THUNDERBIRD ROLLER RINK

My 8 year old step daughter loves to skate, so when she came to visit of course I went to Unilocal to find a nearby rink. Thunderbird is surprisingly one of the only skating rinks in the area. It is very retro, or maybe just run down, but I like it because it brings up feelings of nostalgia from my childhood. The walls are brightly painted in greens and yellows and purples and it smells of paint, even though I have a feeling it was painted a while ago. There is a snack bar that offers food and drinks at great prices. Bottled water was a $ 1. They play current music (mostly pop) and they turn down the lights and have cool projected designs on the walls.
My only real gripe is they do too many races on Fridays and Saturdays (I have gone both nights). The DJ will do fast races for kids 13 and under, 14 and up and one for the adults. It can take a while for them to finish and the little kids I was with were anxious to get back out there. Price is cheap only $ 8 if you rent 4 wheeled skates, $ 11 for inline. It is free if you don’t skate which is nice– Grapevine’s Skate Town makes you pay to enter the building.

I grew up in Plano and when I was 11 through 16 I went there every weekend! I have so many great memories of Thunderbird and all my friends! I can honestly say it was one of the best times of my life! And now I get to take my 5 year old there!

HORRIBLE SOUND SYSTEM! SKATES HURT! NO SKATING MUSIC!!! Will not be back and would not recommend if you really enjoy skating. This isn’t the place to go.

This place is a hidden gem for sure, I have lived in Plano for a while and drive by it all the time. We came in for the first time today and had a blast!

Hidden gem in Plano that has stood the test of time. I grew up skating here and going to birthday parties here and now my five year old is doing the same thing 30 years later.
It costs $ 8 to rent normal skates or $ 11 for roller blades. If you bring your own you just pay $ 6 for admission.
They play top 40 music from the last 10 years.
For birthday parties they still have the money machine that blows cash into the air inside a glass box. I did this as a kid and thought it was great!
They offer group lessons on the weekends.
They provide these crutches on wheels for kids who are learning. My son and his friends use them and like them.
We will be back again and again!

I purchased two tickets to visit here on Groupon, after researching their hours online to ensure they would work for me. We visited them on a Friday afternoon when they were open (Both according to Google, and the hours posted on their door).
We got there and they were all locked up and lights off. Don’t know what to do now that I have purchased tickets and cannot go?!?
Go elsewhere.

Stroller skating is an awesome event to get moms got, but the Miami make it I enjoyable. The facility needs to play music that appeals to their customers. The carpets need vacuumed along with the benches. It’s a great roller rink, but it needs to be a little cleaner.

OMG… I just had my sons 8^th birthday here and I can not say enough good things about this place. We had an absolute blast!!! My experience here was great from beginning to end. I’m going to be honest when I first thought about having his party here I was extremely hesitant because of the reviews. But we kind of waited last minute so we were limited with options. We went in to look at the place on a Tuesday to see what the inside looked like and we were pleasantly surprised. Ava (I believe she’s one of the owners) was sooooo sweet and helpful, she answered all of my questions and seemed happy to help. We booked the party that night and the rest is history lol. The party rooms were clean and nicely decorated we had a glow room and the kids LOVED IT! The bathrooms weren’t the most up to date but I have definitely seen worse. The skating rink floor was kept up and smooth. It looked the way you would expect a skating rink to look. It took me back to my young days and I loved it. Long story short the kids had a ball the parents were pleased (a couple mothers even said they may have their child’s party here) and most importantly the birthday boy was smiling from ear to ear! It was for sure a success! If you’re considering having a party here I would definitely say go for it!

Does not deserve a STAR! The minute I walked in and smelled the stench I should of walked out with my kids. The place is disgusting — probably has not been cleaned since the 70s. There were tarps all over the ceiling — lots of water damage everywhere. Was there for a bday party and literally skated for 10 min and left. Could not handle it!

We had my 6 year old’s party there today, and I think it went very well. I gotta say I wasn’t keen on a roller party, all the rinks are old. All of them. Get past that, and you’ll see these guys throw a great party. It was a bit hectic, not having a party room or home base area the entire time, but I knew what I got going in. We bought the $ 125 party and there were no surprises.
Yeah, it’s old, or retro, what have ya… but when the kid demands roller skating, this is your only bet. The kids had a blast, that’s most important. They do a great job, don’t hate… bring them business so they can afford the updates!

New owners took over about 7 months ago, I believe. Not much has changed, but I think that may be part of the appeal-​retro.
The bathrooms could use some repair.
Otherwise, my children had a blast!
Our birthday party we had there, right when the new owners took over, was very reasonable and we were pleased.
I did not think the gun/​hunting video game was appropriate for children, or anyone for that matter.
I did like that the concession stand now takes credit cards:)
All in all, it is a great place for kids to have fun and for parents to flashback to their childhood!

This place may be «cheap» but they also charge for everything — I felt like I had to get coins just to use a urinal. It feels retro but that’s probably because they have not updated it since the 70’s… I mean? Streamers on the ceiling!!! And light balls from the 80’s!!! I get it that this place is probably a staple of the olden, and I mean, olden days of Plano West, but seriously? A tiny bit of paint and taking credit cards at the concession isn’t going to kill anyone!!!

It’s hard to give this place a rating. There are not many skating rinks around, but it is really run down. It reminds of the skating rink of my childhood, but the looks of this rink is still in the past. The actual wooden rink is in good shape, but the AC vents are covered in filth. The skates that you rent are in sad shape and the the snack bar area is very dirty.

