Winter afternoons · Compare
Winter afternoons in Hendersonville: where it fits among family activities
An honest look at where it fits.
Dress for the room you are going to, not the car park you are crossing.
For a Hendersonville 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.
What it does differently
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.
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.
Where other options win
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.
Winter shrinks the list of things to do with children to whatever is indoors and warm, or indoors and cold on purpose.
How to decide
Dress for the room you are going to, not the car park you are crossing.
Do not schedule anything immediately afterwards. An hour of concentrated play is tiring in a way that shows up in the car park, not in the room.
The short version
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.
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 Hendersonville
The nearest of the two centres to Hendersonville is the one to aim at - Opry Mills in Nashville - and the drive is the ordinary sort rather than an expedition.
Take the photographs early. The best ones happen in the first fifteen minutes, before anybody is tired.
Let the child lead the order of things. Adults optimise; children choose the thing that looks best, and they are right more often than they are wrong.
The drive back to Hendersonville is where you find out what they actually thought. Children review an outing about twenty minutes after leaving it, never during.
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.