Raleigh Iceplex

Okay, not sure why all the bad reviews. First off, they have 3 different kind of skates. Hockey, and then two types of «figure skates». The blue ones which people claim are ratty have been around since I was a kid. I originally got the newer ones but opted to trade them out for the older blue ones after a few laps around the rink. The rental booth people simply asked why and after telling them the blue ones were stiffer and gave my ankles some extra support, they traded them out for me. No questions asked. The price of $ 8 to skate, + $ 3 to rent skates all tax already included is pretty decent. It’s less expensive than our local Polar House.
One thing that I didn’t like was open skate was from 8 – 10. By the time we got there and got our skates on it was almost 9:15. 45 minutes to skate for $ 22 is kinda expensive when you consider other comparable 45 minute activities. However, that was of no fault but our own so I can’t knock them for that. Just know, get there 20 minutes before open skate so you have time to pay, get skates, and get them on.
Another thing I didn’t like was that by the time we got there and got on the ice, there were some places that were already pretty bad. The ice needed to be cleaned Bad! And the amount of people leaving trails with the buckets they provide to help you skate didn’t help either. Although I am kind of glad that they didn’t clean the ice while we were there because it would have knocked even more time off of us being able to skate.
Overall it was a good experience. Staff was friendly and the other customers were friendly as well.

Ice skating in this humid spring weather is a perfect and fun way to escape the heat. The rink is large and open for all ages. They do not allow public skating at all times of the day, so be sure to check out their website for the hours. Also, if you are going during the spring/​summer season, don’t let the weather outside fool you into not dressing properly, it is cold in the rink. However, it was not overbearing, I was fine with a thin sweater and pants.
This is a great place for the wee little ones. There are stackable buckets to help them skate around with support.

Track Out Camp is a joke! I have signed my daughter up for several different camps around Raleigh to get different experiences. I thought, hey, why not try the IcePlex since it is on my way to work. I had visited the facility prior and it looked as though they had a nice inviting classroom for kids. Since my daughter had done camp at The Factory before, I figured she could get some lessons on skating and be closer to my work. Yea, not so much! Their idea of lessons is to put all the kids on the ice and set them free. There was nobody there to help beginning skaters learn new skills. In the classroom, it was all about the 60 in TV rather than actually doing anything constructive activities. From the moment I dropped her off in the morning until the moment I picked her up in the evening, the TV was on. My daughter is honest and did tell me about her experiences. On the second day, they were all punished and were not allowed to go on the ice in the afternoon because some other students did not listen to the «teacher» (very loosly considering them teachers as they didn’t actually teach anything) and were getting into lockers. Why were all kids punished? Those in charge have no experience engaging students in activities which is why the kids were off task more than on task. There were discipline issues daily according to my daughter. I don’t need something totally structured like actual school as this is camp and they should be able to have some fun and play time. However, I do not agree with getting paid to sit kids in front of a TV for hours on end and not actually engaging them in any sort of structured activities. WASTE OF MONEY!!! NEVER AGAIN! You might as well hire the neighbor kid to watch TV with your kid as they would get just as much engagement as they got here.

It’s been ages since I’ve been on the ice. I use to frequent the Iceplex all the time in my younger years especially to watch my friends play hockey. It’s always nice to find something different to do on a Saturday night. I don’t know how often they do open skates on Saturday evenings but I had a chance to check it out this weekend.
Open skate started at 7:30pm there were no lines and for $ 11 you get skates and a couple of hours of fun and exercise. Young kids working the skate rental weren’t the friendliest but not a big deal. I got my skates on and was ready to hit the ice.
Luckily this night was pretty empty so it was a perfect chance to get comfortable on the ice again without being bombarded by people. I wish they would have zamboni’d the ice before open skate, it was obvious they just had a hockey game before we arrived, and the ice was a little choppy. There were a lot of families and kids pushing buckets learning to skate. Overall a pretty tame night on the ice and I really enjoyed it. After ten years of being off the ice I think I might take this sport up again. My friend takes adult lessons here and they are reasonably priced. Ice skating is great exercise! I can’t wait to come back again soon.
**There are also a lot of adult hockey leagues and pick up games here if hockey is your sport.

