Visiting with a toddler · First time
Visiting with a toddler in East Nashville: what happens the first time
A first visit has a shape to it, and knowing the shape takes most of the guesswork out.
Bring the things that end visits early if they are missing: a drink, a snack for afterwards and a spare layer.
If East Nashville is home, this is the sort of place you end up returning to rather than ticking off. That changes what a first visit is worth planning around.
The first ten minutes
Go at the quietest hour you can manage. A toddler reads a busy room as a loud room and gets tired twice as fast.
Toddlers rarely want the machine. They want the balls, the colours and the noise, and that is a complete visit at that age.
What children do first
With a toddler the plan is short and simple. One thing, done properly, beats three things rushed.
The quietest hour of the week is the first one on a weekday morning in term time. The busiest is Saturday around midday.
What usually goes wrong
Bring the things that end visits early if they are missing: a drink, a snack for afterwards and a spare layer.
Go at the quietest hour you can manage. A toddler reads a busy room as a loud room and gets tired twice as fast.
Making the second visit better
Toddlers rarely want the machine. They want the balls, the colours and the noise, and that is a complete visit at that age.
Take the photographs early. The best ones happen in the first fifteen minutes, before anybody is tired.
Questions parents ask
Is there anything for very young children?
The ball pit holds their attention on its own, and on the ice side the cars need no skating.
How long will a toddler last?
Plan for less than you think and leave while they still want more.
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 East Nashville
Parents from East Nashville 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.
Count on the drive home being the conversation. Children tell you what they actually thought about twenty minutes after leaving.
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.
Families searching from East Nashville are usually weighing one thing: whether it is worth the trip for an hour of something the children have not done before. The honest answer is that it depends on the child, and the rest of this page is about telling which.
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
The two centres are at 433 Opry Mills Drive in Nashville and 8111 Concord Mills Blvd in Concord, open 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM most days and 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Sunday.