Planet Ice

I used to live just across the road from this place, and so our nights would echo with the whoops and shouts and booming, thumping, bass-​heavy music of the Ice Rink party goers and occasional hockey game. I have to say I do miss it slightly.
Inside, the place is huge and usually contains enough people to not make it feel like a desolate, ice-​scorched wasteland. On the days when it is really packed out, it has enough room for individual groups to play around and fall over without getting in everyone else’s way. Occasionally, you will get a near-​pro in the arena, and then everyone kind of slows down a bit and watches him or her do his thing and seethe with silent jealousy.
For £6 a session, including skate shoe hire, you can’t really go wrong and if there’s a group of you, it’s a far better time than going to the cinema aaaagain.

I took my two neices to Planet Ice and we all had a great time. Completely accidentally we went on the Friday evening session which was in effect a «roller disco» on ice. Anyone who can remember the old roller disco phenomenon of the mid to late 70’s will appreciate how naff it quickly became but how gloriously tacky it was in its heydey.
The actual building looks like a bit of a throwback to the 70’s. Everything has a temporary kind of feel and is pretty basic. People who love ice skating must feel a bit short changed after being turfed out of their original home in the centre of Cardiff. I’m not sure what the long term plans are for the rink but I hope it gets a bit of a face-​lift.
As I’m like «Bambi on ice» I left the actual business of skating to my neices who did our family proud by whizzing around quite professionally. There were lots of disco lights going on and off the skaters were being told to change direction every couple of minutes and the lights were switched off for a few seconds which caused great excitement.
The cost was roughly the price of cinema tickets and they could stay on the ice as long as they wanted. The location was accessible by car and there was lots of parking space. However outside the location it was quite dark with the feel of being in a deserted industrial estate. So with hundreds of over excited adolescents around i wouldn’t have wanted to walk far or get the bus home if I could help it.

Couldn’t agree more with the statements said. It is a bit annoying if areas are cordoned off at times and should just schedule it better.
It is great fun here and really can’t complain about the £6 for session as it really is a nice place to go and better than the run down places I’ve gone in the past.

I love, love, love, Planet Ice. For many years I went to the old Cardiff Ice rink, to skate or see the Cardiff Devils, and whilst I always had a lot of fun and a right laugh, I was in no doubt that Cardiff desperately needed, a nice, new modern ice rink. It took a long time, but Planet Ice down in Cardiff Bay is just perfect for all your skating needs.
Before I fool anybody into thinking that I’m a regular skater, I should probably, admit that I go no more than two or three times a year. But all my experiences at Planet Ice so far have been great. The ice rink itself is a fairly decent size and the way it’s maintained is most impressive. For those of you like myself who can on occasion be slightly clumsy, safety marshals will quickly be on hand to check if you’re ok.
Rather than a coat check, there are plenty of lockers available, so no worries about loosing your stuff. I should also mention the shop which stocks not only ice skates, but hockey gear too.
There are some negatives to Planet Ice though. The day I was skating I felt that there were too many skaters on the rink, which is slightly intimidating if you’re not a confident skater. Also when last there, they had cordoned off one end of the rink for a class. This was of no concern to me, but my sister on the other hand (whose skating experience generally consists of holding onto the side) found that she was unable to cross the rink and eventually ended up going against the skating traffic (very dangerous) to exit the rink. Whilst many people of a similar skating level attempted to slowly cross the rink, some like my sister put themselves at risk to get off. This really needs to be addressed or there will be some nasty accidents.
That aside I would highly recommend Planet Ice, whether for keeping fit or just having fun it’s a great place to go. I’d particularly recommend it for kids in the school holidays, I recently took my young cousin, and he absolutely loved it.