First laps on the ice · Faq
First laps on the ice in Monroe: common questions answered
Short answers to the things worth knowing in advance.
Warm layers matter more than anything else. A cold child asks to leave long before a tired one does.
A Monroe school holiday runs out of ideas by about day three. This is a day-three answer rather than a day-one one.
The short answers
Falling is part of it and is less dramatic than parents fear. Ice is slippery at walking speed, which is the speed a beginner moves at.
Two shorter visits teach a child more than one long one. The second time they already know what they want to try, and that is when the good part starts.
The longer answers
The advice that helps most is the least technical: bend the knees, look ahead rather than down, and take short steps instead of long glides.
A first lap is mostly about the wall. Children hold it, let go of it, grab it again, and somewhere in the third lap they forget it is there.
Still worth asking on the day
Twenty minutes is a long first session. Confidence grows faster over three short visits than over one long one.
Count on the drive home being the conversation. Children tell you what they actually thought about twenty minutes after leaving.
Questions parents ask
What age can a child start skating?
Children start at very different ages. What matters more is whether they are willing to hold a rail and shuffle.
How long should a first session be?
Short. Twenty minutes of trying beats an hour of being cold and frustrated.
What should they wear?
Layers, long sleeves, gloves. Gloves are the item most often forgotten and most missed.
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.
Where is New Life Entertainment?
Two centres: 433 Opry Mills Drive, Nashville TN 37214, and 8111 Concord Mills Blvd, Concord NC 28027.
Planning your visit in Monroe
Weekends bring more of Monroe out at once. If the schedule allows a weekday, take it; the same visit is quieter and the machines wait for nobody in particular.
Feed them first. Every attraction in the world is improved by not being hungry in it.
Take the phone out of your pocket before they start rather than after. The moment worth filming is usually the first one.
Families searching from Monroe 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.
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.