First visit · Local
First visit around Concord: worth the drive?
If you are searching from Concord, this is the practical answer.
Watch what they choose before suggesting anything. Children pick the machine that matches their temperament with no help at all.
For a Concord 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.
Getting there
Arrive with time in hand. The first ten minutes are always coats, looking around and deciding, and rushing them costs more than they take.
Leave a little early. A visit that ends while it is still fun is the one they ask to repeat.
What you will find
A first visit works best with no schedule attached to it. Come, see what the child gravitates to, and let that decide the hour.
Count on the drive home being the conversation. Children tell you what they actually thought about twenty minutes after leaving.
How long to allow
Watch what they choose before suggesting anything. Children pick the machine that matches their temperament with no help at all.
Arrive with time in hand. The first ten minutes are always coats, looking around and deciding, and rushing them costs more than they take.
Worth the trip?
Leave a little early. A visit that ends while it is still fun is the one they ask to repeat.
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
What should we bring?
Warm layers for the rink, and the usual drink and snack for afterwards.
How long should we allow?
An hour is a comfortable first visit for most families.
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.
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.
Planning your visit in Concord
From Concord the practical question is timing rather than distance. Arriving in the first hour after opening is worth more than shaving minutes off the drive.
Bring less than you think. Coats and bags are the part of the visit nobody enjoys managing.
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.
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Concord. 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
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.