We had our daughter’s 5^th birthday party here and they couldn’t of been nicer! It has a very retro feel to it. Reminded me of skating when I was a little girl.
The DJ was so nice to our daughter and made a point to ask what games and music she wanted since it was her birthday. The party room is a little small and prison feeling, hence the loss of one star, but overall, we will be back soon!

As far as a skating rink goes, this place was nice. But the reports of the owner having Zero People skills… They couldn’t be any more truthful. Trying to speak with him makes you want to smack him. Very straight forward, doesn’t really care about anything other than getting your money. (But he is running a business, so it is somewhat the expected operation of things) I did witness him being rude to one of the associates there. A young kid, maybe 16, was walking past and the guy asked «Where are you going?» in a very rude tone. The kid said, «I’m heading home now.» Right in front of everyone, the owner said, «You don’t leave until I tell you that you can! Get back behind the counter!» It wasn’t exactly the correct way to treat an employee in front of customers. But anyway.
The place didn’t seem very clean, but it is an old place. There was a smell in the air… Seemed like there wasn’t a decent amount of air flow in the joint. We were there for a party, and they reserved a party room. That room was like an oven! The smell in there was even worse. The bathroom had a cleaner smell to it.
Aside from all of that… The skating aspect was fine. Maybe they could lower the price for kids though. The music was all types of genres. The concession stand wasn’t too over priced. Maybe eat prior to showing up.
Three stars for the time I enjoyed with my kids. I may try a different place next time.

Our daughter went here recently for a birthday party. I think it’s amazing how all skating rinks look the same. This one looks like the one in Florida I used to skate at in the 70s. In fact, I don’t think they’ve updated anything since the 70s. I’m not sure if they’ve cleaned since then either. The place is a bit dirty. Bottom line is it’s ok and our daughter had a good time.

This is a cool place. I had my birthday party here and everyone had fun. So why only 2-​stars? The owners are pretty incompetent.
I met with the owner dude and settled on the date and time. He offered to reserve me one of the rooms and allow me to bring some snacks and bottled waters. He then told me to finalize my guest list so we can negotiate a per-​person fee for the party. After I got my guest list together a week later and to go meet him again, he tells me that he gave my room away to another party. He didn’t even bother to call me to follow-​up. The guy has no clue on how to run a business. This place has so much potential if the owners actually had any type of customer relation skills.
I would HIGHLY recommend getting things in writing because he will go back on some of the agreements at the date of the party. He probably knows he can squeeze people when faced with desperate situation.
Hrmm…maybe I should have changed this review to just one-​star.

Wow… I have no idea where these bad reviews are coming from, so I want to share my experience and get their rating up!
We’ve been here twice in the past four months or so… and had a blast with our 8 year old, and are even planning his birthday party here. I’m not sure why there are so many bad reviews. My only complaint is that the intercom system isn’t the best, and it’s difficult to understand the DJ sometimes when he’s on the mic. Other than that, I think the staff is extremely helpful. They have «referees» skating on the floor making sure there is no rough-​housing, they will assist small children or beginning skaters when they’re out on the rink, and do a great job of «monitoring» the older kids who are there to ensure there aren’t any shenanigans going on.
Oh and the birthday party prices are VERY reasonable.

Flashbacks to 7^th grade, yo. That also seems to be the last time this place was renovated.
I’ve taken my kids here a few times and typically I have to trade my skates back in at least once due to bad bearings.
Like some of the others have said, make sure you have cash, cuz they don’t take American Express.
And you better love you some Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga, cuz the DJ certainly does.

For the ULTIMATE old school party experience rent out the entire skating rink at Thunderbird for yourself and your retro-​fabulous friends. Go the extra mile and make it a themed party and it will be an evening you and your guests will not forget.
Albeit nearly a month late, I decided to celebrate a milestone birthday at Thunderbird Saturday night from 11pm-​1am to the tune of a 70’s disco jamskate. When my friends and I arrived 15 minutes early, the place was still packed with kids of all ages. Here I was thinking roller skating was just popular when I was a kid! Did us adults feel a little out of place walking around in our bell bottom pants and afros amongst all the little people? Heck no! Not when you’ve had several pints of liquid courage beforehand — you feel totally bad ass until some kid wants to pet your fro.
The place cleared out 10 after 11pm whereupon every gleaming square inch of the wood skating rink was all ours. Upon request, the DJ spun 100% 70s disco tunes like KC and A Fifth of Beethoven. Ah yeah! Now that’s what I call Saturday Night Fever! For two glorious hours, my pimpin’ crew jamskated on the dance floor like it was 1979.
These guys are pros at doing birthday parties. For $ 300 you get entrance and rentals for 30 skaters, free soft drinks, 2 hours of skate time, and a trip to the Money Machine. I may have only grabbed $ 7 from the Money Machine (not quite enough to pay the bill in its entirety), but I did feel like a $ 30,000 millionaire for a very brief moment when I emerged clutching my crumpled $ 1 bills. I thought I was the oldest «kid» to have a birthday party there, but apparently they had someone celebrate their 65^th birthday there so I guess it’s never too late to have a roller skate party.
Do yourself a favor. Go to your closet, dig out your old four wheelers, and hit the skating track today. Do it. Best two hours you’ll have in a long time.