Winter afternoons · Guide
Winter afternoons in Donelson: everything worth knowing
Written for the parent doing the planning rather than the child doing the asking.
Winter shrinks the list of things to do with children to whatever is indoors and warm, or indoors and cold on purpose.
The nearest of the two centres to Donelson is the one to aim at - Opry Mills in Nashville - and the drive is the ordinary sort rather than an expedition.
What it actually is
Dress for the room you are going to, not the car park you are crossing.
Take the photographs early. The best ones happen in the first fifteen minutes, before anybody is tired.
Who it suits
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.
What to expect
Winter shrinks the list of things to do with children to whatever is indoors and warm, or indoors and cold on purpose.
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.
Before you go
Dress for the room you are going to, not the car park you are crossing.
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.
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.
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 Donelson
The drive back to Donelson is where you find out what they actually thought. Children review an outing about twenty minutes after leaving it, never during.
Count on the drive home being the conversation. Children tell you what they actually thought about twenty minutes after leaving.
Check the day of the week against the closing time before you leave. Sunday finishes earlier than the rest of the week and catches people out.
A Donelson school holiday runs out of ideas by about day three. This is a day-three answer rather than a day-one one.
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.