Claw excavator · Local
Claw excavator around Opry Mills: worth the drive?
Written for families in and around Opry Mills, who mostly want to know whether it is worth the drive.
Because it grabs rather than scoops, it works just as well when the crate has been dug over and the surface is uneven.
Families searching from Opry Mills 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.
Getting there
The claw excavator swaps the bucket for a five finger grab. Instead of scooping, it closes around a handful of balls, which changes the whole feel of the machine.
The grab is the machine for the child who likes precision. Picking one ball out of a hundred is a different game from moving a bucketful.
What you will find
Children who have played claw machines at an arcade expect this one to cheat. It does not - the grab closes when they close it and holds what it holds.
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.
How long to allow
Because it grabs rather than scoops, it works just as well when the crate has been dug over and the surface is uneven.
The claw excavator swaps the bucket for a five finger grab. Instead of scooping, it closes around a handful of balls, which changes the whole feel of the machine.
Worth the trip?
The grab is the machine for the child who likes precision. Picking one ball out of a hundred is a different game from moving a bucketful.
Take the photographs early. The best ones happen in the first fifteen minutes, before anybody is tired.
Questions parents ask
Is this like an arcade claw machine?
It looks similar and behaves completely differently. Nothing releases the grab except the child holding the control.
Which machine should a first timer start with?
Most start on a bucket machine and move to the grab once they have the feel of the arm.
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 Opry Mills
The nearest of the two centres to Opry Mills is the one to aim at - Opry Mills in Nashville - and the drive is the ordinary sort rather than an expedition.
Bring a snack for afterwards rather than during. Hungry children leave early and full children want to stay.
A birthday group runs better with a rough plan of who goes where first, even if you abandon it in the first five minutes.
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Opry Mills. Nobody is local to a mall attraction; everybody has driven.
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.