Ball pit · Local
Ball pit for families in Franklin
The local version of the question: how far, how long, and is it worth it.
The crate the machines dig in is a proper ball pit - a deep bed of plastic balls, not a token layer over a hard floor. It is what makes a scoop worth watching.
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Franklin. Nobody is local to a mall attraction; everybody has driven.
Getting there
A pit this size means the surface is never the same twice. Every scoop leaves a dent and every dent changes where the next one goes.
The colour is half the appeal. A bucket coming up full is a bucket full of red, yellow, blue and green, and it photographs well from the rail.
What you will find
For younger visitors the pit alone is the attraction. Some never touch a machine and leave perfectly happy.
Tell a nervous child what is going to happen in the order it will happen. Surprise is the thing they mind, not the activity.
How long to allow
Balls behave like a liquid until they do not. Dig a hole and the sides slump back in, which is exactly the physics children spend twenty minutes exploring without calling it physics.
The crate the machines dig in is a proper ball pit - a deep bed of plastic balls, not a token layer over a hard floor. It is what makes a scoop worth watching.
Worth the trip?
A pit this size means the surface is never the same twice. Every scoop leaves a dent and every dent changes where the next one goes.
Go early if the choice is available. The first hour after opening is quieter than any hour that follows it, and quieter is easier for everybody.
Questions parents ask
How deep is the pit?
Deep enough for a bucket to disappear into it - the machines dig rather than skim.
Do children go into the pit themselves?
The machines work the crate from the rail. Follow the instructions the staff give on the day.
What are the opening hours?
10:00 AM to 8:00 PM Monday to Saturday, and 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Sunday.
Where is New Life Entertainment?
Two centres: 433 Opry Mills Drive, Nashville TN 37214, and 8111 Concord Mills Blvd, Concord NC 28027.
Planning your visit in Franklin
Nothing about the visit assumes you know the area. The centre is inside Opry Mills, which is signposted from everywhere in Nashville and impossible to miss once you are there.
If two adults are coming, split up rather than shadowing the same child. One at the rail, one free, and everybody has a better hour.
Two shorter visits teach a child more than one long one. The second time they already know what they want to try, and that is when the good part starts.
Weekends bring more of Franklin out at once. If the schedule allows a weekday, take it; the same visit is quieter and the machines wait for nobody in particular.
The practical details
- XCAV ZONE — 433 Opry Mills Drive, Nashville TN 37214: four child-operated machines over a ball pit.
- ICE PARK — 8111 Concord Mills Blvd, Concord NC 28027: a real rink with bumper cars on the ice.
- Opening hours — 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM Monday to Saturday, 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Sunday.
- Phone — +1 (424) 387-6232 · +1 (615) 968-4925
- E-mail — info@newlife-entertainment.com
Anything time critical is worth a phone call first: hours are 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM Monday to Saturday and 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Sunday.