Downtown Fresno Ice Rink

Its is nice to have a place to skate outside. but lets put up a decent rink. The rink is very small and the ice is very poor, tons of pits and uneven areas. The skates are in horrible condition, shredded laces, structure of the skates were so depleted from excessive use, my feet were on fire after an hour I could not skate anymore. Staff was not very helpful and many young skates were on the ice without being properly laced.
The cool part was that they offered walkers to help little ones learn to skate. that saved my back! My daughter loved it. I will not go back again next year.

This place was very poorly run. We spent considerably more time in line than skating! The slowest line ever, and poorly run in that after waiting forever to pay, you wait forever again to get skates, only to be told they were out of your size. They need more workers, a more efficient system, and better accommodations for the spectators.

The skates are in horrible shape. The ice isn’t taken care of so there are puddles everywhere, leaves, and it’s uneven. It’s also in a really bad part of town. Wouldn’t come back.

Three stars doesn’t mean it’s bad, it means there is work that needs to be done. By all means GO HERE over going to Gateway ice center (that place is terrible and has the worst management I’ve ever encountered).
Now, to fix this place up:
First, there is a lot of room around this area so maybe make some more seating and observing areas for people not on the ice. It was cramped for my wife and our daughter.
Second, the ice was at least half melted. I understand, Fresno is hot even in December, but you may need new/​upgraded compressors. So in reality, the skating surface was quite tiny, leading to many people bumping into each other (not good for first time learners).
Lastly, you shouldn’t charge those of us who bring our own skates the same as people renting, this kept me from returning.

Last year was the first year I attended the Ice Rink. I attended an Ugly Sweater Party at the Rink one Friday Night. It was SO MUCH FUN!
The areas surrounded by the rink were full of Food Trucks selling amazing food and hot cider/​chocolate, a booth from Tioga Sequoia selling local beer and prizes for child, female and male ugly sweater. There were about 100 people out there and it didn’t seemed packed and was a great time held by all. It was a bit chilly, but so cool to be able to skate outside in Fresno.
The Staff assisting was very helpful and it was so cute to see little kids ice skating. I hope to get out this year as well because it such a cool seasonal thing to do in Fresno.

Outdoor skating in Downtown Fresno is awesome! The rink features trees lit with holiday lights and light-​up snowflakes. Some days the rink is packed with smiling adults and kids, even if everyone’s falling on their butts. Other days, you have the entire rink to yourself as you skate under the stars. Great option for a romantic date or to work off the large holiday meals. The price can’t be beat, includes skate rentals for all day and parking validation in any City parking garage. This is the place to be during the winter!

I really really wanted to like this place. I’m a sucker for skating and was excited that Fresno was bringing this ice rink to downtown Fresno. Who wouldn’t want to ice skate outdoors at night with all the white Christmas lights? When my husband and I arrived, the rink was quite a bit smaller than what I thought it was going to be based on pictures that I’ve seen. It’s $ 10 for adults and for the size of the rink I don’t think it’s really worth it. We got our phones out to see if Gateway Ice Center was open for a session … They weren’t so we decided to skate at the Downtown Fresno Ice Rink anyway. For $ 10 you can skate all day take a lunch break, etc. and go back and skate some more if you’d like. If you plan to do something like that then you might get your money’s worth. We were there on a Tuesday night at 630pm. There were too many kids for such a small space. Either you’re watching for the super small kids who can’t skate very well and are going to trip you up, or there are the older kids playing grab fanny and trying to prank and hurt each other, throwing clumps of ice, digging into the ice with their skates … ruining the experience for everyone else. Also, because it’s not a true ice rink, the ice was in pretty poor shape. It was pretty cut up by skate blades with a pretty good covering of shaved ice on the top. If you want the experience of skating outdoors give it a shot. But I really think it’s too small of a space to accommodate the amount of people and keep the ice in decent shape. Can’t imagine what it would be like on a Friday/​Saturday. I would definitely suggest paying $ 1 more and head out to Gateway Ice Center instead … Larger rink so it’s not so crowded and you’re not skating on top of everyone else and their ice is kept up well. Good idea Fresno, but it needs some improvements.

How cool is it to have our very own ice rink right downtown?! I went one evening and really enjoyed this venue. Adults and kids alike were skating under the stars and bringing joy and laughter to Fulton Mall. It’s a perfect complement to the holiday season. Cheers to revitalization in downtown Fresno!