Birthday party · First time
Birthday party for the first time in Nashville
The first time is the one that decides whether there is a second time, so it is worth getting right.
Talk to the centre before the day rather than on it. Numbers, timing and what a group needs are all easier to sort in advance - the phone numbers are on the contacts page.
Weekends bring more of Nashville 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 first ten minutes
The photographs take themselves. A bucket full of coloured balls or a car spinning on ice needs no staging.
Check the day of the week against the closing time before you leave. Sunday finishes earlier than the rest of the week and catches people out.
What children do first
Arrive early enough to get coats and bags sorted before the guests do. Ten quiet minutes at the start buys an hour of calm.
Mixed ages are the usual headache with children parties, and both venues handle them without a plan: little ones stay in the pit or in a car, older ones go after the harder machines.
What usually goes wrong
A birthday here is a different sort of party because the entertainment is the place. Nobody has to keep fifteen children occupied - the machines and the ice do it.
Let the child choose what to do first even when it is the thing you would have chosen last. The order matters less than the choosing.
Making the second visit better
Talk to the centre before the day rather than on it. Numbers, timing and what a group needs are all easier to sort in advance - the phone numbers are on the contacts page.
The photographs take themselves. A bucket full of coloured balls or a car spinning on ice needs no staging.
Questions parents ask
How do I book a party?
Call or write first: +1 (424) 387-6232, +1 (615) 968-4925, or info@newlife-entertainment.com.
Is it suitable for mixed ages?
Both venues give younger and older children something different to do in the same room.
How long does a party need?
Plan for the attraction plus time either side for coats, cake and goodbyes.
Where is New Life Entertainment?
Two centres: 433 Opry Mills Drive, Nashville TN 37214, and 8111 Concord Mills Blvd, Concord NC 28027.
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 Nashville
Families searching from Nashville are usually weighing one thing: whether it is worth the trip for an hour of something the children have not done before. The honest answer is that it depends on the child, and the rest of this page is about telling which.
If it is the first time, do not also make it a birthday. Learning a place and celebrating in it are two different visits.
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.
Families around Nashville 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 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
The two centres are at 433 Opry Mills Drive in Nashville and 8111 Concord Mills Blvd in Concord, open 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM most days and 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Sunday.