Review: Dollywood's NightFlight Expedition is a Fine Addition But Not a Gamechanger

To say that NightFlight Expedition, the largest and most expensive attraction in Dollywood history, has been eagerly anticipated by theme park fans is an understatement. The ride, which opens on August 19, has been promoted as a "ground-breaking" experience built around the new Mack Rides Rocking Boat system that combines multiple types of rides into one. It's a motion simulator, and a coaster, and a whitewater rapids ride, and also a dark ride — and it tells an original story, set in Dollywood's award-winning family-friendly Wildwood Grove section. Dollywood has turned itself into a world-class coaster park over the last couple of decades, and a massive new story-focused attraction with a unique ride experience and immaculate theming and design could put it clearly at the top of the pack of parks right beneath the Disney/Universal tier. NightFlight Expedition could mark a new evolution for Dollywood… if it lives up to the hype.

I got to experience NightFlight Expedition at a media preview last week. It does a lot of things right: the various ride elements flow together smoothly, the theming of the queue is high quality, and the story, while fuzzy, is the kind of original and site-specific tale that separates a regional park from a world-class one. It'll no doubt please families and younger riders for years to come, but Dollywood's loyal contingent of coaster fanatics might be disappointed by the meagerness of its coaster experience. And anybody hoping for an attraction approaching the heights of what Disney and Universal can accomplish with their almost endless reservoirs of cash will probably be underwhelmed. It's not the park-redefining attraction some hoped for, but it's a solid contribution to Dollywood's line-up, and — as both a non-coaster for all ages and a dark ride — one that helps fill a couple of notable holes,

NightFlight Expedition is set on the outskirts of Wildwood Grove, near the entrance to the Big Bear Mountain coaster, in a giant airplane hangar for Hidden Hollow Aviation. The first room of the queue is lightly themed like a hangar bay — basically, it's a large open space, with long rails to keep the line in place, and some seating against the wall that's made to look like crates. There are posters on the wall advertising scenic flights over the Smokies, alluding to the first portion of the ride experience. The second queue room shows more signs of life; there's a mural on one wall explaining "the legend of Secret Lake" and how there's a gleaming hidden lake that will "awaken your dreams." On the far back left corner of this room are notes and flight logs from Cora and Jasper's research, as well as a map of Wildwood Grove made to look hand-drawn. Wildwood Tree is at the center of the map, with attractions like Big Bear Mountain, Dragonflier, and Black Bear Trail also noted. 

The final room before the loading dock is the most themed. There's a research station to the left right when you enter, with notes on the bioluminator device that Cora and Jasper created to find Secret Lake, and a demonstration of how roots watered by the lake glow when it shines upon them. Against the far opposite wall is a sign that looks like a chalkboard with a technical drawing of the Smoky Mountain Tracker Vehicle, which Cora and Jasper created to find the lake; it's outfitted with a bioluminator, it can travel by air and land and water, and, naturally enough, it's the ride vehicle. Running along almost the entirety of this room's left wall is another research station devoted to bioluminescence; there's a display case full of mushrooms and other plants that periodically glow different shades of blue and purple when the room's lights dim. Occasionally audio of Cora and Jasper will play in this room, as they talk about their progress on the project; I heard several different lines, and they all immediately preceded the light show in this display case.

After that room comes the stairs to the loading station. Photos and video weren't allowed at this point during the media preview; they put everybody's phones in Yondr pouches, like it was a show by a stand-up comedian worried about being "cancelled.". The Smoky Mountain Tracker Vehicles approach from the left, with another mural painted on the wall behind the loading area. Each vehicle has five rows of two seats each, with their own individual lap bars (the only restraints) and ample space between each seat. During the preview, the fifth row was never used, and an out-of-service vehicle visible at the end of the ride had tape closing off its fifth row, so it's possible these vehicles built for 10 will only operate with eight passengers. You can keep your bags with you on the ride (provided they fit beneath your legs), and although there were cubby holes on the other side of the loading area, they weren't being used for the preview. 

