Dollywood has announced that NightFlight will be closed through October 2, 2026 for the park to continue to optimize their newest attraction. The closure was originally slated to start on Monday, September 28th, but instead started sooner than expected on Friday, September 25th per the park’s social media. This park is is a technological marvel, combining several types of ride technologies together. A past closure was related to the “table” which runs the flight simulator portion of the ride, but there’s no information as to what this closure is related to.

Anecdotally I did hear from some guests who visited the middle of last week that their feet got soaked in the rapid section. It’s my understanding that this is not supposed to happen (and didn’t on my ride in August), so maybe some tweaks are being made to multiple sections of the ride. The closure on Friday seemed a bit abrupt in that it was originally planned for the 28th, but announced and implemented on the 25th. The ride is still in technical rehearsals and the signage says as much, but no doubt there was some disappointment with riders hoping to ride NightFlight over the weekend.

It’s not a big secret that the ride’s opening May have been accelerated with park leadership being aware of Dolly Parton’s declining health and wanting her to be part of opening Dollywood’s largest investment ever. This ride is a game-changer for Dollywood that they and Mack Rides will optimize eventually, but be wary of making plans in the next month or so specifically to ride NightFlight to avoid disappointment. However, fall at Dollywood is never disappointing, so even if NightFlight is closed you’ll no doubt still have a great time!