Mini excavator · First time
Mini excavator for the first time in Hendersonville
The first time is the one that decides whether there is a second time, so it is worth getting right.
The mini excavator is the machine most children head for first. It sits on rubber tracks at the edge of the crate, the arm reaches out over the balls, and the controls are the two levers in front of the seat rather than anything on a screen.
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Hendersonville. Nobody is local to a mall attraction; everybody has driven.
The first ten minutes
Because the arm moves slowly, there is time to think between one movement and the next. Children who find fast rides overwhelming often last far longer here than their parents expect.
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.
What children do first
Nothing about it is automatic. The machine does exactly what the hands do, which is why a five year old and a ten year old get completely different runs out of the same two minutes.
The seat is at child height and the whole machine is built around a child-sized reach, so nobody is stretching for a control they cannot see.
What usually goes wrong
Working the bucket is a two-handed job. One lever swings the arm, the other drops and curls the bucket, and the first few scoops usually come up empty. That is the part children remember: the moment the timing clicks and the bucket comes up full.
Photograph the machine as well as the child. In two years you will have forgotten what the room looked like.
Making the second visit better
Parents tend to stand at the rail and narrate. By the third scoop most of them have stopped narrating and started filming.
The mini excavator is the machine most children head for first. It sits on rubber tracks at the edge of the crate, the arm reaches out over the balls, and the controls are the two levers in front of the seat rather than anything on a screen.
Questions parents ask
Does a child need to know how to use it?
No. The two levers are the whole system, and most children work out which one does what within a minute of sitting down.
Is the arm heavy or fast?
It moves slowly and deliberately. The pace is part of why it suits younger children.
What if my child cannot reach?
The seat and the controls are built for children rather than adults, so the reach is short by design.
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.
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 Hendersonville
Families around Hendersonville who have done it once tend to plan the second visit differently: shorter, earlier in the day, and with the machine the child liked in mind.
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.
Families searching from Hendersonville are usually weighing one thing: whether it is worth the trip for an hour of something the children have not done before. The honest answer is that it depends on the child, and the rest of this page is about telling which.
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.