First laps on the ice · Story
First laps on the ice in Mooresville: an hour, start to finish
What it actually looks like when a family walks in.
Warm layers matter more than anything else. A cold child asks to leave long before a tired one does.
Families around Mooresville 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.
Walking in
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 short visit that ends while they still want more beats a long one that ends in a meltdown, every time.
The middle of the visit
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.
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.
The last ten minutes
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.
What sticks
Warm layers matter more than anything else. A cold child asks to leave long before a tired one does.
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.
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.
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 Mooresville
Parents from Mooresville 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.
Warn a nervous child about the noise before you walk in. Knowing what to expect is most of the difference between anxious and curious.
If one child is nervous, let them watch for the first ten minutes without being asked to join in. Almost all of them join in.
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Mooresville. 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
The two centres are at 433 Opry Mills Drive in Nashville and 8111 Concord Mills Blvd in Concord, open 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM most days and 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Sunday.