Had a party there for my ‘tween daughter and 20 of her friends during public skate hours on Saturday. What great fun and so easy! The staff at the front desk were very nice and helpful, as well as the manager Cindy. I was a bit concerned about bringing such a large group on Saturday public skate, but it was not problem. I had the girls get there early so they could grab skates and go. They had a blast. I spoke with Cindy about the music (as mentioned in an earlier review) and she said she does her best to bring new appropriate music. Music was «Pop» appropriate on the day we were there. Skates were fine, though I always recommend bringing your own. The buckets were available for those who weren’t confident on the ice and are such a great idea. No wall hugging!
The only suggestions that I would have is to keep the entire rink open during public skate. (About ¹⁄₃^rd was cornered off for lessons.)
Also, use the PA for fun things like special/​birthday announcements. There was an engagement on the ice and it would have been fun to hear it announced over the PA.
We’ve had a lot parties at different places and this was the most fun and not crazy expensive either.

The only saving grace is they had ice to skate on, but just barely…
It was clear they had lessons or something just before open skating but didn’t bother to clean up the ice. The front entrance area especially was completely chewed up.
The staff is beyond inattentive. It’s clear most would prefer to be somewhere else. Just getting their attention as they stand around the lobby area is difficult. On the ice it was worse. There’s no clear staff presence on the ice to mitigate injuries.
The equipment rentals were in poor condition. This is based on my own and the rest of my parties experience. Almost all the laces were completely chewed off at the ends making them too short to know properly. The one set of laces we got that weren’t too long were about 1.5 ft too long and needed to be tucked into the skate. The skates themselves have seen better days. I suggest bringing large socks because the inside of the skates are all if not most of the padding.
The real cherry on top was the song choices for open skate. The people on the ice were about 75% children with some as young as 6 (guessing their age but VERY young). Despite this, the songs played were a lot of explicit hip-​hop beats. Pretty sure an eight-​year-​old doesnt need to hear about grinding on hoes at an ice rink.
I cant imagine ever going back…

It’s a nice sized rink. I took my daughter a few weeks back to try skating to see if she would like it. They have stacks of plastic buckets which you can lean on to help if you aren’t used to the ice which she found helpful.
I signed her up for lessons which she likes. My wife signed up for lessons too and she’s enjoying going as well.
It’s an OK atmosphere — not bad, not overly festive. I’d say if you want to have a good time skating this is a good choice.

We were invited here to attend a birthday party for a 4 year old. My son was very excited and did have a good time. A few things they can improve upon for those wishing to have a party there, especially during free/​public skate would be to cordon off an area for the party goers. Especially if they are small. Also, it would be helpful to know the smallest size the skates come in (childrens 8), as I had my two year old with me and she could not skate.
The rink is big and the people working there are friendly enough. Enough that we will be back to get on the ice again.

Ugh, this place is pretty terrible. First off it is absolutely FREEZING in there, especially when it is cold outside. It is literally so much colder than it needs to be. Now I understand that ice rinks need to be cold in order for the ice to stay frozen, but there is absolutely no need to keep it as cold as they do. I’ve been ice skating in rinks much warmer and the ice is perfectly fine. It is not enjoyable to skate when I am numb. Secondly, this is supposed to be a fun place to take the kids, and it even advertises that it is a great place to come during track-​out. Well when we took our track-​out kids here for the open skate and they had a decent time but it was nothing special. There was no music playing, which I think is essential in an open skate. There were not enough buckets for the kids who didn’t know how to skate to use, and the staff was getting very impatient when giving them their skates. I just feel that if they are going to make this an enjoyable place for kids, then there should be pleasant staff, a little bit of music and a much warmer rink.
We will go back again with work because it is a cheap, easy field trip, but I would never go on my own to this rink.

