Dollywood’s 2026 ride revealed: NightFlight Expedition coaster/whitewater hybrid
When Dollywood kicked off its 40th anniversary celebration on March 14, 2025, the park teased a new Dollywood 2026 ride, and while no details were revealed at the time, we now know the promise of a “revolutionary experience unlike anything anywhere else in the world” has been kept, with the Sept. 17 announcement of NightFlight Expedition, the world’s first indoor family hybrid coaster and whitewater river raft ride.
In the Dollywood 40th-anniversary documentary, Dollywood VP Pete Owens teased that the park’s new attraction will “continue to tell the Wildwood Grove story” and “celebrate nighttime in the Smokies.” At a cost of more than $50 million, NightFlight Expedition is not just a new ride, but the most significant attraction investment in the history of Dollywood Parks & Resorts.
During the five-and-a-half-minute experience aboard custom-designed amphibious vehicles, riders will embark on four distinct adventures: they will soar over the Smoky Mountains, plunge into whitewater rapids, climb a mountain range, and explore a bioluminescent lake, each offering a unique experience.
“You’re going to experience four different rides,” said Dollywood President Eugene Naughton. “You’re going to soar, you’re going to plunge, you’re going to climb and drop like a roller coaster, and you’re going to navigate to a very special lake—and no one has ever put all of those different experiences together in one epic attraction before.”
The ride system, which earned Mack Rides the 2025 Amusement Today Golden Ticket for Best New Innovation, will also interact with multimedia projections, onboard and offboard audio, and special lighting effects to immerse guests in the nighttime adventure.
Mack first debuted this ride system at Futuroscope in France earlier this year, as seen in our video:
“A lot of people ask me about my favorite season in the Smokies, but no one ever asks me what my favorite time of day is,” Dolly Parton said. “Our new ride sends you out into the mountains at night, which is the time that I think they really come to life. It’s pure mountain magic.”
NightFlight By the Numbers
When it opens in Spring 2026, NightFlight Expedition will be an indoor attraction housed in a 44,000 square foot, temperature-controlled facility that’s three stories high.
“The ride is massive,” said Dollywood CEO Andrew Wexler, “It’s inside a […] building that will help us tell this nighttime story, but it’s going to be in an environment that’s protected from the heat of the summer and protected from the cold of the winter.”
Riders will board ten-person amphibious vehicles that will travel along 1,255 feet of track at speeds of up to 29 miles per hour—and the whitewater rapids section will feature 500,000 gallons of water. The minimum height requirement will be 39 inches.
Wildwood Grove
Each area in Dollywood connects to Dolly Parton’s life, and Wildwood Grove was designed to bring Dolly’s childhood experience in 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.”
NightFlight Expedition tells an all-new story about the Smoky Mountains—one of the most biodiverse places in the world—but this time, guests will experience it at night, where glowing plants and creatures come to life. The attraction also introduces two new characters: Cora and Jasper.
“We’re extending Dolly’s story of Wildwood Grove, and we’re providing an experience for the whole family that no one can experience anywhere else, but right here at Dollywood,” Naughton said. “On NightFlight, we’re going to use Jasper’s bioluminator, and we’re going to follow the light to Secret Lake.”
The Dollywood 2026 ride will join the eight attractions currently in Wildwood Grove, including the family-friendly Big Bear Mountain coaster, which opened in 2023.
“I’m so proud Dollywood has grown so much in its first 40 years that we’re able to add a ride like NightFlight Expedition,” Dolly said about the attraction. “We’re always trying to take the natural beauty of the Smokies and make it part of everything we’re doing in the park, and they’ve definitely been able to do it with this ride.”
Current 2025 Dollywood season passholders can purchase a 2026 season pass now. Passholders who renew now will be given the opportunity to experience NightFlight Expedition before it opens to the public.
Follow us:
More Attractions Magazine stories:
No matter where you want to go, our trusted partner MEI-Travel will handle the planning so you can focus on the memories. They offer free vacation-planning services and have nearly 20 years of experience creating memorable vacations. Visit MEI-Travel for a fee-free, no-obligation quote today.
