Rumor: Is Dollywood’s new ride for 2026 a rocking-boat system?
Dollywood kicked off its 40th anniversary celebration on March 14, 2025, and revealed plans for a new attraction that will debut in 2026. Although details about Dollywood’s new ride have not been announced, we have been given a few clues about the “revolutionary experience unlike anything anywhere else in the world.”
We’ve now heard rumors that Dollywood’s new attraction may be an indoor version of the Mack Rides rocking-boat system that debuted earlier this summer.
Images courtesy of Dollywood
If the rumors are true, Dollywood would be employing the same rocking-boat ride system for their indoor attraction that was the first of its kind when it debuted with the outdoor ride at Parc du Futuroscope in June. (Amusement Insider pointed out the similarities in the tracks from a photo captured by Park Rovers.)
This innovative water ride system—also rumored for a potential “Creature of the Black Lagoon” attraction at Universal Epic Universe—positions boats above the track, which allows riders to experience floating and swaying movements.
Dollywood has confirmed that the new attraction will be located in the park’s Wildwood Grove area, but has not yet announced any specific details.
What we know about Dollywood’s new ride
In a 2024 interview for Attractions Magazine, Dollywood VP Pete Owens confirmed that Dollywood’s new ride will be an indoor attraction. He also revealed that “it will do things that no other indoor attraction in the world does.”
In addition, in the recently-released Dollywood 40th-anniversary documentary called “The Dollywood Dream”—available on the Dollywood Parks & Resorts YouTube channel—Owens called Dollywood’s new ride the park’s “single largest attraction,” and Dollywood President Eugene Naughton described it as the “single largest expansion in Dollywood’s history that’s going to be tied to the Smoky Mountains.” Owens also added the new attraction will “continue to tell the Wildwood Grove story” and “celebrate nighttime in the Smokies.”
On June 23, 2025, Dollywood shared a teaser video for the new attraction featuring a book titled “The Legend of Secret Lake,” which opens to reveal a nighttime “flight” through a magical forest, culminating at a bioluminescent lake.
“A family’s quest will illuminate a world of wonder and adventure,” the narrator says. “Join Dollywood as we dive into the unexplored.”
Wildwood Grove
Everything at Dollywood has a connection to Dolly Parton’s life, and Wildwood Grove is no different. Opened in 2019, the area was designed to bring Dolly’s childhood experience of venturing into the mountains to park guests.
“When we created Wildwood Grove I really wanted it to be a place where kids (and parents) could experience what we did as children,” Dolly explains in the documentary. “A lot of little children live in big cities…and they don’t really get that experience of being outdoors in the wild.”
Dollywood’s new ride will join eight attractions currently in Wildwood Grove, including the park’s newest roller coaster, the family-friendly Big Bear Mountain, which opened in 2023.
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