I came down here when my sister was graduating from Duke in Durham. I came down to the Sticks and Pucks session for $ 8 on a Friday morning.
A couple thoughts; first, the ice arena wasn’t terribly crowded. I got there shortly before noon and the people who wanted to do Sticks-​n-​Pucks were already on the ice. The people at the front were very cool and obviously allows the guys to get on the ice even sooner than scheduled. Nontheless, we got the full 90-​some minutes on the ice, which is the best deal that I’ve seen in awhile down here at least south of the Mason-​Dixon. I mean, $ 8 to get on the ice for 90 minutes is much better than $ 10-​$ 15 that you may pay for an equivalent amount of time in some other places.
The quality of the ice was also pretty good, no complaints there. They like to play their 80s and 90s rock music, which made me feel like I was Patrick Swayze in Youngblood, minus the mullet. I just have a feeling that this kind of music was written for hockey and for rinks like this (It just had a distinct 80s feel to the whole atmosphere).
The locker rooms were a bit small, at least compared to what I have been used to. There isn’t much of a pro-​shop either, aside from a couple vintage jerseys available for purchase (It’s no Perani’s, but few places are). Overall, It’s not a fancy rink by any stretch of the imagination. However, if you’re a passer-​by or someone looking to get some ice time, check out the IcePlex for sure.

Of all the ice rinks in the area, this is the best (for me)…
The Iceplex is about 15 minutes away from where I live, *right* off the beltline on the other side of Raleigh. I currently play in two leagues there and can’t complain much about anything. The only real thing that comes to mind was last season (Summer ’09) they were lackadaisical with the stats. Normally I wouldn’t care, but a large portion of our $ 3500 team fee is allocated to these statistics. Also, entire games never appeared in the system, now thats a problem. I’d like to think that the complaining I did to Russ fixed the problem, and this season has been much improved.
The staff is nice, fun to hang around. Russ runs the leagues and does a fair job officiating. I’d say that in the last 2 years, questionable calls have bounced each way — which is about all I can ask. Now the most important factor, the ice. I’m quite pleased to say that it stays in about the same condition year round. Occasionally after a general skate I kill myself on the jagged ice while sprinting (not really, I suck) to the loose puck. But all-​in-​all the ice is good. Its certainly WAY better than the Cary Ice House where at times they have had the sublayer concrete exposed in the corners (yes, that is correct).
A lot of guys on my team rave about the Factory in Wake Forest. This is another great establishment, but its location puts it outside of the amount of travel I would like to do for games (hence the parenthetical «for me» above). So Iceplex it is!

I’m not much of an athlete myself, in fact I think most of the exercise I get when I’m not at work involves reaching into my pockets to take out a pack of cigarettes. I did have the good fortune of taking an ice skating class that met at this location however, and I’ m glad I did.
Iceplex is the only ice skating rink I’ve been to in the area, but it was a great place for me to learn how to skate. Despite the fact that several of the folks who work there are very skilled athletes, I never felt like a complete dolt no matter how many times I fell down (I’d estimate that the total number of falls I took while learning to skate was somewhere between five thousand and twenty-​five thousand).
Rentals and rink time are actually fairly cheap, and you’ll find that a couple hours of skating costs about as much as going to see a movie, but supplies a few more laughs and a great chance to get more familiar with the person you’re with. For that reason I’ve found it makes a great spot for a date, as long as you’re not worried about looking like a total idiot if you fall.

It would be a gross understatement to say that I’m not much of an athlete, but ice skating happens to be one of the only physical activities in which I have any sort of natural skill. That said, I’m always trying to convince people to go with me, and there are actually several ice skating rinks in the Triangle.
The Iceplex isn’t my favorite, mostly because they host so many practices and events that it’s hard to find a time when it’s open to the public. The weekends are the only time that I can really go, and they’re open to the public for like two hours on Friday night and two and a half hours each on Saturday and Sunday. It’s just not really worth it for me to drive 30 minutes and pay a $ 7 admission price (plus $ 2 for skate rental) for two hours of skating. The facility is well-​maintained and they offer a ton of lessons and classes, but if you just want to free skate and play around for a little while, you’re better off visiting one of the Ice House locations.