The Chillest Party in Town

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For the past eight years, every birthday party we’ve had for either of our girls has taken place right here at our home, usually in our back yard.  From ponies to homemade bubbles to ice cream sundae bars and even a reptile show, we’ve done it all.  While I wouldn’t trade those sweet memories for anything, after my youngest’s fourth birthday, I finally had enough.  The morning of her party, it poured rain.  I stood watching the downpour and cried because I could not imagine 50 people and a small menagerie of cold-blooded reptiles all crowded into our living room.  Thankfully the skies cleared and the party was a sunny success, but that was enough drama for me.  No more home parties!

This year I decided to make things easier on myself and my family, and find a venue to hold our eldest daughter’s eighth birthday party.  Finding a venue that made her, and us, happy was a bit of a negotiation.  All the venues we suggested were too babyish.  The ones she wanted (ummm, Disney World?), were too expensive.  Finally, she announced she wanted to have her party at the ice skating rink.  A nice cool spot for a summer birthday!

I immediately went online and checked out the closest ice skating rink, Palm Beach Ice Works.  They offer several different birthday party options.  There is a Silver Package, which is $18.75 per skater (minimum 10 skaters) and you skate during “Family Skate Time.”  I remember doing that at a birthday party once before, and it was fun, but a madhouse.  I was looking for something a little more intimate and self-contained.

There is a Platinum Package, which includes private ice time, pizza, soda, fruit and veggie platters, decorations, invitations and a visit from the PBIC Mascot.  While that would have been fun four or five years ago, it didn’t really seem appropriate for this Taylor Swift-obsessed girl’s “Rock Star” themed party. 

We opted for the middle of the road, the Gold Package.   This package includes an hour of private ice time, 4 pizzas, 4 pitchers of soda, balloons, invitations, skate rentals for 40 people and a private party area (the balcony overlooking the skating rink). 

This turned out to be the perfect option for our party – we had about 22 kids, and lots of adults who wanted to skate too.  With that many skaters, it actually ended up being less expensive to go with the Gold Package than the Silver would have been.  And having the ice to ourselves for an entire hour was completely worth the money.  The kids, and the grown ups, all had a blast.  We were able to bring in whatever food and drinks we wanted (no alcohol, though), our cake, decorations and party favors.  We even brought our own bluetooth speaker and played our party playlist from my phone. We were also able to rent plenty of scooters (those blue walker-type things that keep novice skaters from falling) at a small additional cost.  Totally worth it, mostly for the adults!

The staff at PBIC was incredibly helpful.  The front desk manager, Kathy, arranges all the birthday parties.  She took the time to answer all my questions and helped make sure our party was a success.  The rink also assigned a hostess who helped us bring in all our food, set up the tables and chairs for us, cleaned everything up when we were done and even helped us haul all the presents back down to the car. 

We had such a fun time celebrating in this cool setting.  Speaking of which, if you decide to visit, don’t forget – bring jackets, hats and gloves. It is literally the coolest place in town!

 

Palm Beach Moms Blog is proud to partner with Palm Beach Ice Works to bring you this birthday party review