NightFlight takes you on the search for Secret Lake

🌙 Four adventures. One ride.

NightFlight Expedition combines four different experiences into one nearly five-and-a-half-minute adventure.

Guests begin with a nighttime flight over the scenic Smokies before plunging into a whitewater rafting adventure featuring more than 500,000 gallons of surging water.

The journey then climbs up and over a mountain ridge before splashing into a shimmering Smoky Mountain lake.

The entire experience takes place inside a 44,000-square-foot, temperature-controlled facility, allowing the attraction to operate independently of Smoky Mountain weather.

CLICK TO WATCH THE FULL OPENING OF NIGHTFLIGHT EXPEDITION

🔦 The search for Secret Lake

At the heart of the adventure is a search for Secret Lake, the water source believed to provide Wildwood Grove’s Wildwood Tree with its colorful glowing canopy.

Guests join twin scientists Cora and Jasper, who work out of a hangar at Hidden Hollow Aviation. The twins have created the Bioluminator, a device designed to detect and amplify bioluminescence — the natural biochemical emission of light by living organisms.

The twins attach the device to their one-of-a-kind Smoky Mountain Tracker Vehicle, setting out to illuminate the Wildwood Tree’s glowing roots and follow them toward Secret Lake.

🏔️ A Smoky Mountain story

The attraction continues Dollywood’s long history of combining rides with storytelling.

The detailed queue introduces Cora and Jasper Oakley, the niece and nephew of Ned Oakley, a character made famous by Dollywood’s Big Bear Mountain family coaster.

Dollywood created and built NightFlight Expedition alongside Herschend Creative Studios and Mack Rides. The custom ride vehicle interacts with multimedia projections, onboard and offboard audio and special lighting effects throughout the experience.

Mack Rides also won the 2025 Amusement Today Golden Ticket for Best New Innovation for the ride system used in NightFlight Expedition.

Dolly Parton says the attraction gives families a new way to experience the mountains she grew up loving.

“I’m so proud that we’re able to create something like NightFlight Expedition and give families a brand-new way to experience the Smokies together,” Dolly said.

She said the ride is designed to let guests see the mountains “the way I always remember them, full of wonder and beauty.”

Dollywood Parks & Resorts President Eugene Naughton called the attraction a defining moment for both Dollywood and the theme park industry.

“NightFlight Expedition represents a defining moment not only for Dollywood but for the theme park industry as a whole,” Naughton said.

He said the attraction allows guests to experience an unforgettable nighttime adventure using groundbreaking technology, immersive storytelling and a ride system offering four distinct experiences.