Ball pit · First time
Ball pit in Mount Juliet: a first visit, step by step
A first visit has a shape to it, and knowing the shape takes most of the guesswork out.
For younger visitors the pit alone is the attraction. Some never touch a machine and leave perfectly happy.
Families around Mount Juliet who have done it once tend to plan the second visit differently: shorter, earlier in the day, and with the machine the child liked in mind.
The first ten minutes
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.
What children do first
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 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.
What usually goes wrong
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.
Do not schedule anything immediately afterwards. An hour of concentrated play is tiring in a way that shows up in the car park, not in the room.
Making the second visit better
For younger visitors the pit alone is the attraction. Some never touch a machine and leave perfectly happy.
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.
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.
Planning your visit in Mount Juliet
A Mount Juliet school holiday runs out of ideas by about day three. This is a day-three answer rather than a day-one one.
Bring a snack for afterwards rather than during. Hungry children leave early and full children want to stay.
If two children are visiting together, plan for them to split up. Doing different things in the same room is the point of a room with different things in it.
From Mount Juliet the practical question is timing rather than distance. Arriving in the first hour after opening is worth more than shaving minutes off the drive.
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
If a visit needs planning around a date, a group or a long drive, the centre is easiest to reach by phone: +1 (424) 387-6232 or +1 (615) 968-4925.