Safety · Ages
Safety with a preschooler in Cornelius
Same room, completely different visit depending on how old the child is.
Safety at a children attraction is mostly about the boring things being right: slow machines, a supervised room and staff who say something before a child does anything unsafe.
The drive back to Cornelius is where you find out what they actually thought. Children review an outing about twenty minutes after leaving it, never during.
How it lands at this age
On the ice, the rules that matter are the ordinary ones: stay off the ice with the cars, keep away from other skaters, and warm hands make better decisions than cold ones.
The centre states that the safety of its young guests is its first priority and that the environment is controlled and supervised. Follow whatever the staff ask on the day - they can see the room.
What to plan for
Parents keep the last word. Nobody knows what a particular child will try next better than the adult standing next to them.
Take the photographs early. The best ones happen in the first fifteen minutes, before anybody is tired.
What parents notice
Safety at a children attraction is mostly about the boring things being right: slow machines, a supervised room and staff who say something before a child does anything unsafe.
On the ice, the rules that matter are the ordinary ones: stay off the ice with the cars, keep away from other skaters, and warm hands make better decisions than cold ones.
Worth knowing
The centre states that the safety of its young guests is its first priority and that the environment is controlled and supervised. Follow whatever the staff ask on the day - they can see the room.
The quietest hour of the week is the first one on a weekday morning in term time. The busiest is Saturday around midday.
Questions parents ask
Is it supervised?
The centre describes a safe, controlled and supervised environment. Staff instructions on the day come first.
Are the machines fast?
They move slowly and only when a child moves the control.
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 Cornelius
From Cornelius the practical question is timing rather than distance. Arriving in the first hour after opening is worth more than shaving minutes off the drive.
A short visit that ends while they still want more beats a long one that ends in a meltdown, every time.
Check the day of the week against the closing time before you leave. Sunday finishes earlier than the rest of the week and catches people out.
For a Cornelius 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
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.