Charlotte NC layover for 12 hours

Need help with what to do in Charlotte NC for a 12-hour layover in January on a Saturday with a 5-year old in tow. We are open to leaving the airport, will have warm clothing eg lined jackets, a lightweight car seat accessible and just a personal item in hand each. DS loves trains, buses and all manner of things that move so bonus points if getting somewhere involves some form of public transportation. We’d love to go grab a bite and get some wiggles out for him / make it an interesting day for us. The aviation museum is now closed so unfortunately, that’s not an option. Thanks so much!

Discovery Place in Uptown Charlotte for sure. There may be a bus (called CATS) from the airport to Uptown or you can Uber. You can walk from Discovery Place to the light rail train (Lynx) and take it a few stops south to the South End area. There is a great ice cream place (Jeni’s) as well as lots of restaurants. You would probably have enough time to take the train to the end and back... it’s 30 minutes each way. There is also an observation area at airport by a runway for close up views of take off and landings.