NightFlight Expedition at Dollywood is open and it is a highly ambitious ride, but in these early days you may need a lot of patience. I went to Dollywood on Monday, August 24th, 5 days after the August 19th official opening date. This ride is complex with a moving loading platform, simulator section, coaster section (forwards and backwards with turntables), a water rapids section, a calm boat section and tons of screens and effects. Getting it all to work in sync borders of a miracle of technology as there is so much going on during this ride. The ride’s opening date was delayed from Spring to August and it’s obvious they’re still debugging the ride. However, when it all works it’s pretty cool, but try to ride as early in the day as you can as it has had a propensity for extended closures as they work to get everything right.

Update 8/25/26: According to Dollywood, the ride will now be closed through Sunday, Aug. 30th, while additional work is done. 

Social media has been a buzz about downtime and startup issues with NightFlight. The park put out on social media that the ride wouldn’t open until 2pm even though the park opened at 9am for Mon/Wed/Fri through Labor Day. I joined the queue at 1:15 and it was already a huge line. The 2pm open was delayed and it was after 3pm today before the ride was able to clear safety checks and open. To their credit Dollywood did hand out water in line and have employees walk the line to give occasional updates. Eventually though it did open. The queue section indoors is massive and takes up the whole ground level of the building as you work through several bays. The last one had some neat special effects, but my favorite was the unintentional special effects of water dripping into a barrel from a leak in the ceiling reminding you that there was a raging river above your head! You then climb some stairs to the loading platform (there is an elevator option as well).

The ride station has some great lighting effects and is very kinetic with the moving platform. During our visit each boat was using only 4 of the 5 available rows, not sure why. Several older people were struggling to get into the moving boats and it needed to be stopped occasionally. There was also an ADA loading area and they were trying to direct people there rather than pausing the vehicles. If you have mobility issues be sure to mention this so they can direct you there first. Once you’re loaded the ride begins! Dollywood claims it to be over 5 minutes, but this includes time on the moving platform. The ride has some decent capacity too at a reported 1,200 riders/hour.

I’m writing this to be largely spoiler free, but if you want zero spoilers then skip to the next paragraph. The ride has several elements and you start off “flying” in a simulator mode in front of a giant screen. This is the whole “Hidden Hollow Aviation” portion of the story. Here’s where you’ll be introduced to the story and meet the characters. The flying effect is well done and it’s a pretty impressive display of the capabilities of the Mack ride vehicle. You then move into a brief coaster section with a surprising backwards element. This coaster section is quite tame and short, but the dark makes it fun ending with a hill climb that sends you crashing into the water. The first section is like whitewater rapids, it’s very brief, but tons of fun. Then you enter the larger coaster section with the biggest drop. You then move into a calm bioluminescent lake that you navigate around before whisking back to the station. None of the ride elements of NightFlight themselves were revolutionary, but having one single Mack vehicle do them all was pretty amazing! Admittedly the story on my first ride was a little tough to follow and a bit lost on me as all my focus was on the ride itself, but I hope to ride it again and try to catch more of it.

None of the ride elements of NightFlight themselves were revolutionary, but having one single Mack vehicle do them all was pretty amazing!

The use of screens on the ride was well done and in some ways I wouldn’t have minded more screens as the practical effects were a bit lacking. A lot of the scenic trees and mountains used in the theming appeared to be just 2D painted plywood. Dollywood has said this is meant to give a “storybook” effect and it’s dark, so it’s not like this scenery is a focal point, however this could have been more fleshed out. Many wonder how this compares to Disney or Universal and the answer is it’s of similar flavor, but significantly shorter and more budget with things like this scenery. However, remember something like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Disney is estimated to have cost between $450 million and $500 million per version to build (9X to 10X the reported $50 million cost of NightFlight). Those dollars contribute to the length of attraction and things like scenery.

If you see NightFlight open on any upcoming visit in the near future ride it immediately. On my trip it opened at 3pm and at around 4:30pm I was essentially on one of the last boats before it was basically down for the rest of the day. I had heard it had a propensity to do this which was why I lined up at 1:15pm for the 2pm opening (which became 3pm). The people in the boat behind me said during their ride the screens went black and they basically finished the coarse with no effects or screens running. It appeared Dollywood tried to get NightFlight back up all day, but the ride basically only ran for 90 minutes today (as I never saw a screen with it open again as all the way until close). Maybe Dollywood should have kept it in “technical rehearsals” longer to lower expectations of uptime? However, these are the growing pains of a new and complex attraction that Dollywood will no doubt figure out eventually, This ride will serve Dollywood well in the cold and rain while offering a true dark ride with coaster and boat elements. There’s a lot to love here, but be sure to be patient. If a NightFlight ride is a must for your next visit it might be best to wait a few weeks. Dollywood was very ambitious here and my guess is that over time the brilliance of the new ride system should win out with the rough start largely forgotten.