Photos and video · Story
Photos and video in Harrisburg: an hour, start to finish
Not a review - a description. Here is roughly how an hour goes.
The clips on the site were filmed in the rooms as they are. What is on the screen is what is in the room.
The nearest of the two centres to Harrisburg is the one to aim at - Concord Mills in Concord - and the drive is the ordinary sort rather than an expedition.
Walking in
Video works better than stills here. The interesting part is always the movement - the swing of a cable, the spin of a car.
Photograph the machine as well as the child. In two years you will have forgotten what the room looked like.
The middle of the visit
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.
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 last ten minutes
The clips on the site were filmed in the rooms as they are. What is on the screen is what is in the room.
A short visit that ends while they still want more beats a long one that ends in a meltdown, every time.
What sticks
Video works better than stills here. The interesting part is always the movement - the swing of a cable, the spin of a car.
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.
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.
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 Harrisburg
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Harrisburg. Nobody is local to a mall attraction; everybody has driven.
Weekday afternoons in term time are the quietest slot in the week. Weekend middays are the busiest.
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 around Harrisburg 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.
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.