Winter afternoons · Tips
Winter afternoons in Opry Mills: practical tips
Small changes that make a visit go better, learned the ordinary way.
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.
Nothing about the visit assumes you know the area. The centre is inside Opry Mills, which is signposted from everywhere in Nashville and impossible to miss once you are there.
Before you leave the house
Dress for the room you are going to, not the car park you are crossing.
Bring a snack for afterwards rather than during. Hungry children leave early and full children want to stay.
When you arrive
Winter shrinks the list of things to do with children to whatever is indoors and warm, or indoors and cold on purpose.
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.
While you are there
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.
Feed them first. Every attraction in the world is improved by not being hungry in it.
On the way home
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.
Questions parents ask
Is the rink cold?
It is a real rink, so yes. Layers and gloves make the difference.
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.
Where is New Life Entertainment?
Two centres: 433 Opry Mills Drive, Nashville TN 37214, and 8111 Concord Mills Blvd, Concord NC 28027.
Planning your visit in Opry Mills
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Opry Mills. Nobody is local to a mall attraction; everybody has driven.
Warn a nervous child about the noise before you walk in. Knowing what to expect is most of the difference between anxious and curious.
If it is the first time, do not also make it a birthday. Learning a place and celebrating in it are two different visits.
Families searching from Opry Mills 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 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.