Winter afternoons · Local
Winter afternoons around Pineville: worth the drive?
The local version of the question: how far, how long, and is it worth it.
Dress for the room you are going to, not the car park you are crossing.
Families around Pineville who have done it once tend to plan the second visit differently: shorter, earlier in the day, and with the machine the child liked in mind.
Getting there
Winter shrinks the list of things to do with children to whatever is indoors and warm, or indoors and cold on purpose.
Agree the leaving time before you walk in, out loud, to the child. Announcing it later sounds like a punishment; agreeing it first sounds like a plan.
What you will find
On the Nashville side the answer is the opposite - a warm room, a deep crate of balls and machines that do not care what the weather is doing.
An ice rink in winter is not the contradiction it sounds like: the cold is the attraction rather than the problem, and it lasts an hour rather than a day.
How long to allow
Dress for the room you are going to, not the car park you are crossing.
If two adults are coming, split up rather than shadowing the same child. One at the rail, one free, and everybody has a better hour.
Worth the trip?
Winter shrinks the list of things to do with children to whatever is indoors and warm, or indoors and cold on purpose.
On the Nashville side the answer is the opposite - a warm room, a deep crate of balls and machines that do not care what the weather is doing.
Questions parents ask
Is the rink cold?
It is a real rink, so yes. Layers and gloves make the difference.
Where is New Life Entertainment?
Two centres: 433 Opry Mills Drive, Nashville TN 37214, and 8111 Concord Mills Blvd, Concord NC 28027.
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.
Planning your visit in Pineville
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Pineville. Nobody is local to a mall attraction; everybody has driven.
The quietest hour of the week is the first one on a weekday morning in term time. The busiest is Saturday around midday.
Let the child choose what to do first even when it is the thing you would have chosen last. The order matters less than the choosing.
Coming in from Pineville 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.
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.