Summer afternoons · Story
Summer afternoons in Concord Mills: an hour, start to finish
Not a review - a description. Here is roughly how an hour goes.
An hour on the ice is the most literal way to cool a child down that exists indoors.
Parents from Concord Mills 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.
Walking in
School holidays make weekday mornings quieter than weekends - the same visit, half the noise.
The quietest hour of the week is the first one on a weekday morning in term time. The busiest is Saturday around midday.
The middle of the visit
The afternoon heat is exactly when children have the most energy and the least chance of being allowed to spend it outside.
By the middle of a southern summer, indoors stops being second best and becomes the plan.
The last ten minutes
An hour on the ice is the most literal way to cool a child down that exists indoors.
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.
What sticks
School holidays make weekday mornings quieter than weekends - the same visit, half the noise.
The afternoon heat is exactly when children have the most energy and the least chance of being allowed to spend it outside.
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.
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 Concord Mills
Nothing about the visit assumes you know the area. The centre is inside Concord Mills, which is signposted from everywhere in Concord and impossible to miss once you are there.
Let the child choose what to do first even when it is the thing you would have chosen last. The order matters less than the choosing.
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.
A Concord Mills school holiday runs out of ideas by about day three. This is a day-three answer rather than a day-one one.
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.