If Norman Rockwell and Hallmark teamed up to design a winter wonderland, The Pond would be their love child. Twinkling lights, cheerful music, families laughing--it's the kind of place where you half expect Santa to stroll by sipping hot cocoa. The people are wonderful, the setup is magical, and the vibe screams "holiday postcard." And then... there are the skates. These skates aren't just bad. They're a medieval torture device disguised as footwear. I'm convinced Satan himself forged them in the fiery depths of hell, cackling as he added dull blades and ankle-crushing plastic shells. * The boots: Imagine strapping your feet into rigid plastic buckets, lined with inserts so worn they might as well be tissue paper. * The blades: Calling them "blades" is generous. They're more like butter knives that haven't seen a sharpener since the Bush administration. * The experience: I made it a quarter loop before realizing my ankles were auditioning for a horror movie. Every attempt to recover from a slip sent pain shooting in all directions. By the time I reached a bench, I was ready to gnaw through my own shins just to escape. Getting the skates off was its own Olympic event. I tugged, pulled, and prayed, but those boots clung to my feet like a demon possession. * Atmosphere: 10/10 (Hallmark perfection) * People: 10/10 (Friendly, festive, full of cheer) * Skates: -666/10 (Spawn of Beelzebub) If you want holiday magic, The Pond delivers. If you want functioning ankles, bring your own skates--or prepare to sacrifice your soul to the rental counter. read more

12-29-25 My family and I go here every year and its usually pretty fun. This year however we couldn't help but feel like the skates were completely dull and almost impossible to skate with. You try to push at all to move and your skate just slides out behind you. When the ice was fresh after the Zamboni it was even worse darn near impossible to safely skate. The customer service from the kids working there was great. read more

First of all, the young girl, taking our tickets was extremely friendly. Her customer service was very good. However, the young girl who is in charge of the ice skates, was being extremely rude and sarcastic and annoyed at the customers. Dislike I'm not really sure why you make a reservation because there are about 1 billion people on this ice-skating rink. Apparently reservations mean nothing. There is one teenager monitoring the whole situation and he is talking with three of his friends. Everything seems terribly unsafe. Perhaps it would be much better if it is at a non-peak time. But still, I don't understand the reservation if they're not limiting the amount of people per hour. read more

The Pond at Southlands - ICE SKATING - Skating Rinks Near Me - Aurora, Colorado

Ice was very bad quality--obviously hadn't seen a zamboni since 1998. Rink was tiny and very crowded, definitely gone over maximum capacity and the employees didn't seem to care. Skates were horribly uncomfortable and very dull--blades obviously hadn't seen a sharpener since 1998 (or perhaps even earlier). I went with a group of 5 and all of us agreed that our ankles were in horrible pain from the moment we put the skates on. There was some bleeding. I give 2 stars because the vibes were nice, with a nice Christmas tree and string lights. Location of the rink is also convenient, in the middle of Southlands, but as a place to skate--would not recommend. I know I'm getting old, but there were some very rambunctious young hooligans skating about like maniacs. They were weaving in and out, flipping people off, and creating a generally unsafe and unpleasant environment. Normally I would let kids be kids, but the lack of space at the rink meant that we couldn't get away from them. Save your ankles some pain and save your wallet $13.41, just go to a damn public skate. read more

The Pond at Southlands - Skating Rinks Near Me - Aurora, Colorado

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Came here on Xmas eve. It was cold! But we were prepared;). You go into the little building in front rent your skates or buy skate passes(you can of course bring your own skates). It wasn't too crowded and it was very beautiful there with all the Christmas lights. It's a small area but seriously how much area do you need unless you're a professional. read more

The Pond at Southlands - Skating Rinks Near Me - Aurora, Colorado

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The skates are not comfortable to the point where they are actually painful. My kids and I all changed pairs with varying degrees of improvement. The was hard plastic jabbing into my ankle bones. We spent half our time fiddling with the skates instead of skating. I know rentals aren't ever as comfortable as custom or especially bought, but these were Impossible to deal with even for a short time. On the plus side, the operation is well-organized, it's convenient, nice setting. But all of that didn't really matter when you can't do what you can't to do. read more

UPDATE! This place is still the bomb, but is now open until 10pm on Friday nights! Join them for their Rock N' Roll Fridays and jam out until you can't skate anymore! What a great, and CHEAP way to spend your evening :) read more

The pond is currently doing a reservation style arrangement to help crowd control during COVID. I took my 9 year old for his birthday. It was his first time. The staff were very polite. I took a star away because the skates were very uncomfortable, but for public skates, I'm not sure what to expect. For 20 minutes it was tolerable. The rink is not the biggest one I've been to but I knew what to expect as it's outdoors and I've driven by it quite a bit. Point is we had fun. If he wants to go back I wouldn't hesitate coming here again. read more

I've been here a couple times over the last couple holiday seasons and it's definitely a nice evening outing. Recently my friends and I headed out to do a little day skating on a warm weekend. The rink is small, but tends to be less crowded in the evenings. Beware during the daytime because kids sometimes aren't the most coordinated and tend to go flying in all directions when they strap on the skates. ;-) Overall, especially being so close to my house, I know I will be back for more evening skate meet ups with my friends! Woo hoo!! read more

My son and I had a blast ice skating this winter. They were very friendly about switching out skate sizes, and they have the little walkers you can skate around with for kids. I love outdoor skating rinks, though it can be rather chilly at times. read more

I had fun at The Pond, because ice skating is fun no matter where you're skating. However, I have to admit that I was expecting it to be better. I was expecting it to be busy and crowded, and I was aware that the rink is small, so none of that bothered me. It was the staff that was disappointing. First, the rules of the rink are clearly posted on the walls by the gates. No fast skating, no skating tricks, no weaving in and out, etc. Unfortunately, staff members broke all of those rules over and over for no obvious reason. They ran into people, upset people's balance, and generally contributed to a sense of chaos on the ice that was very unpleasant. Then, when the ice needed to be resurfaced, three employees went out onto the ice, but only two actually did anything useful while the third continued to skate around and show off. The employees also frequently called out in a surly manner that it was going to be a while before they were done, even though no one was acting impatient or asking how much longer it would be. Once the ice was in good condition again, the staff members continued their chaotic skating as mentioned above. I was disappointed by the way the staff acted, as was my husband. We are generally very easygoing people, and I didn't want to write a bad review, but someone is going to get hurt if things continue the way they did when we were there. read more

Bring your own skates, the skates they rent out are very painful. It doesn't matter if you change sizes, the way they are designed are terrible. read more

This used to be my go to skating rink w/ my friends. But I don't think I'll return any time soon. Last night a couple friends and I went around 8 PM to ice skate. As we were walking in the workers didn't greet us & as we got closer they told us they were "closed." Thought that was funny due to the fact that online the site says Mon-Thurs 4-9. Don't understand why they were trying to close an hour early. read more

Beautiful place and so much fun! Took my 3 daughters there and they had the best time ever! They are so excited to go again! Cannot wait! We just moved to Colorado and this was our first time going and will definitely be back again! The staff were so sweet and caring! Also, they give AMAZING Military discounts as well! read more

This place is awesome and cheap! I learned how to skate here. But people kept moving my stuff. Maybe they need a little more privacy for each guest. Over all i had alot of fun. read more

Extremely rude service. They lied about show sizes and then expected me to stand in line again after I was already in line for 15 minutes instead of just offering em a refund or looking for the right size that they had but were to lazy to look. Extremely disappointed with the service from the rude teenage attends they had. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. You want to have a fun night with the family go elsewhere. read more