Their website has ZERO party pictures at all, I think to purposely hide how horrible these rooms are. To their credit (?) I did have a little extra time to put the few decorations I had out in the room - on a table, with the donut cake I made.īy the way, the rooms have HIDEOUS, trashy, neon decor that's apparently up there all the time. she very slowly brought food and drinks in an awkward order, once we were all in our room. So, the party host was one of the most useless human beings I have ever encountered. I didn't get to skate with my kid, I barely even got to SEE her the entire time she skated. So, I had to monitor the tickets and hope to find people as they came in, and try and guard all the gifts being brought, and bags and purses. So, they told me my room time was at 1 PM from our 12-2 party time. unlike every other place I've ever booked, they give you a random THIRTY MINUTES (even for 25+ kids) at a RANDOM TIME. Huh? I thought my time was at noon? Oh, no, silly me. I signed in with the very unpleasant old guy up front who seems like he barely knows what's going on, and he gives me tickets, and then tells me to go 'sign in' with the party lady who will give me a 'room time'. The carpets look like they have NEVER been vacuumed in the however-many-years it's been open. I'm surprised they're allowed to make food in a place as filthy as this place. I have been once before, but I didn't remember it smelling so awful. That has NEVER happened to me with all the places I've ever hired for my kid's birthdays.įirst off, the stench of this place hits you in the face as soon as you walk in. I literally left in tears and had no chance the entire time to actually enjoy my kid's birthday experience. Because, this place deserves every swear word in the book. “That and all the kids, and just seeing them so happy.It's going to be very hard to write this review without heavy use of swear words. “The fun thing is that you have these people coming in and telling their stories about birthday parties when they were kids and things like that. She and Anthony say they decided to stick with Thunderbird because they truly enjoy it. Sonya says she has also seen an increase in popularity among teens thanks to the show Stranger Things and its roller rink scenes. A group of seniors recently rented out the venue and skated the afternoon away to songs from their era.Īssassination City Roller Derby also returned this year and has been drawing big crowds. Kid birthday parties remain one of the biggest draws, and private events are on the rise. This summer, the crowds have returned to pre-pandemic levels. “They think that skating rinks aren’t that valuable, but to a lot of people, they are,” Anthony says. Many investors figure they can find a more profitable use of the land. A roller rink requires a large amount of space, not to mention adequate parking for visitors. Then there’s the fact that skyrocketing real estate prices make every square inch valuable. Skates must be inspected and repaired regularly, and the rink must be maintained to provide the optimum experience and ensure safety. Part of that may be that a lot of work goes into operating a rink. From his vantage point, it seems like there aren’t a lot of people from the next generation eager to take over those facilities.
Yet at Thunderbird on any given weekend, there is a packed house, with families doing laps around the rink, trying their best to stay upright.Īnthony says many rinks are run by people approaching retirement age. We are going to put some improvements in but keep the same look - just brighter and more colorful, like it was back in the ’80s.”įor years the popularity of roller skating has seemingly been in decline, and there are only a few dedicated roller skating rinks left in the area today. “It’s all about keeping a certain aesthetic,” Sonya says. Still, they want to make sure the facility meets today’s expectations. When longtime residents step into Thunderbird, they are often surprised by how similar it looks to their childhood memories Anthony and Sonya know nostalgia is a major reason many people come to visit.
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Anthony and Sonya also plan to update the video games and food menu, but don’t expect to see too many changes. The carpet that has been in place for nearly 30 years will soon be replaced. “We’re going to continue with improving the lights, adding snack bar options and things like that.” “We went ahead and decided to give it a try,” Anthony says.
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