Photos and video · Local
Photos and video near Monroe
Written for families in and around Monroe, who mostly want to know whether it is worth the drive.
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.
Weekends bring more of Monroe out at once. If the schedule allows a weekday, take it; the same visit is quieter and the machines wait for nobody in particular.
Getting there
The clips on the site were filmed in the rooms as they are. What is on the screen is what is in the room.
Video works better than stills here. The interesting part is always the movement - the swing of a cable, the spin of a car.
What you will find
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.
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.
How long to allow
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.
Worth the trip?
Video works better than stills here. The interesting part is always the movement - the swing of a cable, the spin of a car.
Weekday afternoons in term time are the quietest slot in the week. Weekend middays are the busiest.
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.
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 Monroe
Coming in from Monroe with more than one child, the useful thing to know is that the room does not need to be rationed - there is more than one thing to do at the same time.
A birthday group runs better with a rough plan of who goes where first, even if you abandon it in the first five minutes.
If it is the first time, do not also make it a birthday. Learning a place and celebrating in it are two different visits.
For a Monroe 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.
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.