Winter afternoons · First time
Winter afternoons in Lebanon: a first visit, step by step
A first visit has a shape to it, and knowing the shape takes most of the guesswork out.
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.
From Lebanon the practical question is timing rather than distance. Arriving in the first hour after opening is worth more than shaving minutes off the drive.
The first ten minutes
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.
What children do first
Dress for the room you are going to, not the car park you are crossing.
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 usually goes wrong
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.
Making the second visit better
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.
Bring less than you think. Coats and bags are the part of the visit nobody enjoys managing.
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.
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.
Planning your visit in Lebanon
Families searching from Lebanon are usually weighing one thing: whether it is worth the trip for an hour of something the children have not done before. The honest answer is that it depends on the child, and the rest of this page is about telling which.
The quietest hour of the week is the first one on a weekday morning in term time. The busiest is Saturday around midday.
A short visit that ends while they still want more beats a long one that ends in a meltdown, every time.
Weekends bring more of Lebanon out at once. If the schedule allows a weekday, take it; the same visit is quieter and the machines wait for nobody in particular.
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.