Summer afternoons · Occasion
Summer afternoons in Bellevue — a playdate, sorted
Here is how the day tends to run and what is worth arranging in advance.
By the middle of a southern summer, indoors stops being second best and becomes the plan.
Parents from Bellevue tend to ask the same first question: how long will this hold their attention. Long enough to be worth the drive, and short enough to leave while they still want more.
Why it fits the occasion
School holidays make weekday mornings quieter than weekends - the same visit, half the noise.
An hour on the ice is the most literal way to cool a child down that exists indoors.
How the day runs
The afternoon heat is exactly when children have the most energy and the least chance of being allowed to spend it outside.
Do not schedule anything immediately afterwards. An hour of concentrated play is tiring in a way that shows up in the car park, not in the room.
What to arrange first
By the middle of a southern summer, indoors stops being second best and becomes the plan.
School holidays make weekday mornings quieter than weekends - the same visit, half the noise.
Small things that help
An hour on the ice is the most literal way to cool a child down that exists indoors.
Bring a spare layer even in summer. Malls are air conditioned, rinks are colder than that, and a cold child is a child who wants to go home.
Questions parents ask
Is it air conditioned?
Both venues are inside malls, and the ice park is a rink.
When is it quietest in the holidays?
Weekday mornings, generally.
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 Bellevue
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Bellevue. Nobody is local to a mall attraction; everybody has driven.
If it is the first time, do not also make it a birthday. Learning a place and celebrating in it are two different visits.
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.
Coming in from Bellevue 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.
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.