Although our feet lack the opposable thumbs required for whittling, our mirrored appendages prove their worth through other activities. Today's Groupon displays your walkers' talents with admission, skate rental, and $5 worth of concession refreshments from Arcadia Ice Arena for $7. Once you learn the rules of the rink, you'll be able to dole out such mixed compliments as "You really Yamaguchi'd that one."
Ice is nothing more than water that won't let people swim in it. Such stubbornness deserves comeuppance in the form of sharp metallic blades that merrily criss-cross to and fro across the frozen surface. Arcadia Ice Arena is Phoenix's only full-service ice center, and the arena offers public skating on weekday mornings and afternoons, and Friday and Saturday nights, with additional times depending on the day. See the full calendar for public skating times.
While pundits may doubt your double lutzes and be fickle toward your figure eights, the rhythmic glee of ice skating will negate the naysayers. Fuel your body at the concession stand before impressing friends, strangers, and that cute red-haired girl you've been trying to woo since 1950 while proving the efficacy of your skating ankles and the charm of your Olympic Bengal leotard.
On the slim chance that global warming actually refers to the Earth cooling into a chilly ice-ball, the city's ice-skaters will be our social and political champions. Test your sudden stopping skills and create fistfuls of shaved ice to bring home to your collection of flavored ice syrups at the Tiki Bar.
Concessions are open on Friday nights and all day on Saturdays. If the stand isn't open when you visit, your Groupon will still be honored with ice cream and candy bars.
Reviews
Four Insider Pagers, a lone Judy's Book reviewer, and multiple Yelpers all agree that Arcadia Ice Arena is worthy of a solid four stars:
- It was a fun family atmosphere, clean building, reasonable prices, and great snack bar food!! – Jason S., Insider Pages
- Its [sic] so much fun to skate there in the torrid Arizona summer. The skate rentals and the fee is so reasonable and the arena itself is nice and well maintained. – Prachi M., Judy's Book
- This is such a fun place to take the entire family, regardless if they can ice skate or not. – Lisa M., Insider Pages
Arcadia Ice Arena
The ice rink at Arcadia Ice Arena invites bladed feet for a full calendar of public skate times, hockey leagues, and figure-skating lessons. For public skating sessions, skaters may bring their own skates or rent hockey or figure skates before carving figure eights and love notes to the zamboni into the ice. Beginners and Olympic hopefuls alike can improve their technique through the arena's Learn to Skate programs, complete with private or group lessons.