Claw excavator · Guide
Claw excavator in East Nashville: the practical guide
Everything below is the sort of thing you would want to know before the drive rather than after it.
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.
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like East Nashville. Nobody is local to a mall attraction; everybody has driven.
What it actually is
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.
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.
Who it suits
Because it grabs rather than scoops, it works just as well when the crate has been dug over and the surface is uneven.
Take the phone out of your pocket before they start rather than after. The moment worth filming is usually the first one.
What to expect
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.
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.
Before you go
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.
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.
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 East Nashville
Parents from East Nashville tend to ask the same first question: how long will this hold their attention. Long enough to be worth the drive, and short enough to leave while they still want more.
Bring a spare layer even in summer. Malls are air conditioned, rinks are colder than that, and a cold child is a child who wants to go home.
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.
For a East Nashville 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.
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.