Grabber crane · Tips
Grabber crane in Opry Mills: things worth doing differently
The things nobody tells you until you have done it twice.
Set against the other three, it is the machine that most rewards a plan: pick the spot, get the claw there, then close.
Parents from Opry Mills 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.
Before you leave the house
It is the machine parents underestimate. The long boom looks unwieldy from outside the rail and turns out to be the one children queue for twice.
The grabber crane has the longest boom of the four machines and a claw on the line, so it reaches the far side of the crate where the balls pile up.
When you arrive
Long reach means small movements at the controls turn into big movements at the claw. Children work that out fast and start moving in smaller and smaller nudges.
Count on the drive home being the conversation. Children tell you what they actually thought about twenty minutes after leaving.
While you are there
Set against the other three, it is the machine that most rewards a plan: pick the spot, get the claw there, then close.
It is the machine parents underestimate. The long boom looks unwieldy from outside the rail and turns out to be the one children queue for twice.
On the way home
The grabber crane has the longest boom of the four machines and a claw on the line, so it reaches the far side of the crate where the balls pile up.
The quietest hour of the week is the first one on a weekday morning in term time. The busiest is Saturday around midday.
Questions parents ask
What makes the boom different?
It is longer than the others, so it covers the far side of the crate and reacts to smaller inputs.
Can two children use machines at the same time?
The machines stand around the same crate and reach different parts of it, so more than one can run at once.
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
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.
Take the photographs early. The best ones happen in the first fifteen minutes, before anybody is tired.
Warn a nervous child about the noise before you walk in. Knowing what to expect is most of the difference between anxious and curious.
For a Opry Mills 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.