Winter afternoons · Seasonal
Winter afternoons in Goodlettsville: what spring is like
The season changes what a visit feels like more than you would expect.
Winter shrinks the list of things to do with children to whatever is indoors and warm, or indoors and cold on purpose.
Parents from Goodlettsville 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.
Why this time of year
Dress for the room you are going to, not the car park you are crossing.
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 changes
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.
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.
What to wear
Winter shrinks the list of things to do with children to whatever is indoors and warm, or indoors and cold on purpose.
The quietest hour of the week is the first one on a weekday morning in term time. The busiest is Saturday around midday.
Planning around it
Dress for the room you are going to, not the car park you are crossing.
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.
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 Goodlettsville
Families around Goodlettsville 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.
Take the phone out of your pocket before they start rather than after. The moment worth filming is usually the first one.
A short visit that ends while they still want more beats a long one that ends in a meltdown, every time.
The nearest of the two centres to Goodlettsville 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
Anything time critical is worth a phone call first: hours are 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM Monday to Saturday and 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Sunday.