Killeen Skate Palace

I only gave 1 star because it wouldn’t allow me to give 0 stars. I grew up skating and it makes me very sad that my kids had to go to this place. The website says it’s the only air conditioned skating rink in the Killeen area and let me say it was beyond hot. We had to go outside at 95 degrees to cool off. The music was completely inappropriate for 95% of the patrons. They didn’t have anymore size 12 skates for my husband so they gave him 2 different skates to wear. The bathrooms need so much work it’s sad. The staff was unattentive to the birthday party we were attending. I returned the skates to the attendant and there was no cleaning or disinfecting of the skates, the young man just turned immediately to put them away. Honestly the entire building is run down and just down right filthy. I felt like I needed a shower after leaving there and not because I had sweated for 2 hours. Needless to say we will not be going back.

I’ve been to several roller skating rinks all around the country and have worked at skating rinks, too.
We LOVE skating and really really wanted to like this place!
This place has so much potential. It’s too bad the owners don’t make more of an effort to make it look even a little nicer. The paintings on the wall look like they were done by small children. There are Christmas decorations up, it’s October! The bathrooms could use A LOT of work, but at least they were clean.
The first pair of rental skates given to my daughter had chewing gum wrapped around the axel which prevented the wheel from rolling freely. The second pair had A LOT of hair wrapped around one rear axel and a long piece of yarn wrapped around the other. This is a very clear sign that no one checks the skates when they are turned in and that they are not cleaned and/​or maintained on a regular basis. It’s also a sign that the skate floor is not swept regularly.
The «skate guards» were just skating around. One of them was carrying a ladder across the floor to put it away DURING all skate. Good thing there were only a few kids on the floor. Still, this should have been done before they opened. They told my daughter and her friend not to do tricks but didn’t say a word to the kid with the cell phone glued to his ear or the guy speed skating during regular skate.
The skate floor is pretty nice but it doesn’t have Roll-​on. Anyone who knows the tiniest bit about skate floors knows that this makes a HUGE difference in the quality of the floor and the skating.
The music needs to be monitored for language also. Not all of the songs that played were appropriate for the small children who make up the majority of the crowd on a Saturday morning/​early afternoon.
If they had 2, 3 or 4 skate sessions on Saturday and charged a reasonable rate ($ 3 – 5 admission and $ 2 skate rental) instead of pay one price and you can stay 12 hours they would make more money and be able to make the improvements and updates that are so badly needed.
We will go back. Simply because roller skating is in my kids blood.

Wow. Make me want to stay! Make me want to come back! Spend a few dollars on 21^st century technology (TVs). Update your restrooms, train your employees about customer service. I could go on a lit longer but I only grow angry. This place is typical Killeen; satisfied with the status quo because they know they will get business.