Dollywood spent more than $60 million on NightFlight Expedition — was it worth it?

If we must have a story, I tweaked it - along with the experience a bit:

Wildwood Grove is filled with the legends and myths of the Great Smokey Mountains, and no one is more familiar with those stories than the Oakleys. Jasper and Cora Oakley are adventurers at heart, and if the adventure is rooted in a great story or legend, even better. Their uncle Ned runs the Adventure Exploration Company that treks through the Smoky Mountains in search for the elusive BigBear, a beast so legendary that the fact that no one has actually seen it makes it even more mythical. 

Their GrandPa Clovis Oakley was probably the first great explorer in their family. He was an inventor and tinkerer with the brain of a scientist and the heart of an adventurer. One of his greatest inventions was the SmokyMountainAdventureTracker  - the SMArT86 for short. With his invention he could fly over the mountains he loved so dearly. He chartered flights for tourists and even ran NightFlights out of his hangar bay at the Hidden Hollow Aviation building out in WildWood Grove in the magical evening hours in search of the mystical Secret Lake. Cherokee lore tells of a lake with mystical healing waters that only appears at night, and is gone in the mist of the morning. No one has ever found Secret Lake, though Clovis surely tried. One day Clovis mysteriously disappeared - no one knew what ever happened to him. Many assumed he left on an adventure that was too big for even him to handle, but his family never stopped believing he was out there, and that his greatest adventure had yet to be completed. 

One day while exploring in their family’s barn, Jasper and Cora discovered an old book filled with beautiful paintings of the mountains at night. Notes about plants and animals that glowed as if though magic filled the pages. They soon realized that all of the paintings and notes were from Clovis. He had been searching for Secret Lake for longer than anyone realized, and was much closer to finding it that anyone knew. Jasper and Cora just KNEW that if they could finish their Great Grandpa’s work and follow his lead, then they could SURLY find Secret Lake and finish Clovis’s greatest adventure ever.

They’ve invited YOU along on their adventure! Today is the day they’ve decided to sneak into the old, abandoned Hidden Hollow Aviation hangar and see if once and for all they are on the right track.

Join them as they explore the dusty storage bays. Listen as their voices crackle though walkie talkies and old radios stored inside. Watch as vintage TVs come to life with old National Explorer shows about bioluminescent nature and the Secret Lake that inform our journey.

Journey with them deeper through the sliding door to his storage bay where they discover his art studio and research library where he studied and painted his book. See the book begin to come to live with a magical glow that defies explanation. We see walls filled the paintings Clovis made come to life - showing the changing seasons as the magic grows stronger.

Pass through a hidden door in a bookcase as they discover Clovis’s workshop. Pipes drip from overhead into old buckets and basins, and the light dims and flickers with age, or is it magic? See where he was hard at work on a new SMArT26 - with the capability to finally combine flight with light, and follow the glowing roots of the Wildwood Tree all the way to Secret Lake. Maybe that’s it peeking out from under a tarp. Is it coming back to life as the glowing roots and mushrooms begin to give off their light? Hear the sounds of something mysterious from the attic above. Hear the invitation to climb higher with Jasper and Cora

Climb through the plane storage bay all the way up to the secret launch site for the SMArT26, and hop aboard. Be dazzled by a magical light as something amazing happens and we are transported INTO the paintings of the book and begin our adventure along with Jasper and Cora as they communicate to us via radio on board. We fly, we dive, we sail a rushing river. As we get closer, we see the magical creatures that come out only at night, and listen to the words of Clovis echo though the hillsides and valleys encouraging us to follow our heart and journey on. As our journey comes to a dramatic conclusion, thrill to the sight of the creatures of the night gathered at Secret Lake, and hear the parting advice of a wise, old explorer as we see his spirit rise from the lake and lift into the night sky as his greatest adventure comes to a close - thanks to you, and Jasper and Cora’s help!