Dimond Skateland

Okay, this is the third Skateland I’ve been to, which was for the party of my twin boys’ friend. The other two are in San Antonio, Texas, where my oldest son had his 8^th birthday party. Apparently they all have the same rules, sales, and layout. These three things I noticed: (1) Same kind of food served for birthday parties to include frozen pizza or hot dogs, ice cream cups, and soda. And those «Slush Puppies» that every roller skating rink seems to serve. (2) The décor is total late 1970’s-early 1980’s, never having been remodeled. I love it, but it’s enough to make many younger people want to gag. And (3), the restrooms all have the sinks outside them for both genders. But no privacy stalls in the restrooms whatsoever! These places were constructed back in the day for efficiency and when people didn’t have the privacy issues like they do now.
The boots I was issued were brand new, but the ones for my 7 year old boys must have been at least 20 years old. And the rink was pure concrete and floor tile. Ouch! Not good for beginners.
I’m really sorry to hear about people’s bad experiences. I think a lot of their rules are ridiculous, but obviously the owners are trying to prevent preteens and teens from getting out of control.

2.5÷5 rating just because this is the only indoor roller skate in Anchorage. First, the parking lot is a dirt road and exterior is not well maintained. I figure the inside wouldn’t be too bad, however i was mistaken.
Second, no food from outside and were forced to endure pricey food — extremely salty pretzel for $ 3.50 and large soda (more like medium) $ 3.00. There’s also no diet sodas and the water fountain looks questionable for lead.
Third, their loaner skates are outdated from the 60s or 70s with holes on the tip and falling apart. The owner should invest on the parking lot, better lighting, and new equipment. This place has a lot of potential but our experience here was just ok.

Horrible horrible place for a birthday party. They required the party to be there 45 minutes before the party time, but wouldn’t let us sit until it was our official party time started so all the guests had to stand around. The tables were already reserved and empty but they would not let us sit there. Their solution to the problem was to try to take all the presents and cake and put them in some random room. They had booked 2 other parties and didn’t feel like it was a good idea to have our presents mixed up with the others. When we refused, the staff got hostile-​yes, hostile about us wanting to just sit the presents down on the tables that were already reserved for us. The manager and owner came over to insult us several times throughout the event. The only reason we didn’t leave was due to the kids and already paying the party fee.
The building hasn’t had any updates since it first opened, it looks dirty and dingy, the bathrooms have no doors on the stalls, the tiles are falling off the walls and most of the lights were turned off.
DO NOT book your party here!!!

The things we go through so our children feel special. Here’s what you need to know … if your child wants to have their birthday party there other than one of the designated birthday times, bring lots of cash, for some reason they can take credit cards during regular scheduled birthday times but not any other time. The selection of overpriced food is barely a menu and even on their busiest night they don’t seem to know if they plan on preparing pizza (tastes like cardboard) by the slice. I guess that would make too much sense.
Won’t be doing this again.

Beware… They will nickle and dime you for every single thing! Customer service is horrendous and the the owner is an absolute ****!

Oh joy, wondrous day! I thought when I learned that there’s a roller skating rink close to our place with weekday skate for low admission. It seemed the perfect solution for me to get out and enjoy some winter activity that didn’t involve facing the cold.
First visit, great. Their music sucked (weird emo pop that didn’t seem conducive to anything resembling roller fun), and their skates are probably about as old as I am, but I was having fun with friends and roller skating for the first time in over a decade. I saw some other skaters wearing headphones, so on the way out, I checked the rules, saw that they said nothing restricting headphones, and planned my return with an iPhone full of disco hits and other appropriate roller tunes.
Next time, lots of fun, stayed the whole session. No problems. The same people with headphones from before were there with headphones again. And I enjoyed my Saturday Night Fever on repeat.
Next time, the same.
Fourth and final time, ten minutes into my visit, a young referee pulled me over, saying I couldn’t wear headphones. I said it wasn’t in the rules. He said it’s still a rule. So, I went to the desk and asked for the manager. She said that yes, earbuds are against the rules. I asked why the refs the other nights, who had seen me with the headphones, even removing them, hadn’t said or done anything and why other regulars who wore them were allowed (though I wasn’t about to narc on who they were specifically). She couldn’t say. I then asked which rule was I breaking? She faltered.
I went back to skating. The ref stopped me again a few minutes later, saying the manager had called the owner to check on the rules. I went back to the manager, who said earbuds count under the «no headgear» rule – the examples of headgear on the rules stated hats and sunglasses, both of which are accessories. I said that’s absurd. In what world is a tiny earbud headset an accessory? However, I said if they would refund my entrance fee, I would leave. I’d been there less than half an hour, mostly off rink. No refunds was the response.
Ok, at this point, I was furious. My feel-​good roller time was being ruined by this ridiculousness. This brought out my ugly, petulant side. I went back on the rink and finished the session with my headphones (I told the poor ref that I knew he was doing his job, but he’d have to physically throw me out or give me a refund), and I left that night never to return.
This is, of course, a very singular experience. Sometimes it just feels cathartic to rant. If you can handle terrible music and random, inconsistent management because you just gotta get those skates on the rink, then this might be a fun place for you (as long as you stay away from the snack bar, for goodness sake!).

