Photos and video · Tips
Photos and video in East Nashville: things worth doing differently
The things nobody tells you until you have done it twice.
The site keeps a gallery of clips from both rooms - a bucket coming up full, a car spinning on the ice, first laps that end in a laugh.
For a East Nashville 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.
Before you leave the house
The clips on the site were filmed in the rooms as they are. What is on the screen is what is in the room.
For a parent with a phone, the useful thing to know is where to stand: at the rail level with the crate, or at the boards where the cars come back round.
When you arrive
Video works better than stills here. The interesting part is always the movement - the swing of a cable, the spin of a car.
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.
While you are there
The site keeps a gallery of clips from both rooms - a bucket coming up full, a car spinning on the ice, first laps that end in a laugh.
The clips on the site were filmed in the rooms as they are. What is on the screen is what is in the room.
On the way home
For a parent with a phone, the useful thing to know is where to stand: at the rail level with the crate, or at the boards where the cars come back round.
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.
Questions parents ask
Can I film my child?
Parents film constantly. Be considerate of other families in the frame.
Where can I see what it looks like?
The video gallery on the site shows both rooms.
How do I get in touch?
By phone on +1 (424) 387-6232 or +1 (615) 968-4925, or by e-mail at info@newlife-entertainment.com.
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 East Nashville
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like East Nashville. Nobody is local to a mall attraction; everybody has driven.
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.
Tell a nervous child what is going to happen in the order it will happen. Surprise is the thing they mind, not the activity.
The nearest of the two centres to East Nashville is the one to aim at - Opry Mills in Nashville - and the drive is the ordinary sort rather than an expedition.
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
Anything time critical is worth a phone call first: hours are 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM Monday to Saturday and 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Sunday.