Horton Plaza Ice Skating Information

Horton Plaza is often officially called Westfield Horton Plaza. This five-story outdoor shopping mall lies in downtown San Diego adjacent to the Gaslamp District. It's one of the largest and the best plazas in the city. More than 130 stores and services are housed in the mall, including anchor stores like Macy's and Nordstrom. Horton Plaza offers not only terrific chain stores. It also features remarkable architectural tricks and odd spatial rhythms.

Various fine dining restaurants & eateries and entertainment venues can be also found there, including a theater. You're bound to love it with a visit to the outdoor mall. Another great thing about the outdoor mall is that you can catch rays of sunshine while shopping on fine days, which is incomparable to indoor shopping malls.

The design of Horton Plaza also takes advantage of the city's excellent weather conditions. San Diego is one of the best cities to enjoy the great outdoors all year around for both visitors and local residents. It's no surprise that thousands of people come to lace up their ice skates and glide on outdoor ice skating rinks. Shoppers are given unique opportunities for ice skating at the outdoor rink at Horton Square, just outside Horton Plaza.

Due to the city's year-round mild weather, outdoor ice skating is quite rare in San Diego. Horton Square is one of the most popular outdoor ice rinks in holiday season. Every year, Horton Square is converted into a "Fantasy on Ice" rink. Fantasy on Ice makes it possible to experience ice skating in the heart of San Diego. The rink is tucked away behind all the action of the downtown area. It's located behind the NBC 7/39 Building adjacent to the Horton Plaza. The address is 225 Broadway Circle, San Diego, CA 92101.

What about the hours? The outdoor rink will open for daily skating from November 2011 to January 2012. Among the various sessions, the Family Sessions are extremely popular for families. Parents are encouraged to take young children to come experience great skating for the whole family. As the sun goes down, teenagers come out and begin to skate in the early evenings, expecting more exciting and faster paced skating. Night Sessions attract various adults skating to fun music. They can enjoy a romantic skating night hand in hand with their beloved ones.

All sessions at the rink are open to the public on a daily basis. From Monday to Thursday, guests can have access to the rink from 10 AM to 10 PM. The rink is open from 10 AM to 7:30 PM on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Night session is from 8 PM to 10 PM on these three days. Ice skating at Horton Square is blocked off into 2 hour time slots:

- 10 AM to 12 PM

- 12:30 AM to 2:30 PM

- 3 PM to 5 PM

- 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM

- 8 PM to 10 PM

Please note that the rink hours may vary on major holidays. On Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, the outdoor rink remains open until 5 PM. You cannot come to skate on two other holidays since it's closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

Now you must have a better knowledge of the hours and dates info. Next, you may be concerned with the admissions. Don't worry! The ice skating rink at Horton Square offers a flat rate for admission and rentals.

Adults coming to the rink will be charged $14 for a two-hour session. Children under 12 only need $12 for two hours. The admission fees include rental ice skates for the duration of the public session for your skating. Both general admission and season tickets can be purchased either online or at the entrances of the rink in person. If you want to receive some discounts, go for skating with groups.

Guests can enjoy discounted group rates of $10 each person with groups of 10 or more. The admission also covers rental skates. Reservations are required. But reservations can only guarantee dates. Rental skates are not guaranteed, depending on availability on that day.

To make a reservation for your group, please call 1-619-234-1031 or email to marketing@sdice.com. Required info includes the specific date, time and group numbers for your reservations. You also need to leave your name, valid phone number and available time for the rink's staff to call you back. When you receive a reservation number, you're entitled to have a valid reservation.

There're some special dates that group visits are not accepted at the rink, including:

- Fridays and Saturdays between 7:30 PM and 10 PM

- Thanksgiving Day/Christmas Day: closure days

- All sessions on December 23rd and 24th and New Year's Day

- Christmas Eve/New Year's Eve: early close by 5 PM

Have an urge to come for a fantastic ice skating experience? Your preparation involves some other things, like the directions and parking. As the rink is just outside the Horton Plaza near the Macy's, you can park your vehicles at the Horton Plaza Mall Parking Garage and then take a short walk to the rink. Entrances to the parking garage are located at 4th & F Street, 2nd & G Street and 3rd & G Street. The parking rate is $8 per hour.

Directions to Horton Plaza

http://westfield.com/hortonplaza/gettinghere

As the ice rink is not part of the shopping mall, validations from the rink are not accepted at the parking garage. If you have one of the tickets from the Horton Plaza Mall, please go to any one of the self validation units that are located at every floor. Then you can receive parking validations for three hours. Make sure to validate before you skate as the validation units are only open from 7 AM to 9 PM.

You can also choose metered parking for your vehicles. Nearby parking meters are free after 6 PM from Monday to Saturday. On Sundays, the parking meters are free all day long. For group visitors coming with buses, drivers can drop off the groups around Broadway Circle in front of Macy's. The location is closest to the main entrance of the outdoor rink at Horton Square.

Official Website of Fantasy on Ice

http://www.sdice.com/horton/index.htm