How to Fill Out the Xanadu Waiver Form: NY Law, Minors, and ID

The Xanadu waiver form is a liability release and photo release built into the venue’s terms and conditions, which you accept when you buy a ticket through DICE or complete entry at the door at 262 Starr Street in Brooklyn.¹ There is no separate paper form to fill out. Agreeing to the terms is the signature, and because Xanadu operates in New York, a state statute strips out the most aggressive part of what you are agreeing to before it can ever be used against you.

Where You Sign It

The waiver language lives inside the terms and conditions published by DICE, Xanadu’s ticketing platform.¹ Xanadu runs on an events-only basis — skate sessions, concerts with a pre-show skate, club nights — so there is no generic open-skate admission.² You buy a ticket for a specific event, and completing that purchase is what commits you to the terms.

If you show up without a ticket and buy at the door, you encounter the same language before you’re admitted. Read it before you check the box. The terms wrap in a photo release along with the liability provisions, and opting out of being photographed while still entering the venue is not something the written terms promise you.

What You’re Actually Agreeing To

The waiver has three working parts.

The first is an assumption-of-risk acknowledgment. You confirm that roller skating is physical, that falls and collisions with other skaters and contact with the floor or walls happen, and that you accept those inherent risks by participating.¹

The second is a release of liability. This is the part that tries to shield the venue from negligence claims — the situations where Xanadu’s own carelessness contributed to an injury, such as broken rental equipment or a hazardous floor condition. The language is drafted, in the terms’ own words, to be as broad and inclusive as the law permits.

The third is a photo release. Entering the premises counts as consent to being photographed or recorded, and the venue can use that footage for promotional purposes.

Assumption of Risk Is Not the Same as the Release

These two legal ideas are stapled together in the document but operate independently. Under New York’s primary assumption of risk doctrine, someone who voluntarily participates in a recreational activity accepts the commonly understood dangers that come with it, and a court would reach that conclusion whether or not you ever signed anything.³ The release of liability reaches further, trying to cover the venue’s own negligence. That reach is where New York law pushes back.

What New York Law Does to the Release

New York General Obligations Law Section 5-326 voids any agreement that exempts the owner or operator of a pool, gymnasium, place of amusement or recreation, or similar establishment from liability for negligence, so long as the operator charges a fee for use of the facility.⁴ The statute calls such agreements void as against public policy and wholly unenforceable. Xanadu charges admission for every event, so the statute applies.

What that means in practice: the negligence release inside the Xanadu waiver is almost certainly unenforceable. If a defective rental skate causes a broken ankle, or staff let skaters onto a wet floor, the signature you provided at checkout does not block a negligence claim.

The assumption-of-risk half still does work for the venue, independent of the statute. Courts have held that primary assumption of risk bars recovery for injuries flowing from the inherent dangers of a recreational activity.³ The waiver’s practical value is to document that you knew skating carries physical risk, which helps the venue when a case turns on whether an injury came from an inherent risk or from something the venue did wrong.

Assumption of risk is not unlimited either. It does not protect a venue that conceals a danger or unreasonably increases the risk beyond what a participant would expect — overcrowding the rink far past safe capacity, for example, is the kind of conduct that falls outside the doctrine’s protection.³

Signing for a Minor

Xanadu is 21-and-over by default, but some events admit guests 16 or older or 18 or older. For any event admitting guests under 21, the underage attendee must be with a legal guardian, and both the guest and the guardian need their own tickets and physical photo IDs. Children under 16 need a parent or guardian supervising for the whole visit.²

Contracts signed by minors are generally voidable under New York law, so a waiver executed by someone under 18 carries little weight on its own. The venue’s terms accordingly contain a section for waivers signed on behalf of another person, which is how a parent or guardian agrees for a minor.¹ GOL 5-326 does not care who signs; a parent’s signature does not revive the negligence release the statute voids.

ID You’ll Need at the Door

Every guest must present a valid government-issued photo ID or passport. Accepted forms include IDs from a state motor vehicle department, the federal government, any U.S. territory, the District of Columbia, or a Canadian provincial government, as well as a valid passport from any country. Photos of IDs, expired IDs, and digital copies are not accepted.²

Keep your ticket confirmation on your phone and bring the physical ID that matches the name on it. Without both, the waiver you already agreed to at checkout is not enough to get you through the door.

1
DICE Help Center. Xanadu on Starr LLC / Roller Lords LLC Terms and Conditions
2
Xanadu. FAQ
3
New York State Unified Court System. Miskanic v Roller Jam USA Inc
4
New York State Senate. New York General Obligations Law 5-326 – Agreements Exempting Pools, Gymnasiums, Places of Public Amusement or Recreation From Liability for Negligence Void and Unenforceable