Summer afternoons · First time
Summer afternoons in Landis: a first visit, step by step
Nobody arrives knowing how it works. That is fine - here is how the first half hour tends to go.
The afternoon heat is exactly when children have the most energy and the least chance of being allowed to spend it outside.
For a Landis 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 first ten minutes
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.
What children do first
By the middle of a southern summer, indoors stops being second best and becomes the plan.
If one child is nervous, let them watch for the first ten minutes without being asked to join in. Almost all of them join in.
What usually goes wrong
The afternoon heat is exactly when children have the most energy and the least chance of being allowed to spend it outside.
School holidays make weekday mornings quieter than weekends - the same visit, half the noise.
Making the second visit better
An hour on the ice is the most literal way to cool a child down that exists indoors.
If it is the first time, do not also make it a birthday. Learning a place and celebrating in it are two different visits.
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 Landis
Coming in from Landis 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.
If two children are visiting together, plan for them to split up. Doing different things in the same room is the point of a room with different things in it.
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.
If you are coming from Landis, treat it as a cross-town outing rather than a day trip. Go with a return time in mind and the day stays easy.
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.