One of the two things people most likely going to complain about with NightFlight occurs here at the loading station, during boarding. At the preview, the cars made a full stop when they entered the station and again before departing, but riders had to disembark and board while they were moving between those two points. So the process seems to be that the vehicles will stop, start moving again, and one group of riders will get off while the next has to get on, all before it stops again at the end of the station. The party of two in line before me were clearly confused by this whole process; based on the line order, they should've entered the third row of seats, but the car was already halfway down its line, and so they hopped into the fourth row as soon as they got to it. With the fifth row blocked off, that meant I had to walk past the people who were in line in front of me to sit in the third row. I'm a relatively healthy and agile adult with an extensive history of boarding amusement park rides, so it wasn't an issue, but I could see this confusing younger or older riders, or those unaccustomed to rides. I also have to think it isn't ideal for anybody with physical challenges.

The vehicle stops again at the end of the station for a security check. The only glimpse of the ride you can see at this point is a wall depicting the forest of the Great Smoky Mountains, with the sky and trees in the rich autumnal tones of a setting sun. When the all-clear is given, the car leaves the station, immediately turning right and out of view of the loading dock.

The first major show scene of NightFlight Expedition is the ride's weakest moment. It represents the flight portion of the ride: the vehicle pulls into a room with a curved screen that surrounds guests from the sides and above, and then the car seems to leave the tracks it was on and hover in the air. It jostles slightly but steadily as if it's being kept up by hover technology, and then rocks a little from side to side as it starts to "fly" over the forests. The hover effect is implemented well, but unfortunately the scene falls flat due to the curious decision to use CGI for the imagery. Cora and Jasper appear as animated characters, and the flight over the Smokies is done entirely with lackluster computer animation. It might not have been technically feasible, but this scene would be far better if it used actual film of the Smokies, like the Soarin' and Flyover attractions, or at least had a more realistic aesthetic for its CGI imagery. It's a deflating start to a ride that had such promise.

Fortunately, the rest of the experience is better. The first coaster-esque element happens after the flight sequence, with the vehicle going backwards across a small bit of track and onto a turntable that rotates it back into a forward-facing position. It then heads down more track into the first water section, with a small splash down that kicks up some spray. There's a bit of a storybook aesthetic in this corridor, with 2D cutouts of trees and forest lit with a blue and purple glow. The vehicle makes a quick right after hitting the water, and then starts to surge upwards towards the ride's most dramatic coaster portion.

After taking a left out of that room, the vehicle rides like a coaster through a darkened space. It won't thrill coaster fanatics, but it should be enough to excite children and coaster skeptics without making them sick or scared. It's equivalent to the brief coaster segment in Dollywood's Blazing Fury — it's basically one small-ish drop into a straightaway that has a second, smaller drop near its end, before then splashing down into the second water scene — and the ride's climax.

The vehicle rolls from the coaster track back into a body of water, in a drop that's bigger than the ride's first splashdown, but still more comparable to the descents in Pirates of the Caribbean than an actual shoot-the-chutes ride. This last room is a large cylindrical chamber, once again glowing blue and purple, with a glowing landmark at its center. Cora and Jasper have more dialogue here, about how they've finally found Secret Lake, at which point lines of red and pink light can be seen coursing underneath the water, towards the lake's center. The vehicle does almost a full lap of the lake as triumphant music swells, and then makes a slight accent at the end as it heads back into the loading station. Guests disembark (quickly but carefully) and head back downstairs towards the exit.

It all lasts over five minutes, although it feels shorter. Don't anticipate getting wet, despite half the ride taking place in water; your shoes might get hit a little, but I emerged completely dry.

NightFlight Expedition is like an omnibus attraction, offering a little taste of a handful of different ride experiences, with a hint of thrillpower, but not enough to deter any but the youngest or most delicate of Dollywood guests. It's a fine addition that adds some much-needed variety to this coaster-heavy park. It's also a good indicator of how stark the difference in this game is between Disney and Universal and everybody else. Hopefully it becomes popular enough with Dollywood guests to encourage Herschend, the park's owners, to fund more projects like this — and hopefully those do a better job with whatever CGI they might use.