Winter afternoons · Ages
Winter afternoons with a 5 year old in Hermitage
What works brilliantly at one age is a shrug at another. Here is how it lands at this one.
Winter shrinks the list of things to do with children to whatever is indoors and warm, or indoors and cold on purpose.
From Hermitage the practical question is timing rather than distance. Arriving in the first hour after opening is worth more than shaving minutes off the drive.
How it lands at this age
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.
Decide how long you are staying before you walk in. A visit with an end time attached to it finishes on a good note rather than a tired one.
What to plan for
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.
What parents notice
Winter shrinks the list of things to do with children to whatever is indoors and warm, or indoors and cold on purpose.
Bring a snack for afterwards rather than during. Hungry children leave early and full children want to stay.
Worth knowing
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.
Dress for the room you are going to, not the car park you are crossing.
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 Hermitage
If you are coming from Hermitage, treat it as a cross-town outing rather than a day trip. Go with a return time in mind and the day stays easy.
Feed them first. Every attraction in the world is improved by not being hungry in it.
Take the phone out of your pocket before they start rather than after. The moment worth filming is usually the first one.
Families around Hermitage 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.
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
If a visit needs planning around a date, a group or a long drive, the centre is easiest to reach by phone: +1 (424) 387-6232 or +1 (615) 968-4925.