The view from the rail · Story
The view from the rail in Lebanon: what an afternoon looks like
What it actually looks like when a family walks in.
Phones come out, and for once the photographs are worth keeping: a full bucket, a spin, a first lap without the wall.
Parents from Lebanon 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.
Walking in
Everything happens in one room. There is no wandering off to another floor and no moment of not knowing where they are.
Do not schedule anything immediately afterwards. An hour of concentrated play is tiring in a way that shows up in the car park, not in the room.
The middle of the visit
The pace is slow enough to talk over. Parents end up chatting at the rail rather than shouting over a soundtrack.
The measure of a family attraction is not what the children do, it is what the adults do while they do it. Standing where you can see and hear them counts for a lot.
The last ten minutes
Phones come out, and for once the photographs are worth keeping: a full bucket, a spin, a first lap without the wall.
Take the photographs early. The best ones happen in the first fifteen minutes, before anybody is tired.
What sticks
Everything happens in one room. There is no wandering off to another floor and no moment of not knowing where they are.
The pace is slow enough to talk over. Parents end up chatting at the rail rather than shouting over a soundtrack.
Questions parents ask
Can I watch the whole time?
The activity is in one room and the viewing is from the rail or the boards.
Is it loud?
It is a children attraction rather than an arcade. The machines are slow and the noise is mostly the children.
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 Lebanon
Coming in from Lebanon 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.
Bring less than you think. Coats and bags are the part of the visit nobody enjoys managing.
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.
A Lebanon school holiday runs out of ideas by about day three. This is a day-three answer rather than a day-one one.
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.