Ball pit · Compare
Ball pit in Green Hills, or something else?
An honest look at where it fits.
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.
If you are coming from Green Hills, treat it as a cross-town outing rather than a day trip. Go with a return time in mind and the day stays easy.
What it does differently
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.
Take the photographs early. The best ones happen in the first fifteen minutes, before anybody is tired.
Where other options win
For younger visitors the pit alone is the attraction. Some never touch a machine and leave perfectly happy.
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.
How to decide
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.
Tell a nervous child what is going to happen in the order it will happen. Surprise is the thing they mind, not the activity.
The short version
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.
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.
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.
How do I get in touch?
By phone on +1 (424) 387-6232 or +1 (615) 968-4925, or by e-mail at info@newlife-entertainment.com.
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 Green Hills
If Green Hills is home, this is the sort of place you end up returning to rather than ticking off. That changes what a first visit is worth planning around.
Photograph the machine as well as the child. In two years you will have forgotten what the room looked like.
If one child is nervous, let them watch for the first ten minutes without being asked to join in. Almost all of them join in.
The nearest of the two centres to Green Hills is the one to aim at - Opry Mills in Nashville - and the drive is the ordinary sort rather than an expedition.
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.