Summer afternoons · Local
Summer afternoons near Franklin
Written for families in and around Franklin, who mostly want to know whether it is worth the drive.
An hour on the ice is the most literal way to cool a child down that exists indoors.
Coming in from Franklin 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.
Getting there
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.
What you will find
School holidays make weekday mornings quieter than weekends - the same visit, half the noise.
Bring less than you think. Coats and bags are the part of the visit nobody enjoys managing.
How long to allow
An hour on the ice is the most literal way to cool a child down that exists indoors.
The afternoon heat is exactly when children have the most energy and the least chance of being allowed to spend it outside.
Worth the trip?
By the middle of a southern summer, indoors stops being second best and becomes the plan.
Count on the drive home being the conversation. Children tell you what they actually thought about twenty minutes after leaving.
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 Franklin
The drive back to Franklin is where you find out what they actually thought. Children review an outing about twenty minutes after leaving it, never during.
Take the photographs early. The best ones happen in the first fifteen minutes, before anybody is tired.
A birthday group runs better with a rough plan of who goes where first, even if you abandon it in the first five minutes.
The nearest of the two centres to Franklin is the one to aim at - Opry Mills in Nashville - and the drive is the ordinary sort rather than an expedition.
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.