Mini excavator · Ages
Mini excavator with a 9 year old in Old Hickory
Age changes the answer more than anything else, so this one is written for a specific one.
Parents tend to stand at the rail and narrate. By the third scoop most of them have stopped narrating and started filming.
The nearest of the two centres to Old Hickory is the one to aim at - Opry Mills in Nashville - and the drive is the ordinary sort rather than an expedition.
How it lands at this age
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.
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.
What to plan for
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.
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.
What parents notice
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.
Count on the drive home being the conversation. Children tell you what they actually thought about twenty minutes after leaving.
Worth knowing
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.
Parents tend to stand at the rail and narrate. By the third scoop most of them have stopped narrating and started filming.
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 Old Hickory
Weekends bring more of Old Hickory 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 quietest hour of the week is the first one on a weekday morning in term time. The busiest is Saturday around midday.
Agree the leaving time before you walk in, out loud, to the child. Announcing it later sounds like a punishment; agreeing it first sounds like a plan.
Families searching from Old Hickory 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
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.