The two centres · Seasonal
The two centres in Harrisburg: spring plans
The season changes what a visit feels like more than you would expect.
Families who know both tend to have a favourite per child rather than per family, which is a good sign for a pair of venues.
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Harrisburg. Nobody is local to a mall attraction; everybody has driven.
Why this time of year
New Life Entertainment runs two rooms that share nothing except the way they are run. One digs, one skates.
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.
What changes
The XCAV zone is at 433 Opry Mills Drive in Nashville, Tennessee. Four machines, one crate of plastic balls, and children at the controls.
The ice park is at 8111 Concord Mills Blvd in Concord, North Carolina - a real rink with bumper cars that spin on it.
What to wear
Families who know both tend to have a favourite per child rather than per family, which is a good sign for a pair of venues.
A short visit that ends while they still want more beats a long one that ends in a meltdown, every time.
Planning around it
New Life Entertainment runs two rooms that share nothing except the way they are run. One digs, one skates.
The XCAV zone is at 433 Opry Mills Drive in Nashville, Tennessee. Four machines, one crate of plastic balls, and children at the controls.
Questions parents ask
Where are the two centres?
433 Opry Mills Drive, Nashville TN 37214, and 8111 Concord Mills Blvd, Concord NC 28027.
Are they the same inside?
No. One is a construction yard over a ball pit, the other is an ice rink with bumper cars.
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 Harrisburg
For a Harrisburg 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.
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.
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.
Parents from Harrisburg tend to ask the same first question: how long will this hold their attention. Long enough to be worth the drive, and short enough to leave while they still want more.
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.