Napa On Ice

My children always enjoy themselves! This was the first year the rink was moved from downtown. I enjoyed it being downtown much more, since the fairgrounds is remote — parents can’t run to a local shop for a coffee or some holiday shopping, etc. there was a food truck on-​site selling coffee, but it wasn’t always open so you never could rely on it. Their coffee and service was mediocre.
For the ice rink — the fairgrounds infrastructure was poor, and the power for the chiller was having trouble. The zamboni kept breaking down, and one day we were sent home because it wouldn’t work and was stuck in the center. We received a ticket to skate another day, but it was disappointing.
The weather was quite cold for those that were just observing — it would be great if there were some gas heaters for the seating areas.
Staff should have monitored the seating tents for trash.
One night there was a pizza truck, but we didn’t know about it and ate elsewhere. Wish I had known.
The skate guards could spend more time helping people instead of socializing.
I do think it is great that they had kids volunteering this year — Madeline was a pleasure and so friendly to everyone!
Last… Was the rink actually smaller this year or is it just me?

Really great place for kids and families! Highly recommend.

Cool outdoor wintertime fun for the whole family. The nice thing about this place is they don’t offer session times– you can skate as long as you want from the time they open until they close. Since I helped run an outdoor rink for 9 seasons, a few of suggestions that would make this rink much better and boost them to 5 stars.
They should offer a discounted price if you have your own skates.
Ice-​guards could do a better job of getting the crowd to flow in one direction. I saw this one woman ice guard just stand next to an elderly gentleman who fell down– it seems like she couldn’t skate well enough to keep her balance because she didn’t even bend over to help him up; he sat there for a minute before another guy (who didn’t work there) helped lift him back up to his feet.
Better downtown location last year; this years it’s at the fairgrounds.
Music isn’t loud enough– they need to turn it up.
I was in one of the tents for over 2 hours and no one came around to clean up. Families came and went but their trash was left long after: I picked up the bags of chips and empty bottles and threw them away because I didn’t want to see all the trash laying around.

I booked my daughter’s 8^th birthday party at Napa on Ice, a rink that was opened a few years ago in downtown Napa for the kids and as a way to bring the community together and into the downtown, supporting local businesses. The party was scheduled in advance for 12/​20, and I paid $ 200 cash up front for reservation, which included 10 skaters and use of 1 tented cabana. On ¹²⁄₁₇ I called the rink to talk about weather conditions, and was told their Zamboni was not working and the ice was bad. On ¹²⁄₁₉ I was told a Zamboni specialist was coming out. As the weather grew worse as the weekend went on, I needed to cancel the outdoor ice skating and figure something out last minute. I went into the rink on ¹²⁄₁₉ and cancelled the party because it was going to be raining all day on ¹²⁄₂₀ and I could not expect 10 little girls to ice skate for 2 hours in the rain and knew that none of the parents would even allow their kids to come out in the rain. On ¹²⁄₁₉ I spoke with the owner Nancy Mott– a Napa City Councilman’s wife, regarding a refund. She said my $ 100 deposit was non refundable, but I could get the additional $ 100 back. I asked about the safety of the ice in rain, she said the rain made the ice better to skate on and the rink was safe. She said the deposit went toward me occupying a cabana that could have been rented by someone else. There were in fact no other parties scheduled for ¹²⁄₂₀ and the rink has at least 3 cabanas, so they were not out money from other potential reservations. She did not seem to care about my concerns for 10 little girls being expected to skate in the pouring rain. I asked if the deposit could be used for credit to the rink on another day and she said no. The policy only states non refundable, does not specify cannot be used as a credit. I have been back and forth via email with Nancy and have expressed my disappointment in her business practices especially considering she and her husband are public figures in the community, and the rink is supposed to be something for our small, giving community to enjoy. I ended up having to hold my daughter’s party at a local pizza parlor and spend another $ 100 to pay for that. On ¹²⁄₂₀ at 330pm I went by the rink, where there were 3 preteen girls on the rink, in the pouring rain, drenched; 3 employees on the rink standing under an umbrella, and 3 employees inside the snack shack huddled under blankets. Yet they expected me to bring 10 little girls and about 20 adults out there for a party? I went back by the rink at 5:30pm and there were only 3 cars in the parking lot and not a single person on the ice. It is my understanding that the rink closed early that day bc of the lack of customers which was due to all day rain. I have asked Nancy to explain why we cannot get a credit or vouchers to use on a day with more appropriate weather, and she refuses to respond. She gave me $ 100 or the $ 200 back, but kept the deposit and has not offered me any type of credit for future use. I’m a single mom and $ 100 is a lot of money to throw away on a day where the rink did not and could not have even profited because of weather conditions. At the very least, it would have been nice to get 4 or 5 vouchers for free skate so my daughter could at least go out there and enjoy the rink one time this holiday season since she was so disappointed her party had to be cancelled. I live in the community, I work for the county, I believe in giving and working together as a community. But this experience with people who are public figures has really been disconcerting. I cannot even justify taking my daughter to skate there and spending another dime at that establishment knowing they have already taken $ 100 for nothing.
And I contacted neighboring community rinks in Walnut Creek and Santa Rosa who allow you to use your deposit toward another day. And Walnut Creek on ice at least provides partial tent coverage over their outdoor rink.
The point being, the ice rink was allowed to be opened a few years back under the precedent that it was a service for the community and it would not be run for profit. The Motts are figures in the community and should not be operating like money hungry vultures and have a more understanding, flexible policy as this service is for the community. The least they could do is offer some vouchers toward my $ 100 deposit to be used before the season ends.
Hoping you can share and encourage community businesses to have better practices.

