The excavator yard · Local
The excavator yard around Nashville: worth the drive?
Written for families in and around Nashville, who mostly want to know whether it is worth the drive.
There is no queue system built into the layout - the machines stand apart, so a family with two children can usually get them both working at once.
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Nashville. Nobody is local to a mall attraction; everybody has driven.
Getting there
The yard is compact by design. Nobody loses a child in it, and that alone changes how relaxed an hour there feels.
Parents watch from the rail, close enough to talk and far enough not to be operating the machine themselves, which is the point.
What you will find
The whole XCAV area reads like a small construction yard: four machines around one crate, everything at child height, everything meant to be touched.
Count on the drive home being the conversation. Children tell you what they actually thought about twenty minutes after leaving.
How long to allow
There is no queue system built into the layout - the machines stand apart, so a family with two children can usually get them both working at once.
The yard is compact by design. Nobody loses a child in it, and that alone changes how relaxed an hour there feels.
Worth the trip?
Parents watch from the rail, close enough to talk and far enough not to be operating the machine themselves, which is the point.
Take the phone out of your pocket before they start rather than after. The moment worth filming is usually the first one.
Questions parents ask
How many machines are there?
Four: a tower crane, a mini excavator, a claw excavator and a grabber crane.
Can parents stay with their child?
The rail runs around the crate, so parents stay within arm reach the whole time.
How do I get in touch?
By phone on +1 (424) 387-6232 or +1 (615) 968-4925, or by e-mail at info@newlife-entertainment.com.
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 Nashville
Coming in from Nashville 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.
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 drive back to Nashville is where you find out what they actually thought. Children review an outing about twenty minutes after leaving it, never during.
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
If a visit needs planning around a date, a group or a long drive, the centre is easiest to reach by phone: +1 (424) 387-6232 or +1 (615) 968-4925.