Visiting as a group · Tips
Visiting as a group in Charlotte: practical tips
None of this is complicated. All of it is the difference between a good hour and a difficult one.
Tell the centre the numbers in advance and the day runs better for everyone, staff included.
For a Charlotte 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.
Before you leave the house
Four machines and one big crate spread a group out. So does a rink - there is no single queue for the whole party to stand in.
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.
When you arrive
Any adult who has taken six children anywhere knows the failure mode: five occupied, one bored, and the bored one setting the tone.
Split a group by what they want rather than by age. The child who wants to watch is having a good time too.
While you are there
Tell the centre the numbers in advance and the day runs better for everyone, staff included.
Take the photographs early. The best ones happen in the first fifteen minutes, before anybody is tired.
On the way home
Four machines and one big crate spread a group out. So does a rink - there is no single queue for the whole party to stand in.
Any adult who has taken six children anywhere knows the failure mode: five occupied, one bored, and the bored one setting the tone.
Questions parents ask
How many children can come at once?
Call ahead with your numbers and arrange it: +1 (615) 968-4925.
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 Charlotte
From Charlotte the practical question is timing rather than distance. Arriving in the first hour after opening is worth more than shaving minutes off the drive.
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 short visit that ends while they still want more beats a long one that ends in a meltdown, every time.
The nearest of the two centres to Charlotte is the one to aim at - Concord Mills in Concord - and the drive is the ordinary sort rather than an expedition.
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.