Roller world - A great skating venue (Roller World (Derby))

Member Name: mum2boys82

Product:	Roller World (Derby)
Date:	17/05/09 (227 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Only indoor place to skate locally

Disadvantages: In need of refurbishment

What is it?

A hall (I'm guessing from the layout that at some point this used to be a night club/disco venue) with a large area of wooden flooring perfect for roller-skating. They hire out roller skates or you can take your own. The rink is surrounded my metal railings with various points where you can got on and off safely.

They have a fully licensed bar and separate café area serving hot and cold food, mainly of the chips and burger variety, all of which are reasonably priced, a large portion of chips was around £1.20. There were also a few vending machines with drinks and snacks available. The café is a bit worn looking with tables and chairs/benches that have seen better days and the service can be a bit slow, but overall they try hard!

Where is it?

Roller World is based in Derby (just off the A52 off Pentagon island), and apparently used to be in other places too, however at present it is just the one premise.

How much does this cost?

The best way to check prices is to check out www.rollerworld.com, they have so many different prices depending on when you visit. If you are a learner the best value is on a Saturday morning when it is just £1.50 per person.

Skate hire seems to be a standard charge of £2. They do sell skates but they seem to be high-end skates with price tags to match! I got a great deal on in-line skates from Decathlon so maybe better to try sport shops first if you want to take your own boots. From what I could see they hired out quad and in-line skates and they looked in good condition unlike the ice skates you normally hire when ice skating (you know the ones with the gnarled laces and missing eyelets!).

They are open school holidays, which is great. Normally open Mon-Fri 6pm - 10pm, and weekends 9.30am-11am (Saturday morning for learners only) and 12pm-5pm. They also do some special dates where they do all night skates starting at 10pm going on until 8am the next morning!

Is it any good?

I really enjoyed myself when we went last weekend, myself and hubby took our 4 year old so he could try out his first ever pair of skates. There is a smaller area off to the side of the main rink where learners are encouraged to practice before they hit the main rink. This area is not policed so sometimes you have competent skaters practicing tricks, but they normally move when small kids want to practice.

I was really impressed with the staff. They all wear uniforms and huge leg warmer/pad type things around the top of their skates so you can easily spot them. They skate around making sure that anyone that falls over is OK, my 4 year old fell over a fair few times and each time they checked that I was able to get him back on his feet and make sure he was still smiling!

There is a DJ booth to one side of the rink, the music was very loud so it's not really somewhere you can sit and chat, I think it might have been a little quieter in the bar as this is closed off. It is also very dark as they turn the lights down, however the learner rink is fully lighted.

Every hour when we went on a Sunday afternoon the DJ stopped the music, turned on all the lights and announced what game was going to be played. They played a tag type game and musical bumps where the staff got involved and the more able skaters joined in (needless to say we just watched), the games lasted about 10 minuets and were fun to watch even if you didn't feel like joining in!

The toilets are worth mentioning as there are plenty of cubicles in both the women's and men's toilets (hubby reliably informs me, I didn't check myself of course!), there were also plenty of sinks and hand dryers in working condition, although the general feel of the toilets was a bit well worn.

Any downsides?

There was a sign at the skate hire desk telling you that 50p an item was the cloakroom charge, however it would have been easy and nicer to have had lockers available so you could put away your bags and things and go back to them as necessary. However there were large bench type seats next to the rink where everyone left there bags and shoes.

In general the whole venue is a bit worn and could do with a re-vamp, but if you can look past this point then you will have a great time, after all you will be there to skate not inspect the virtually non existent carpet and well loved fittings!

As mentioned above the music was a little loud, I'm only 26 and love a good tune but I struggled to hear what my 4 year old was saying to me unless he shouted into my ear! Maybe just turning it down a notch or two would improve this.

Summary: We love to go and visit as a family, why not give it a go?