Dollywood Shares Sneak Peek Inside Massive Building During Construction of New NightFlight Expedition

Dollywood’s biggest attraction in their history is currently taking shape, and now fans and enthusiasts can get a look inside the building mid-construction in the latest installment of the park’s webseries about the creation of the new NightFlight Expedition. 

What’s Happening: 

• Devotees may recall that Dollywood, the acclaimed theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, is currently building an innovative new ride that will treat guests to a spectacular experience later this year. 
• That ride, dubbed “Night Flight Expedition,” is four different experiences in one, some of which is visible in the latest episode of Dollywood’s webseries, The Making of NightFlight Expedition. 
• In this, the third episode, we get a peek inside the building and see much of the track going into place, along with computer renderings of the attraction so we see what the final experience will look like while seeing the current state of construction. 
• Take a look below. 

• The first attraction experience of its kind in the world, NightFlight Expedition combines four unique features into one groundbreaking thrill ride sure to delight guests of all ages.
• The world’s first indoor family hybrid coaster and whitewater river raft ride, NightFlight Expedition takes Dollywood guests on an unforgettable journey through the Smoky Mountains to search for bioluminescence in the nation’s most-visited national park. During the 5 1/2-minute experience, guests soar on a nighttime flight over the scenic Smokies, enjoy a thrilling whitewater rafting excursion through more than 500,000 gallons of surging water, traverse a mountain ridge on a roller coaster, and navigate a mysterious shimmering lake by boat.
• Guests set out on their expedition to find Secret Lake with the help of twin scientists, Cora and Jasper Oakley, who just happen to be the niece and nephew of Wildwood Grove’s resident wilderness explorer, Ned Oakley. The twins, who work out of a hangar at Hidden Hollow Aviation, have invented the Bioluminator, a device designed to detect and amplify bioluminescence, the biochemical emission of light by living organisms. Cora and Jasper mount the device onto their family’s one-of-a-kind amphibious aircraft to illuminate the Wildwood Tree’s glowing roots and follow them to Secret Lake.
• You can also see some of the voice recording sessions for these characters in the video above. 
• When the new experience was announced last year, NightFlight Expedition was revealed to open in the Spring of 2026.