Dollywood today announced its new attraction for 2026 - America's first installation of a Mack Rides rocking boat ride.
NightFlight Expedition will open next year in Dollywood's Wildwood Grove area. The more than $50 million ride will be the largest attraction investment in Dollywood's history, park officials said.
"As the world’s first indoor family hybrid coaster and whitewater river raft ride, NightFlight Expedition takes Dollywood guests on an unforgettable journey through the Smoky Mountains to search for bioluminescence in the nation’s most-visited national park. During the 5 1/2-minute experience, guests soar on a nighttime flight over the scenic Smokies, enjoy a thrilling whitewater rafting excursion through more than 500,000 gallons of surging water, traverse a mountain ridge on a roller coaster, and navigate a mysterious shimmering lake by boat," Dollywood said in its press releasee.
Here is the hype video from Dollywood.
"Created and built by Dollywood, Herschend Creative Studios and esteemed manufacturer Mack Rides, the custom-designed amphibious ride vehicle interacts with vivid multimedia projections, dynamic onboard and offboard audio, as well as special lighting effects, to immerse guests in an extraordinary Smoky Mountain adventure," Dollywood said in its press release.
You can learn more about the Mack Rides rocking boat from this product announcement video from Mack Rides. The first installation of this technology came this year with Mission Bermudes at France's Futuroscope. But the Dollywood installation promises to be a more extensive use of the ride system.
"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! Obviously, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is known for the synchronous lightning bugs, but I also love to just sit and listen to the owls calling or the frogs croaking, and I love to see the stars sparkling like rhinestones up in the big old sky. It’s pure mountain magic.”
"I’m just so proud that Dollywood has grown so much in its first 40 years that we’re able to add a ride like NightFlight Expedition,” she said. "I have no doubt it’s going to be a huge part of Dollywood’s next 40 years. 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."
Looks like a great addition to the park! I've been wanting to see one of these in the U.S. since I've heard of them. Hopefully this one is the first of many- looking at you, dark universe.
This one also looks like it's going to be incredibly themed and atmospheric. I wonder what it means by "four thrilling adventures in one attraction". . .is this going to be a verbolten/ primordial situation?
@VelocicoasterFan - Based on the video, it looks like there will be 4 distinct portions/ride experiences. The first is described as "soar above the Smokies", which I assume is the opening elevated coaster section, the second you "plunge into whitewater rapids", which is the signature feature of this new ride system, then you "climb majestic mountain peaks, which from the video appears to be a lift system (probably tire or LSM powered), and then going "deep into the heart of the night", which is the dark ride finale section that looks like Na'Vi River Journey. So, it's a single ride system with 4 distinct sections. I don't think there will be any drop tracks, but there appear to be 4 different types of motion (coaster, rapids, powered lift, and slow boat/flume).
This seems like a ride system in search of a storyline.
The video teases a narrative with the "Legend of Secret Lake" book, but I think the attraction will offer more of a nature-driven vibe than a character-driven story. That's fine with me.
Robert's right, and that's consistent with Dollywood's other rides, most recently Big Bear Mountain, that cast riders as the protagonists thrust into the various environments instead of following the story of a specific character(s). That has been a successful motif for other excellent dark rides and meshes more realistically with the likely budget for this attraction that probably will aim to do more place setting than storytelling.
Looks like Dollywood is getting their version of Mystic River Falls and New Fire-in-the-Hole all in one ;)
This ride system would be perfect for a Creature of the Black Lagoon ride, in EU.
Ugh, so this looks really interesting but after putting the breaks on lightening rod and bear mountain being a tame family style ride im really bummed they didn't do a full on thrill attraction. Looks amazing and fits the vibes there but personally I like more daring rides :/
Maybe this should be a whole other post or discussion, but I feel that Herschend has decided that its market growth lies in going after families who do not want to put up with what they perceive as the high price and hassle of visiting Disney. Herschend will leave Six Flags and United Parks to fight over the thrill seekers. Sure, those fans are welcomed at Herschend parks - as are all visitors - but Herschend seems to be targeting the family market with its new attractions these days.
I agree with Robert, they're targeting the family market. Makes sense when you consider Pigeon Forge is already a huge family destination. I know that my family has shifted our theme park visits from Disney to Dollywood and I'm sure there are many others. The lack of required planning, price, and smaller crowds more than make up for the dip in ride quality. I'd say food, entertainment, and customer service are nearly equal. From my perspective the strategy is working!
Whether you consider this a true thrill ride or not (it appears to be far more thrilling than your typical boat-based dark ride or even your average log flume), Dollywood is not short on high-level thrill rides that include Thunderhead, Mystery Mine, Tennessee Tornado, Wild Eagle, and Lightning Rod (I think the new lift mechanism is a fair trade-off to make the coaster more reliable - it's still one of the best RMCs not named Iron Gwazi or Steel Vengeance). Mystery Mine is arguably the best coaster/dark ride in the country not in a Disney/Universal park. Dollywood might not have the high-end lineup of the top "iron parks" in the country, but their thrill rides are all pretty good, and even rides like Big Bear Mountain, Dragonflier, and Firechaser Express are better than their raw statistics would suggest.
Really looking forward to this. Dollywood has a great roster of coasters and a plethora of kiddie flat rides. Some additional dark rides for the whole family will flesh out their lineup perfectly. I say this as someone who had a pass for the last couple years.
This looks like an absolute win for Dollywood! While there are still quite a few question marks on exactly what the experience will be like, if it delivers on the level that is promised this has a good shot at being among the best attractions in the US not found within a Disney or Universal theme park.
This should be a great addition for Dollywood. These southern regional parks (not in Florida) that want to stay open through New Year's for their holiday events need more indoor attractions. But I'm guessing you will get wet on this ride. If you do, maybe it won't be so popular for their Harvest Festival and Christmas events. Either way, I need to plan another trip Dollywood in 2026 or 2027. This looks great.
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Outside USH's Fast and Furious Hollywood Drift, this might be the biggest and most anticipated new attraction for 2026 in North America. This new ride system from Mack has been getting rave reviews, and Dollywood has been doing a great job recently creating attractions that get close to Disney/Universal level theming, which will be pretty important for a ride that will probably be mostly indoors. Some of the portions of this video harken to what Na'Vi River Journey should have been, and hopefully will deliver.
Considering that 2026 is shaping up to be a bit of a down year for new rides/coasters, this one is high on my list to try to experience next year.