This NEW Dollywood Ride Is Changing ALL Roller Coasters, and We Can't Stop Talking About It

Welcome to Dollywood! The theme park is located in the heart of the Smoky Mountains owned by the world-famous icon Dolly Parton.

Dollywood!

We have fallen in love with this theme park over the last few years, and now it seems like it’s only getting better and better. Why is that? We just got a SNEAK PEEK at the park’s brand new attraction, and we’re taking you along with us.

Today, we got a FIRST LOOK at Dollywood’s newest attraction, Nightflight Expedition. The brand-new coaster officially opens on August 19th, 2026, but we’re here to check out everything ahead of the formal opening.

NightFlight Expedition

This is a first-of-its-kind ride because it’s a hybrid attraction. It’s part coaster and part whitewater river ride where guests are on a journey to discover the mystery of the legendary Secret Lake. The ride stars twins Cora and Jasper Oakley, who have invented the Bioluminator, which allows them to detect and amplify bioluminescence. They mount it onto their family’s amphibious aircraft and follow the glowing roots of the Wildwood Tree through the Great Smoky Mountains to the mythical Secret Lake. On paper, this ride sounds like a LOT. It combines a flight simulator-style experience, a roller coaster, whitewater rafting, and a boat journey through the Secret Lake. However, what impressed us the most was how seamlessly all of these different experiences have been integrated. It never feels like you are moving from one ride system to another!

It’s Cora and Jasper Oakley!

The ride is designed to let guests experience four different storylines throughout the Smoky Mountains. The four adventures include:

Soaring over the Smokies
Climbing a mountainside
Plunging into whitewater rapids
Navigating a mysterious lake

Dollywood doesn’t allow photography on the ride, but it looked even BETTER than the concept art! All of the bioluminescent water was soooo pretty.

©Dollywood

Not only will this be a first-of-its-kind experience, but it will also be Dollywood’s biggest ride YET when it formally opens! The new attraction is located in Dollywood’s Wildwood Grove, which is one of the park’s latest major expansions, originally opening in 2019.

Wildwood Grove & Timber Canyon Sign

The attraction takes place entirely indoors using cutting-edge technology, and it’s located in the back of Wildwood Grove. To get to the attraction, you need to walk past Big Bear Mountain, another very popular attraction in the park.

Big Bear Mountain

Dollywood listed the ride as a “moderate” thrill level, but by the time we got off, we were literally out of breath and shaking from the adrenaline rush. It’s very thrilling, especially during the coaster and whitewater portions, but it isn’t trying to be a hardcore roller coaster. The thrill comes from the movement, the water, the unexpected transitions, and the scale and beauty of everything happening around you. Dollywood has described this as a family attraction, but we would only recommend it for older kids.

NightFlight Expedition

We can’t wait to ride NightFlight Expedition over and over again once it finally opens at Dollywood on August 19th, 2026. As always, be sure to keep following Disney Food Blog for more theme park news, reviews, and more!

Full 2-Day Dollywood Itinerary: Best Snacks, Rides, and Hotels

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What do you think of the new ride? Tell us in the comments!

Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Dollywood to attend their media preview of Nightflight Expedition. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