Overview
- Dollywood confirmed the public opening for NightFlight Expedition on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, with limited passholder preview rides beginning on August 15.
- Eligible Silver, Gold, and Diamond passholders who bought 2026 season passes during the park’s specified window can reserve a single preview timeslot starting at 10 a.m. on Friday, August 7.
- Dollywood markets the ride as a hybrid that blends coaster moments, dark-ride sets, and whitewater rapids into a multi-chapter journey led by characters Cora and Jasper Oakley.
- The park says the attraction uses new rocking-boat vehicles and four distinct storylines—soaring over the Smokies, climbing a mountainside, plunging rapids, and crossing a mysterious lake—to boost replay value.
- Coverage notes the installation is being framed as a technical novelty in the U.S., with some outlets reporting it as the first Mack Rides rocking boat system in America and Inside the Magic reporting the project as a roughly $50 million investment.