NEW: Dollywood announces world’s first indoor hybrid coaster and whitewater river raft ride

Theme park fans have a lot to be excited about in the coming years. Parks around the country are expanding and building on their legacy in major ways, from new rides and hotels to fully-immersive lands and, as most recently seen with Universal Epic Universe, new parks altogether.

Today, we’re heading to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, where some thrilling news just came out of Dollywood. There has been a lot of speculation (and plenty of mysterious teasers on social media) surrounding the park’s upcoming project, and we finally have the long-awaited details and timeline of when it will open!

Dollywood has built a solid reputation over the years as a theme park that embraces its heritage as much as it embraces the future of thrills. The park is home to multiple first-of-its-kind rides in the country, like Wild Eagle, the first Winged Coaster to open in the United States. The park’s most recent addition, Big Bear Mountain, is a family coaster that incorporated on-board audio as another example of the park embracing the latest in attraction technology to provide guests with the best experience possible.

Of course, everything done at Dollywood comes with the same level of care and attention to detail that made its Dreamer-in-Chief, Dolly Parton, a household name. Whether it’s a new seasonal festival, walk-through exhibit, or a ground-breaking ride, if it has Dollywood’s name behind it, it can only mean great things!

That commitment to excellence and innovation is what has me so excited to share today’s announcement. Dollywood is once again looking to make history as home to a first-of-its-kind attraction in the world: NightFlight Expedition.

NightFlight Expedition will combine four ride experiences into one attraction: soaring, plunging, climbing, and navigating. From the concept video, it looks like this ride will be a coaster, dark ride, and water attraction all built into one system. In Dollywood’s terms, this will be a “groundbreaking hybrid coaster and whitewater river ride.” The ride will feature a custom-designed amphibious ride vehicle that interacts with its environment, which will include vivid multimedia projections, dynamic onboard and offboard audio, and special lighting effects.

NightFlight Expedition celebrates the natural beauty of the Smoky Mountains as riders search for bioluminescence in the nation’s most-visited national park. The ride brings guests through a number of natural elements found throughout the smokies thanks to a whitewater rafting excursion through more than 500,000 gallons of surging water, traversing a mountain ridge on a roller coaster, and navigating a mysterious shimmering lake by boat.

The ride is being manufactured by Mack Rides, the company behind other popular attractions like Wild Eagle, Big Bear Mountain, and Lightning Rod at Dollywood. Other notable attractions from Mack Rides in the U.S. include Time Traveler at Silver Dollar City, Stardust Racers at Universal Epic Universe, and Slinky Dog Dash at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Translation: this is excellent news if you’re a fan of ground-breaking, family-friendly, thrilling, or essentially any kind of exceptional attraction.

Here are some other fast facts about NightFlight Expedition:

• LOCATION: Expansion of Dollywood’s Wildwood Grove — indoor, weather-independent 44,000 square foot facility.
• MAXIMUM SPEED: 29 miles per hour
• HIGHEST TRACK ELEVATION: Nearly three stories high
• TRACK LENGTH: 1,255 feet, nearly a quarter of a mile
• RIDE DURATION: 5.5 minutes, including loading and unloading
• VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: A custom-built all-terrain, all-weather flying boat
• PASSENGERS PER RIDE VEHICLE: 10 (Eleven cars, 10 passengers per car)
• SEAT/RESTRAINT: Lap-bar restraint
• MINIMUM RIDER HEIGHT: 39”

NightFlight Expedition is scheduled to open in the spring of 2026. Dollywood season passholders will have access to an exclusive NightFlight Expedition early special ride event prior to its official opening. Be sure to follow along for more of the latest theme park news across the country!

READ MORE ABOUT THE NEW TROPICAL AMERICAS LAND COMING TO DISNEY WORLD IN 2027

NEW: Dollywood Announces World’s First Indoor Hybrid Coaster and Whitewater River Raft Ride originally appeared on The World of Spark.

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