‘Ice’ rink coming to UltraStar this month

By Ethan McSweeney

It’s not a mirage, but it’s also not real ice.

UltraStar Multi-tainment Center will open an ice skating rink, which will use indoor synthetic ice, later this month to give customers a “Christmas in July.” The rink is slated to open on July 22 inside the main lobby at UltraStar and run through Aug. 15, according to Dan Terry, UltraStar’s director of entertainment operations.

The rink will be open on Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 10 p.m. and Thursdays and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m. Tickets for skating will be $5 for unlimited access for the day, or $3 with a wristband purchase. Socks will also be available for $2.

Skaters — who must be at least 42 inches tall — will also need to sign a waiver before getting on the ice, Terry said. Staff members will also be monitoring people out on the ice, he added.

Showings of the movie “Ice Age: Collision Course,” which opens the same day as the ice rink, will add to the Christmas in July theme, Terry said.

The ice rink was donated to the Ak-Chin Community, Terry said, and this will be the first time UltraStar will have an ice rink available.

Terry said the plan is to have the rink out again by November or December for ice skating outdoors when the weather cools down.