Visiting as a group · Tips
Visiting as a group in Donelson: practical tips
None of this is complicated. All of it is the difference between a good hour and a difficult one.
Any adult who has taken six children anywhere knows the failure mode: five occupied, one bored, and the bored one setting the tone.
Parents from Donelson 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.
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.
Tell a nervous child what is going to happen in the order it will happen. Surprise is the thing they mind, not the activity.
When you arrive
Tell the centre the numbers in advance and the day runs better for everyone, staff included.
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
Any adult who has taken six children anywhere knows the failure mode: five occupied, one bored, and the bored one setting the tone.
Take the phone out of your pocket before they start rather than after. The moment worth filming is usually the first one.
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.
Tell the centre the numbers in advance and the day runs better for everyone, staff included.
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.
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 Donelson
Weekends bring more of Donelson out at once. If the schedule allows a weekday, take it; the same visit is quieter and the machines wait for nobody in particular.
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.
Photograph the machine as well as the child. In two years you will have forgotten what the room looked like.
For a Donelson 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
Questions about a specific day, a group or a party are best asked directly - info@newlife-entertainment.com, or either of the numbers on the contacts page.