Great Skate - Glendale

Best. Skating. Ever.....

....according to my 11 year-old daughter, Erica, and her 11 year-old friend, Kaylee, at the conclusion of the Glow Skate evening at Great Skate in Glendale last night.

I had bought a Groupon (Groupon deals for Great Skate seem to come up frequently) for $16 as Kaylee's birthday present from us.  The deal included two admissions, two skate rentals, two slices of pizza and two sodas.  It did not include the $1 charge for a spectator.  Great Skate does, however, take that $1 you pay to go in as a spectator and gives you a $1 voucher for their "cafe".

The reason that the word cafe is in quotes is because I don't consider it a cafe.  You can buy things like pizza (microwave quality), nachos, pretzels, Slushees, and cotton candy.  When I think of a cafe, I'm thinking about sandwiches.  Nonetheless, since I didn't have my youngest daughter with me, I didn't ask about whether or not an exception to the "no outside food" would be made for people with food allergies.

That being said, we arrived early for Glow Skate and still ended up standing in a line.  We made it inside, and Erica got the rental skates.  The girls headed off to the rink while I made myself comfortable at one of the many tables.  Great Skate offers "trainers", which are basically like a walker on wheels, to rent for those who are unsteady on their skates.  The music was pounding, and certainly would've been better (in my never-to-be-humble opinion) on Sundays when they play Christian rock.  The lights were flashing.

I'd brought along some work I'd hoped to get done while the girls were skating.  Stupid me, I wasn't thinking about the volume of the music or the number of times my table would end up getting bumped by skaters careening into it.  Great Skate has free WiFi, but it was simply too loud and too chaotic for me to concentrate.

After a while, Erica and Kaylee came back....hungry.  They took their vouchers and went for their food.

Like any entertainment complex, Great Skate offers an assortment of coin-operated games that spew out tickets, which can them be redeemed for prizes.

And these were their prizes....

The evening came to a close too soon for them.  Adults and kids of all ages had fun out on the rink.

PlayGrounds Fun Zone

Honestly, I cannot believe there aren't more places out there in Arizona like PlayGrounds Fun Zone in Glendale.  This place is fantastic for the under-8 crowd!

PlayGrounds is a brightly colored, clean, 3500 square foot indoor play space for young children, including a special place set aside just for toddlers.  Admission is free for adults and babies under 1.  Your first child is $10 and subsequent siblings are $8.  My friend and I brought our 4-year-old daughters and turned them loose to play while we visited.  We hardly saw them!  They were so busy climbing, sliding, and zipping around in Little Tikes cars.

It's more than that, though...It's also a cafe that offers free WiFi. Even better, the food is good, much healthier than places like McDonald's that have small play areas for kids, and affordable.  I ordered a $4 breakfast croissant sandwich and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was.  My daughter has food allergies and they allowed me to bring in her food.  My friend and I saw our girls when they would zip back to the table for a drink or a bite....

So, moms and dads....grab your laptop, your Kindle, or a good old-fashioned book and bring your kids here.  You can sit and read or work while they play in a gated play area.