Group visit · Story
Group visit in Lebanon: an hour, start to finish
The ordinary version of a visit, without the marketing gloss.
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.
From Lebanon the practical question is timing rather than distance. Arriving in the first hour after opening is worth more than shaving minutes off the drive.
Walking in
Group visits are worth arranging in advance so the centre knows how many are coming and when - a call does it.
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.
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.
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 last ten minutes
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.
Group visits are worth arranging in advance so the centre knows how many are coming and when - a call does it.
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.
Check the day of the week against the closing time before you leave. Sunday finishes earlier than the rest of the week and catches people out.
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.
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 Lebanon
A Lebanon school holiday runs out of ideas by about day three. This is a day-three answer rather than a day-one one.
Feed them first. Every attraction in the world is improved by not being hungry in it.
Weekday afternoons in term time are the quietest slot in the week. Weekend middays are the busiest.
Weekends bring more of Lebanon out at once. If the schedule allows a weekday, take it; the same visit is quieter and the machines wait for nobody in particular.
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
If a visit needs planning around a date, a group or a long drive, the centre is easiest to reach by phone: +1 (424) 387-6232 or +1 (615) 968-4925.