Photos and video · Story
Photos and video in Murfreesboro: an hour, start to finish
Not a review - a description. Here is roughly how an hour goes.
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.
If Murfreesboro is home, this is the sort of place you end up returning to rather than ticking off. That changes what a first visit is worth planning around.
Walking in
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.
The middle of the visit
Video works better than stills here. The interesting part is always the movement - the swing of a cable, the spin of a car.
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 last ten minutes
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.
Two shorter visits teach a child more than one long one. The second time they already know what they want to try, and that is when the good part starts.
What sticks
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.
Video works better than stills here. The interesting part is always the movement - the swing of a cable, the spin of a car.
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 Murfreesboro
For a Murfreesboro 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.
Bring less than you think. Coats and bags are the part of the visit nobody enjoys managing.
Photograph the machine as well as the child. In two years you will have forgotten what the room looked like.
Nothing about the visit assumes you know the area. The centre is inside Opry Mills, which is signposted from everywhere in Nashville and impossible to miss once you are there.
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.