Millennium Park Ice Rink

We took my son ice skating for the first time at the Millennium Park Ice Rink. It was pretty strange to skate in the rain, but what can you do?
So you need to book a time slot ahead of time and you get to skate during your window. Definitely give yourself plenty of extra time to park and get your skates and change to make the most of your time. If you have your own skates bring them- then it's free (you still need a reservation though) but most importantly, their rental skates have been ridden HARD and are pretty rough. That said, it was a fun time and the decorations at the park are beautiful, even in the rain.

Surrounding by Chicago iconic building and ice skating with all the holiday vibes around the ice rink are definitely one of the to do list in the end of the year. It's also the best way to say goodbye to the whole year and celebrate the new year. Highly recommended!

I would be lying if I said Inwas a huge fan of Chicago in winter. But this is such a cool thing to see. I am not personally a skater, because I am far too much of a klutz. But it's great to see this and how happy it makes people. Just a lovely addition to the area.

Zero stars - manager is a fukin joke. Standing in line and staff is eating like slums laughing and not helping people get their skates. Over sold tickets and had no skates left for others even though we reserved our spots. And on top of that can't give a full refund.

This place is very poorly managed. Workers are on their cellphones sitting in back. Not helping customers get skates quickly. We came for a private event at the grill. Our host said their covered all expenses including the penguin rentals for those leaning to skate. I had to wait 20 min to talk to a manager. He eventually came out of his office to wearing his headphones the entire time I was taking to him. He forced me to then wait in another line to pay $10 for the penguin. The entire interaction with him and the entire staff was the definition of poor customer service. Took 35 minutes to get my 10 year old on the ice. I'd never skate here again.

Not very big in sq ft, so come prepared to share with several other patrons, but the staff is nice and the COVID procedure of contactless appointment reservation times was appreciated to limit the number of people on the rink at once.

There's safety personnel on the ice to make sure you don't break your fall too badly, in case you need it! A very jovial bunch. They advise the reserved appointment of 1:30hr is usually cut down to :30 by the time the average by the time folks get tired of trying their luck. Skate rental's included in the price of purchase.

Fun to do for a date, for kids, or just to try out on your own!

Skates are cheap and terrible. The ice is very jagged and unfinished. I'm a pretty good skater and this made me feel like a child learning for the first time. Horrible experience.

Maybe I didn't see it or look good enough but the tickets are for certain times. We only had 30 min to skate they told us when we arrived. :/

Wow, I felt like in the movies at this place, so many people and very organized.

The prices were not that high, even though I prefer not to try to ice skate because I was a little bit afraid.

The vibe in here was amazing and the line didn't feel so bad even thou it was a long one.

A free outdoor ice skating rink in downtown Chicago? Unheard of!

On Michigan avenue in Millennium park, right on front of the Park Grill restaurant, this outdoor ice skating rink is free of you bring your own skates. If you are willing to pay $12 Monday through Thursday, $14 Friday, Saturday and Sunday & holidays to rent skates , and wait in line sometimes up to an hour, you can still enjoy ice skating in one of the most beautiful locations in the city. Lockers are first come, first served so get there early. There are also ice skating lessons several times a week, but, I do not know if they are free or not.

Open from November 17th thru March 4th, weather permitting, check their website for more information:

https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/millennium_park10.html

Nice place to practice my triple-axle.
Naw, I'm not much of a skater. It's hard to strap blades on cowboy boots. I stood around and watched all the ice excitement. This free ice skating spot is really cool! If you have your own skates, you can come and skate for free! They offer skate rental and lockers, for a fee. It's also a great place to use their restroom for free!
The ice here gets zamboni'ed on a regular basis. The ice looked clean and fresh, despite the large number of people eagerly standing around waiting for the zamboni to finish.
The location is phenomenal- right in the heart of Millennium Park, under the Bean, looking on to downtown Chicago. It's spectacular!
The place seems safe- you're not going to have any Tanya Harding's getcha here. Dress warmly!