REVIEW: Ice Slides and Classic Skating at Walnut Creek’s Two-Decade-Old Holiday Rink
WALNUT CREEK, CALIFORNIA – First, you have to haul a tube up a flight of stairs. That’s the tough part.Â
But when you reach the top of the ice slide at Walnut Creek’s iconic two-decade old holiday ice rink, you’re treated to a few seconds of speedy, reckless glory as you careen down a frosty slide and try to avoid crashing into a big foam barrier.
Then, if you’re like me and you’ve visited with a four year old, you do it again. And again. And again.
That was the experience of visiting this year’s incarnation of Walnut Creek On Ice, a holiday ice rink that appears each year in Civic Park.
The yearly Walnut Creek tradition has been going for two decades now, and seems to get a bit bigger and more exciting each year it operates.
Last year they added the ice slide in addition to the classic skating rink. Readers told us that it was watery last year, but this year they seem to have perfected things–climbing up and sliding down (either in a single tube if you’re big enough or a double if you have a little kid with you) was tiring but lots of fun.
In addition to the slide, the ice rink itself has expanded dramatically. It’s now fully covered–the better to skate on sunny or rainy days–and occupies a huge expanse of the Civic Park parking lot, right by the art buildings and community center.
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Like most Bay Area ice rinks, you book a 90 minute skating/sliding window. Tickets for skating include skate rentals (they’re nice quality and well maintained), and the ice slide is an add-on for about $10 more, which allows for unlimited sliding.
Festive music plays as you skate around on the rink, dodging kids pushing skating aides (available to rent for another additional charge) and being dodged by the gaggle of genuinely good skaters who slide around the ice and show off with sliding stops and little pirouettes.
The Bay Area Telegraph recently visited and reviewed the Kristi Yamaguchi ice rink in San Ramon. That rink feels like a more exclusive, upscale experience, with a smaller ice area and more emphasis on the lounge and firepits.
Walnut Creek on Ice feels far larger, and had much bigger crowds when we visited. It has rentable firepits too, but they feel like less of a major attraction here. This feels more like your quintessential small town holiday skating experience, whereas the San Ramon rink feels like you’ve been transported to the upscale environs of Northstar or another ritzy place (like the actual Ritz) in Tahoe.
When you’re done skating at Walnut Creek On Ice, you can grab some food (hot cocoa, nachos and the like) at the on-site concession stand. Wait times were long during our visit, especially at the end of the skating session. But the kids enjoyed the pretzels and cocoa. Unlike in San Ramon, there’s no beer or wine service here.
One nice touch at WC on Ice is a larger staff, including lots of eager teen employees who flock over to help any kid or grandparent who happens to fall on the ice.
Overall, Walnut Creek On Ice feels extremely family friendly and accessible. Go here if you want to take a bunch of kids and spend a lot of your time sliding down the icy tubing hill. Head to San Ramon if you’d prefer to skate a bit, then chill by a firepit with a glass of Chardonnay.
Tickets are here, and the rink is open through January 19, so there’s plenty of time to skate/slide this season! https://walnutcreekdowntown.com/walnut-creek-on-ice
