Summer afternoons · First time
Summer afternoons in Old Hickory: what happens the first time
The first time is the one that decides whether there is a second time, so it is worth getting right.
The afternoon heat is exactly when children have the most energy and the least chance of being allowed to spend it outside.
Families around Old Hickory who have done it once tend to plan the second visit differently: shorter, earlier in the day, and with the machine the child liked in mind.
The first ten minutes
School holidays make weekday mornings quieter than weekends - the same visit, half the noise.
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.
What children do first
An hour on the ice is the most literal way to cool a child down that exists indoors.
By the middle of a southern summer, indoors stops being second best and becomes the plan.
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.
The quietest hour of the week is the first one on a weekday morning in term time. The busiest is Saturday around midday.
Making the second visit better
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.
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 Old Hickory
If you are coming from Old Hickory, treat it as a cross-town outing rather than a day trip. Go with a return time in mind and the day stays easy.
Tell a nervous child what is going to happen in the order it will happen. Surprise is the thing they mind, not the activity.
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.
Nothing about the visit assumes you know the area. The centre is inside Opry Mills, which is signposted from everywhere in Nashville and impossible to miss once you are there.
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.