Winter afternoons · Local
Winter afternoons for families in Opry Mills
The local version of the question: how far, how long, and is it worth it.
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.
For a Opry Mills 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.
Getting there
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.
Tell a nervous child what is going to happen in the order it will happen. Surprise is the thing they mind, not the activity.
What you will find
Dress for the room you are going to, not the car park you are crossing.
Winter shrinks the list of things to do with children to whatever is indoors and warm, or indoors and cold on purpose.
How long to allow
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.
A birthday group runs better with a rough plan of who goes where first, even if you abandon it in the first five minutes.
Worth the trip?
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.
Dress for the room you are going to, not the car park you are crossing.
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 Opry Mills
A Opry Mills school holiday runs out of ideas by about day three. This is a day-three answer rather than a day-one one.
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.
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.
The nearest of the two centres to Opry Mills is the one to aim at - Opry Mills in Nashville - 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
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.