for this unique experience & offering from NYC Parks/Central Park. Expect to add on an additional half an hour or more for the whole ticketing/check-in process.