Ice bumper cars · Compare
Ice bumper cars in Concord Mills: where it fits among family activities
Comparing like for like: what this gives you that the alternatives do not, and where the alternatives win.
The cars turn on the spot, so the game is less about racing and more about aim - and about the spin you leave behind when you connect.
Weekends bring more of Concord Mills out at once. If the schedule allows a weekday, take it; the same visit is quieter and the machines wait for nobody in particular.
What it does differently
The rink underneath is real ice, which is why the cars behave the way they do. On any other surface it is a different, duller ride.
No skating is involved. Children who would not step onto the ice on blades will sit in a car and go straight out onto the same surface without thinking about it.
Where other options win
Bumper cars on ice do something bumper cars on a floor cannot: they keep spinning. A nudge that would stop dead on rubber sends the whole car turning, and everybody in it laughs.
If two adults are coming, split up rather than shadowing the same child. One at the rail, one free, and everybody has a better hour.
How to decide
It suits families with mixed confidence. One child can be a natural on skates and the other can be nervous, and the cars put them on the same footing.
The cars turn on the spot, so the game is less about racing and more about aim - and about the spin you leave behind when you connect.
The short version
The rink underneath is real ice, which is why the cars behave the way they do. On any other surface it is a different, duller ride.
A short visit that ends while they still want more beats a long one that ends in a meltdown, every time.
Questions parents ask
Do you need to skate to ride?
No. The cars sit on the ice and the rider stays in the seat.
Is it rough?
It is a bump and a spin rather than a crash. The speed is low and the ice does most of the work.
What should a child wear?
Something warm. A rink is cold even when the ride is not.
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 Concord Mills
For a Concord 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.
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.
Let the child lead the order of things. Adults optimise; children choose the thing that looks best, and they are right more often than they are wrong.
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Concord Mills. 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.