Birthday party · Compare
Birthday party in Old Hickory: how it compares to other indoor days out
There is no shortage of indoor options. The useful question is which one suits your particular child.
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.
For a Old Hickory family the trip works best folded into something else - the shopping that was happening anyway, a birthday that needed a venue, a Saturday that needed a plan.
What it does differently
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 photographs take themselves. A bucket full of coloured balls or a car spinning on ice needs no staging.
Where other options win
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.
Decide how long you are staying before you walk in. A visit with an end time attached to it finishes on a good note rather than a tired one.
How to decide
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.
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.
The short version
Arrive early enough to get coats and bags sorted before the guests do. Ten quiet minutes at the start buys an hour of calm.
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.
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.
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 Old Hickory
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Old Hickory. Nobody is local to a mall attraction; everybody has driven.
A birthday group runs better with a rough plan of who goes where first, even if you abandon it in the first five minutes.
Let the child lead the order of things. Adults optimise; children choose the thing that looks best, and they are right more often than they are wrong.
Families around Old Hickory 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
Questions about a specific day, a group or a party are best asked directly - info@newlife-entertainment.com, or either of the numbers on the contacts page.