The Pond at Southlands

First of all, the young girl, taking our tickets was extremely friendly. Her customer service was very good. However, the young girl who is in charge of the ice skates, was being extremely rude and sarcastic and annoyed at the customers. Dislike I'm not really sure why you make a reservation because there are about 1 billion people on this ice-skating rink. Apparently reservations mean nothing. There is one teenager monitoring the whole situation and he is talking with three of his friends. Everything seems terribly unsafe. Perhaps it would be much better if it is at a non-peak time. But still, I don't understand the reservation if they're not limiting the amount of people per hour.

Ice was very bad quality--obviously hadn't seen a zamboni since 1998. Rink was tiny and very crowded, definitely gone over maximum capacity and the employees didn't seem to care. Skates were horribly uncomfortable and very dull--blades obviously hadn't seen a sharpener since 1998 (or perhaps even earlier). I went with a group of 5 and all of us agreed that our ankles were in horrible pain from the moment we put the skates on.There was some bleeding.I give 2 stars because the vibes were nice, with a nice Christmas tree and string lights. Location of the rink is also convenient, in the middle of Southlands, but as a place to skate--would not recommend. I know I'm getting old, but there were some very rambunctious young hooligans skating about like maniacs. They were weaving in and out, flipping people off, and creating a generally unsafe and unpleasant environment. Normally I would let kids be kids, but the lack of space at the rink meant that we couldn't get away from them.Save your ankles some pain and save your wallet $13.41, just go to a damn public skate.

Teenagers are not very customer service oriented. Would rather argue with customers and be right about everything.

The skates are not comfortable to the point where they are actually painful. My kids and I all changed pairs with varying degrees of improvement. The was hard plastic jabbing into my ankle bones. We spent half our time fiddling with the skates instead of skating. I know rentals aren't ever as comfortable as custom or especially bought, but these were Impossible to deal with even for a short time.On the plus side, the operation is well-organized, it's convenient, nice setting. But all of that didn't really matter when you can't do what you can't to do.

Came here on Xmas eve. It was cold! But we were prepared;). You go into the little building in front rent your skates or buy skate passes(you can of course bring your own skates). It wasn't too crowded and it was very beautiful there with all the Christmas lights. It's a small area but seriously how much area do you need unless you're a professional.

The pond is currently doing a reservation style arrangement to help crowd control during COVID. I took my 9 year old for his birthday. It was his first time. The staff were very polite. I took a star away because the skates were very uncomfortable, but for public skates, I'm not sure what to expect. For 20 minutes it was tolerable. The rink is not the biggest one I've been to but I knew what to expect as it's outdoors and I've driven by it quite a bit. Point is we had fun. If he wants to go back I wouldn't hesitate coming here again.

My son and I had a blast ice skating this winter. They were very friendly about switching out skate sizes, and they have the little walkers you can skate around with for kids. I love outdoor skating rinks, though it can be rather chilly at times.

I had fun at The Pond, because ice skating is fun no matter where you're skating. However, I have to admit that I was expecting it to be better. I was expecting it to be busy and crowded, and I was aware that the rink is small, so none of that bothered me. It was the staff that was disappointing. First, the rules of the rink are clearly posted on the walls by the gates. No fast skating, no skating tricks, no weaving in and out, etc. Unfortunately, staff members broke all of those rules over and over for no obvious reason. They ran into people, upset people's balance, and generally contributed to a sense of chaos on the ice that was very unpleasant.Then, when the ice needed to be resurfaced, three employees went out onto the ice, but only two actually did anything useful while the third continued to skate around and show off. The employees also frequently called out in a surly manner that it was going to be a while before they were done, even though no one was acting impatient or asking how much longer it would be. Once the ice was in good condition again, the staff members continued their chaotic skating as mentioned above.I was disappointed by the way the staff acted, as was my husband. We are generally very easygoing people, and I didn't want to write a bad review, but someone is going to get hurt if things continue the way they did when we were there.

UPDATE!This place is still the bomb, but is now open until 10pm on Friday nights! Join them for their Rock N' Roll Fridays and jam out until you can't skate anymore!What a great, and CHEAP way to spend your evening :)

I've been here a couple times over the last couple holiday seasons and it's definitely a nice evening outing.Recently my friends and I headed out to do a little day skating on a warm weekend. The rink is small, but tends to be less crowded in the evenings. Beware during the daytime because kids sometimes aren't the most coordinated and tend to go flying in all directions when they strap on the skates. ;-)Overall, especially being so close to my house, I know I will be back for more evening skate meet ups with my friends! Woo hoo!!