Making a Splash: Dollywood's Night Flight Expedition Ride Vehicle Debuts at IAAPA

IAAPA 2025 is here! And fans on the show floor had the opportunity to check out the ride vehicle for Dollywood’s upcoming water dark ride. 

What’s Happening:

• Every year, the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions holds their annual US expo at the Orlando Convention Center. 
• Highlighting to innovations of the theme park world, ride, animatronic, and other manufacturers all showcase their upcoming projects and designs to representatives from theme parks and entertainment centers around the world. 
• This year, MACK Rides is showing off the new ride vehicle Dollywood’s upcoming attraction Night Flight Expedition. 

• The new vehicles are highly themed, with a yellow, green, and bronze paint scheme. 
• The ride will also features what appears to be black lights and on-board audio. 

• Towards the front, you’ll find fake gauges, enhancing the immersion of the experience. 

• We also got a peak at the attraction's “Just the Facts” sign, describing the experience as the “World’s first indoor family hybrid coaster and whitewater river raft ride. 

• The attraction will take riders through a nighttime flight over the Smoky Mountains through over a million gallons of water. 
• Guests will be thrilled by a whitewater rafting section, a roller coaster section on a mountain ride, and a boat ride through a shimmering lake.
• The 5.5 minute experience will reach a max speed of 29 miles per hour and reach nearly 3 stories high. 
• Guests 39” or taller will be able to take flight.
• The dark ride experience utilizes MACK’s new Rocking Boat ride system, which features a tracked system that is able to guide vehicles through open bodies of water, rapids, drops, backwards movements, and other elements. 
• The innovative ride will be completely indoors, featuring show scenes, special effects, and thrilling elements. 
• Currently, only one other attraction utilizes the new technology, with Mission Bermudes at Futuroscope in France. 
• The ride system has sparked conversations throughout the theme park sphere of what major park will utilize the Rocking Boat next. 
• Many theme park fans are gunning for a Creature from the Black Lagoon ride at Universal’s Epic Universe.
• It’ll be great to see how Dollywood’s new attraction turns out, which is much more of a themed indoor dark ride experience compared to the outdoor flume experience of Mission Bermudes. 
• You can check out Attractions 360° POV of Mission Bermudes below:

• Night Flight Expedition is set to open in 2026 as a part of the Wildwood Grove area of Dollywood.

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