Winter afternoons · Tips
Winter afternoons in Smyrna: what experienced parents do
Small changes that make a visit go better, learned the ordinary way.
Dress for the room you are going to, not the car park you are crossing.
The drive back to Smyrna is where you find out what they actually thought. Children review an outing about twenty minutes after leaving it, never during.
Before you leave the house
Winter shrinks the list of things to do with children to whatever is indoors and warm, or indoors and cold on purpose.
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.
When you arrive
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.
While you are there
Dress for the room you are going to, not the car park you are crossing.
Warn a nervous child about the noise before you walk in. Knowing what to expect is most of the difference between anxious and curious.
On the way home
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.
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.
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 Smyrna
A Smyrna school holiday runs out of ideas by about day three. This is a day-three answer rather than a day-one one.
If one child is nervous, let them watch for the first ten minutes without being asked to join in. Almost all of them join in.
The quietest hour of the week is the first one on a weekday morning in term time. The busiest is Saturday around midday.
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Smyrna. Nobody is local to a mall attraction; everybody has driven.
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.