Great place nearby to ice skate during the holiday season. We basically come here every year. Wish it could be a bigger rink. Somewhat pricey but worth the amount of time you can stay. There really is no time limit. You can skate from when they open up until they close. After a couple hours, it gets tiring though, but the kids love it and they’re the reason why I go every season; aside from me skilled at ice skating. ;) Cool people that work here, always helpful with a smile on their faces. Maybe because it’s always during the holiday season, or they’re all just good, all around, humble folks, which makes the visit every year well worth it. Always parking around the area is a plus.

Ok i guess i cant dis this place too much since we were generously given tickets… but we rented the plastic ice walker for the little one in our party and they said it’s only for an hour… when we first put on our skates they had the big ice machine to smooth out the ice on… for 15 mins… they didnt even subtract those 15 mins from our rented hour (not like they were hurting for more walkers) the ice wasnt even fixed. There was a hole where they had to cone off part of the ice, limiting the skating space… as the areas around that started getting worse, they then coned off more and more ice… its nice that Napa has this but if you’re going to do something then do it right.

First time trying this rink on January 2^nd, 2015. It was a nice change to go to a different and less crowded location. I have my own skates and they still charge the same price! The rink is located in a nice central area of Napa. Only thing I am not sure about is the walkers to help beginers. I think it’s a bit dangerous to have a bunch of those on the rinks!

my to kids (5 & 4) had a blast. nice staff and clean place. had plastic «walkers» to help kids (and some adults) get use to ice skating! i definitely recommend this place! it is only sesonal though so check dates before you go.

Today we went to my daughter’s ice skating lesson. Once again the instructor was late for the third time. I thought Maybe third Times a charm. NOT. First she never showed up. Its not cheap to take lessons. But it’s something my daughter loves. So she was skating today and we noticed her foot was turning in. Looked painful. So we asked the instructor what’s wrong with the skate she said broken. Wtf? So why does my daughter have them on? I want my daughter to want to skate. And the experience that we have had has not been great. The rink itself is great. The other works are good. Their kids with a job. Good for them really. Not happy at all with the skating instructor.

Appropriately priced at $ 12 including skate rentals. Great fun for people of all ages and ice skating skill levels!

We had our sons birthday party here and they all could not have been nicer, more helpful, or more professional. Everyone loved the new comfy skates and they had terrific «helpers» on the ice to tend to the newer or youngest skaters. This is such an amazing addition to the downtown scene, for kids and adults to enjoy as well. Thanks so much to Councilman Pete Mott for bringing this to us, we really needed this in Napa!!!

Pro:
$ 12 per person includes skates
Option to rent a slider to aid in first time ice skaters, kind of like a walker
Cons:
Ice was uneven and chopped. Hasn’t been resurface all day. Uneven.
DJ was playing some good songs, BUT some had curse words that shouldve been avoided especially with all the young children.
Too many pre-​teens yelling f*ck b$tch, etc. etc. Potty mouth!

My kids LOVE Napa On Ice! They’ve been multiple times — just to skate and hang out with friends, for birthday parties, and for a school field trip.
Skating at night is downright magical with the snowflakes projected on the wall and the holiday music. We even went for a Friday night «Rock the Rink» where there was a live DJ!
Great thing for families and so nice to have something fun to do in Downtown Napa!

Only a temporary ice skating rink, but damn awesome! I’m so bummed that the ice rink will be gone on Jan 16^th. Wonder if it could come back EVERY Christmas? My son and I had such a good time today, even the mini zamboni kept us entertained. The music was rockin’! The skating experts were quick to help anyone who fell, (and my son fell often, but he thinks it’s fun)
The ONLY thing I would change to improve the experience is to replace the shoe cubbies with actual lockers. I left my purse in the cubby, and while it’s Napa, and we’re relatively safe here, I felt I had to keep my eye on the cubby the whole time.
Tons of seating areas for observers, and a little bit of a snack bar so you can keep your energy up.
We’re going to go back in a few days, in the evening, to see what skating under the stars is like!
Way to go, Downtown Napa! Napa on Ice is a WINNER!