Visiting with a toddler · Guide
Visiting with a toddler in Smyrna: a parent guide
This is the practical version - what it is, who it suits, what to bring, and what usually happens in 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.
Nothing about the visit assumes you know the area. The centre is inside Opry Mills, which is signposted from everywhere in Nashville and impossible to miss once you are there.
What it actually is
With a toddler the plan is short and simple. One thing, done properly, beats three things rushed.
Toddlers rarely want the machine. They want the balls, the colours and the noise, and that is a complete visit at that age.
Who it suits
Bring the things that end visits early if they are missing: a drink, a snack for afterwards and a spare layer.
Feed them first. Every attraction in the world is improved by not being hungry in it.
What to expect
Go at the quietest hour you can manage. A toddler reads a busy room as a loud room and gets tired twice as fast.
With a toddler the plan is short and simple. One thing, done properly, beats three things rushed.
Before you go
Toddlers rarely want the machine. They want the balls, the colours and the noise, and that is a complete visit at that age.
Photograph the machine as well as the child. In two years you will have forgotten what the room looked like.
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.
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 Smyrna
For a Smyrna 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.
If it is the first time, do not also make it a birthday. Learning a place and celebrating in it are two different visits.
A short visit that ends while they still want more beats a long one that ends in a meltdown, every time.
Parents from Smyrna 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
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.