I did not expect ice skating in London to be so expensive

[Lochroy]

AIBU? Thinking we might take the kids into London and go ice skating. £77 for a family ticket at Battersea. WTF? That's extortionate.

12 a head here in a council owned indoor rink

[insert joke about skating on thin ice] 😀
I'll get me coat 😀

Everything’s extortionate at the moment. We have relatives staying and I thought it might be nice to go and see the ‘light trail’ at a country park near us (not London)… when I looked it up, it would be over £100 for six people (and that’s before any food and drink), which I was horrified at.

Ah thank you, good to know how Penguin allocation works!

Don’t go to Battersea! I went this week and it was shockingly wet and an extra £6 for a penguin!

last year Somerset house was much nicer and yes a bit of a faff for penguins but there was enough!

Ugh. I didn't know what to do. What time of day did you go @Croissantcup ? Perhaps if we went earlier in the day it would be more frozen?

PP mentioned Hampton court which I hadn't thought of, and we could get there too. Just had a look, it's a bit cheaper but they only allow penguins up to 120cm. DS is 122cm without shoes, but he's never ice skated before.

Normal rinks are £10-15 a person, I think the outdoor ones are a decent price. It's an expensive sport.
I haven't skated at Battersea but Somerset House is lovely.

Streatham rink is indoor and a bit cheaper, though it is first come first served for the penguins. It’s a bit of a pain to get to, but it does have a big car park next door and is right next to the Thameslink station.

I went to the earlier session and it was wet. Sooooo wet. You’re skating through puddles.
11am session on Tuesday.

see pics.

Yep, sounds pretty crap. Queuing, waiting, spending, crowds, time slots, traffic...just to shuffle around on an ice rink for Christmas.
Go in January.
Signed,
Jaded of Scotland.

Its London AND Christmas, everything is going to be expensive

Went last year, but if a let down!! Chaotic getting the skates on and it went downhill fast from there.. go to Canary Wharf ice rink. Really lovely, well organised and cheaper!!

my daughter also complained it was wet and we had an 11am slot…

It’s called the Christmas Idiot Tax.

It means everything that sounds Festive And Magical is 50% more expensive and people fall for it because… it’s Festive And Magical.

I wouldn’t bother with under 8s. We had a gorgeous time at Somerset house the parents with toddlers were definitely not having fun …

Gah. The kids really want to go and I thought it would be a nice thing to do! It definitely wouldn't be for my benefit!

Do they do penguins for adults? Asking for a very clumsy friend. 🤕

And looks beautiful in the evening. Really nice atmosphere.

It's under £40 at the Snowdome in Tamworth. And they have emailed customers out money off vouchers too.

Penguins are for shorter DC, polar bears for taller DC and also I've seen adults using them.

I just went to see a Christmas ballet and I was shocked at the price.

It was 70 pounds for a ticket.! I went with my boyfriend. We decided to treat ourselves to one thing at christmas.

If I had children I'd never be able to afford to bring them.

When i was a kid you could enter the grounds for a couple of quid, but had to pay for the maze, etc.

It's a complete rip off these days.

I went to Ireland last week to visit friends. The ice skate rink was 6 euro

Doesn’t surprise me unfortunately, I’ve booked to take mine to a garden centre ice rink next week and it’s not far off that!

It is a shock to the system when the full price child tickets kick in…

I'm in Glasgow and it cost 50 for a family of four so I would say 77 in London is probably realistic if painful!