Fun for little ones; stressful for parents. It is terribly disorganized for parties. The staff does not help out nor do they have any special party fun extras that make the birthday kid feel special. After the assigned 2 hr time slot you must return your skates. It is a cash only business. No cards of any sort. Skateland does not use a POS. Everything is written on paper & outdated. The owners have obviously been skating along for decades w/​o upgrading. That is unfortunate, there is potential if only they would invest is some modernization.

They don’t allow in-​line skates. WTF?

Ditto, Mariah, ditto. This place is ORIGINALE. Nothing has changed since I was a kid. Awesome place for a visit to the good ol’ days. Not so awesome management. Got barked at that my coffee drink wasn’t allowed inside – which I get, as long as you sell coffee. Which you don’t. Duh. Signs everywhere – don’t do this, don’t do that. Employees looked downright miserable. Skates were totally brokedown. The «couples» song was Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA. C’mon man, gimme some Poison or Bön Jovi or SOMETHING! Points for cheap, fun exercise on the south side and a big dose of nostalgia. Don’t expect much else. Oh, and at least when I was younger my girlfriends could guard the door when I tinkled – what now???

As most the reviews state, the staff yet again make me hate this place. I’m 20 and I still like to have a little fun and go skating, I arrived and I parked in the front. I parked straight since there where no lines on the ground and no signs, the owners daughter then rudely stated ‘you parked wrong, park diagonally.’ I would have been fine with this correction had it not been with attitude. When I was skating, I was practically being stalked by the one 60 year old security who would get on my case for doing anything at all, literally yelling at me for standing in the food court and drinking when there was no place to sit. Lady, I’m not ten, don’t yell at me like I’m the ten year olds around you because you will get a mouth full. I was so irritated with this lady that I left because she wouldn’t stop following me. I’m a 100lb woman not a cereal killer. This place sucks if your an adult. Go to royal roller rink instead.

My daughter loves roller skating and we just moved to Anchorage from Colorado and live right down the street and though «how convenient» This place was a HUGE disappointment! I had to rent skates because they don’t allow inline skates, which means we will never go back. The girl at the front was not very friendly or inviting which made us feel very uncomfortable and they really need to update their music and maybe some pictures from this decade.

Up until I was 11 I went to this rink every Friday. I visited my family this summer and decided I would go back to the rink. Things were so much better when I was younger. It wasnt the amount of people or the enviroment that disappointed me but the faculty. I just couldnt believe how much things had changed. There was a woman going around YELLING at kids to do this to not do that. When I asked the guy up front a question he gave me a short answer and walked off. I thought to myself «how can you run a business treating your customers like they are a chore?». As much as I love skating, and as much as I wish I had my old rink back its just not worth the money. What a shame.
The reason for my two stars and not one is because the teenage workers at the concession stand were polite and timely. Yes, they had piercings and tattoos. Quite frankly I would rather hire them than anyone else in that building if I was an undercover boss. The day I went back was a very sad day :(
Here are some tips you might want to consider before even leaving to come here:
–they will not let you wear a hat because skaters might trip over it
–they have a inline policy (something about how they track in dirt?)
–if you ask for a refund after being in there for 5 minutes they wont do it.
–no doors in ladies restrooms
–rental skates are beaters

I walked in. I got my rental skates. As if on cue, the lights dimmed, the disco balls lit up, and the first strains of synthesized music hit my eardrums. Could it be? Ray Parker, Jr. I ran to the carpeted bench, tore off my Pumas and pulled on my 15+ –year old beige roller skates as quickly as I could. I didn’t even tie them right. I had to get to the rink.
In 1985 I spent a lot of time at Dimond Skateland rolling around the disco-​ball-​lit floor to the song «Ghostbusters.» Now, in 2011, at 33 years old, I was doing it again. AND IT WAS MAGIC.
I’m not giving this place five stars because it is the preeminent roller skating establishment in Alaska. I’m giving it five stars because it has not changed ONE IOTA since my childhood. The walls are still carpeted. They still serve Slush Puppies. They still have the same mountainy mural painted on one end of the rink. They even have a glassed-​in showcase with yellowed clippings from the ADN of star speed-​skaters from 1989. Unfortunate, unfortunate clothing choices there. But I digress.
If you grew up in Anchorage, and you skated at Skateland — the skating rink with the giant roller skate announcing itself from the side of the highway — there is no way you can be disappointed in your experience here. And if you are, your inner child is dead.