The excavator yard · Local
The excavator yard near Green Hills
If you are searching from Green Hills, this is the practical answer.
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.
A Green Hills school holiday runs out of ideas by about day three. This is a day-three answer rather than a day-one one.
Getting there
The whole XCAV area reads like a small construction yard: four machines around one crate, everything at child height, everything meant to be touched.
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 yard is compact by design. Nobody loses a child in it, and that alone changes how relaxed an hour there feels.
Decide how long you are staying before you walk in. A visit with an end time attached to it finishes on a good note rather than a tired one.
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 whole XCAV area reads like a small construction yard: four machines around one crate, everything at child height, everything meant to be touched.
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.
Go early if the choice is available. The first hour after opening is quieter than any hour that follows it, and quieter is easier for everybody.
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.
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 Green Hills
If you are coming from Green Hills, treat it as a cross-town outing rather than a day trip. Go with a return time in mind and the day stays easy.
Let the child choose what to do first even when it is the thing you would have chosen last. The order matters less than the choosing.
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.
Families around Green Hills 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 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.