Group visit · Story
Group visit in Charlotte: an hour, start to finish
The ordinary version of a visit, without the marketing gloss.
Group visits are worth arranging in advance so the centre knows how many are coming and when - a call does it.
If Charlotte is home, this is the sort of place you end up returning to rather than ticking off. That changes what a first visit is worth planning around.
Walking in
For a class group the appeal is that the activity explains itself. No briefing, no equipment to hand out, no rules that take ten minutes to teach.
Let the child choose what to do first even when it is the thing you would have chosen last. The order matters less than the choosing.
The middle of the visit
It works as a reward trip, an end of term outing, or the indoor half of a day that has an outdoor half somewhere else.
Teachers get an activity where children take turns without being told to, because the machines and the cars enforce turns by existing in limited numbers.
The last ten minutes
Group visits are worth arranging in advance so the centre knows how many are coming and when - a call does it.
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.
What sticks
For a class group the appeal is that the activity explains itself. No briefing, no equipment to hand out, no rules that take ten minutes to teach.
It works as a reward trip, an end of term outing, or the indoor half of a day that has an outdoor half somewhere else.
Questions parents ask
Can school groups visit?
Call ahead and arrange it: +1 (615) 968-4925 or info@newlife-entertainment.com.
Is it educational?
Working an arm on levers is hand eye coordination, cause and effect and patience, whatever you call it on the form.
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.
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 Charlotte
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Charlotte. Nobody is local to a mall attraction; everybody has driven.
The quietest hour of the week is the first one on a weekday morning in term time. The busiest is Saturday around midday.
Take the phone out of your pocket before they start rather than after. The moment worth filming is usually the first one.
Nothing about the visit assumes you know the area. The centre is inside Concord Mills, which is signposted from everywhere in Concord and impossible to miss once you are there.
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.