The excavator yard · Story
The excavator yard in Nashville: what an afternoon looks like
What it actually looks like when a family walks in.
The yard is compact by design. Nobody loses a child in it, and that alone changes how relaxed an hour there feels.
The nearest of the two centres to Nashville is the one to aim at - Opry Mills in Nashville - and the drive is the ordinary sort rather than an expedition.
Walking in
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.
Count on the drive home being the conversation. Children tell you what they actually thought about twenty minutes after leaving.
The middle of the visit
Parents watch from the rail, close enough to talk and far enough not to be operating the machine themselves, which is the point.
The whole XCAV area reads like a small construction yard: four machines around one crate, everything at child height, everything meant to be touched.
The last ten minutes
The yard is compact by design. Nobody loses a child in it, and that alone changes how relaxed an hour there feels.
Let the child lead the order of things. Adults optimise; children choose the thing that looks best, and they are right more often than they are wrong.
What sticks
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.
Parents watch from the rail, close enough to talk and far enough not to be operating the machine themselves, which is the point.
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.
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 Nashville
Families around Nashville 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.
A short visit that ends while they still want more beats a long one that ends in a meltdown, every 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.
For a Nashville 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 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.