Mini excavator · First time
Mini excavator in Green Hills: what happens the first time
The first time is the one that decides whether there is a second time, so it is worth getting right.
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.
The nearest of the two centres to Green Hills is the one to aim at - Opry Mills in Nashville - and the drive is the ordinary sort rather than an expedition.
The first ten minutes
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.
If it is the first time, do not also make it a birthday. Learning a place and celebrating in it are two different visits.
What children do first
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.
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.
What usually goes wrong
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.
Feed them first. Every attraction in the world is improved by not being hungry in it.
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.
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.
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.
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 Green Hills
Families searching from Green Hills 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.
If one child is nervous, let them watch for the first ten minutes without being asked to join in. Almost all of them join in.
Bring less than you think. Coats and bags are the part of the visit nobody enjoys managing.
From Green Hills the practical question is timing rather than distance. Arriving in the first hour after opening is worth more than shaving minutes off the drive.
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.