Birthday party · Tips
Birthday party in Hermitage: what experienced parents do
None of this is complicated. All of it is the difference between a good hour and a difficult one.
Arrive early enough to get coats and bags sorted before the guests do. Ten quiet minutes at the start buys an hour of calm.
The drive back to Hermitage is where you find out what they actually thought. Children review an outing about twenty minutes after leaving it, never during.
Before you leave the house
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.
Photograph the machine as well as the child. In two years you will have forgotten what the room looked like.
When you arrive
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.
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.
While you are there
The photographs take themselves. A bucket full of coloured balls or a car spinning on ice needs no staging.
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.
On the way home
Arrive early enough to get coats and bags sorted before the guests do. Ten quiet minutes at the start buys an hour of calm.
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.
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 Hermitage
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.
A short visit that ends while they still want more beats a long one that ends in a meltdown, every time.
Agree the leaving time before you walk in, out loud, to the child. Announcing it later sounds like a punishment; agreeing it first sounds like a plan.
Weekends bring more of Hermitage 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.