Open session · Compare
Open session in Salisbury, or something else?
Comparing like for like: what this gives you that the alternatives do not, and where the alternatives win.
Families spread out. One parent skates with the confident child, the other stays near the rail with the one who is still deciding, and both are on the same ice.
Families around Salisbury 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.
What it does differently
An open session is the unstructured version: no lesson, no lane, just the rink and whoever is on it.
Tell a nervous child what is going to happen in the order it will happen. Surprise is the thing they mind, not the activity.
Where other options win
The mix of ages on an open session is part of the appeal - and the reason to keep an eye out for smaller skaters when the rink is busy.
It is the easiest way to find out whether a child likes skating enough for lessons, without committing to a course first.
How to decide
Families spread out. One parent skates with the confident child, the other stays near the rail with the one who is still deciding, and both are on the same ice.
Photograph the machine as well as the child. In two years you will have forgotten what the room looked like.
The short version
An open session is the unstructured version: no lesson, no lane, just the rink and whoever is on it.
The mix of ages on an open session is part of the appeal - and the reason to keep an eye out for smaller skaters when the rink is busy.
Questions parents ask
Is a session structured?
An open session is free skating rather than a class.
Can parents go on the ice too?
Skating with a nervous child is usually the fastest way to get them moving.
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 Salisbury
A Salisbury school holiday runs out of ideas by about day three. This is a day-three answer rather than a day-one one.
If two children are visiting together, plan for them to split up. Doing different things in the same room is the point of a room with different things in it.
A birthday group runs better with a rough plan of who goes where first, even if you abandon it in the first five minutes.
Families searching from Salisbury 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
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.