Disney is trying to fix a problem on one of its most iconic rides.
When Disney opened its Star Wars Galaxy's Edge lands at Disneyland and Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios, its full-sized Millennium Falcon became the place for photos by Star Wars fans. But the Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run attraction did not enjoy the same widespread appeal.
For the two people assigned as a "pilot" in the six-person Falcon cockpit ride vehicle, Smugglers Run is a fan's dream come true - the chance to fly the Millennium Falcon. For two other passengers, the "gunner" assignment provided the consolation prize of being allowed to shoot lasers at will in a Star Wars dogfight.
But for the last two? The dreaded "engineer" assignment - one given to pretty much all single riders on the attraction. Sitting in the back of the Falcon cockpit, the engineers have had little to do but press buttons to repair the damage done by less-than-stellar pilots. But starting next year, the engineers on Disney's Millennium Falcon will get new responsibilities.
Such as... taking care of a very important new crew member.
At the Star Wars Celebration event in Japan today, Disney Experiences announced additional changes to its Millennium Falcon ride. At the SXSW event in Texas last month, Disney announced that a new mission for Smugglers Run that would debut on the same day as the upcoming "The Mandalorian and Grogu" movie - May 22, 2026.
At the time, Disney announced new ride destinations including Tatooine, Bespin, and Endor. Today, at Star Wars Celebration, Disney added Coruscant to that list.
"In this new story arc, Hondo Ohnaka catches wind of a deal on Tatooine between ex-Imperial officers and pirates, setting the stage for a high-stakes chase across the galaxy," Disney said in its press release. "Guests will team up with Mando and Grogu to track them down and claim a bounty in a dynamic, galaxy-spanning adventure."
The Falcon's engineers will get to be the ones to interact with and care for Grogu during the ride. In addition, they will lead the decision where to continue the mission after its first stop on Tatooine.
It's not the same as flying the Falcon, but the new responsibilities should provide an upgrade from the current experience for many Millennium Falcon ride guests. Again, the new missions on Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run begin May 22, 2026 at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios.
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I find all the positions problematic on this attraction, so these sound like good upgrades. I wish the Gunner position had a joystick so you could manually aim the reticule (and preserve the automatic targeting as an option for non gamers). Seriously, if they can auto target in story, why do they need us to manually fire?
I only rode this ride once, and I embarrassed myself in the Gunner position by not getting how the firing works and needing my mom behind me to press some of the buttons that light up. Am I correct in my memory that you need to look at the buttons to your side as they light up in order to fire them instead of having them right in front of you? Seems unintuitive to me, anyway.
Still, glad they're upgrading it, at least, even if my one time didn't give me much incentive to go back on it next time.
The real very serious problem is the flying. First, it is very unresponsive. Second, one person does one axis (up and down) and the other does left and right. This is dumb, and I have observed many young siblings have massive meltdowns due to it. Just change the whole thing already.
The cms usually give pilot to the kids that cant drive. The single riders and disney adults are always stuck in the back.
I also get nauseous when looking at the buttons and back to the screen. It's a chore, not immersion. I want to appreciate the ride.
It's like who's line, the points don't matter.
In retrospect I think this attraction would’ve been better served as just a hands off badass Falcon ride. The interactive element of manning the controls reminds me of something that might’ve been at DisneyQuest. I respect the ambition of the attraction and hope that as more tweaks are made it gets better and better.
Great, so now instead of having to babysit your kids and tell them how to fly the Falcon, the engineers are stuck having to babysit Grogu. Doesn't really sound like that much of an improvement to me. Also, I realize Disney wanted to take advantage of Star Wars Celebration and all the announcements revolving around the new Mandalorian and Grogu movie, but it's ridiculous that this new version of the attraction won't be debuting until May of next year.
Yes, the "back roles" have always been lame (and as an adult, that ALL I've ever done), but the worse problem is the ergonomics, and how the interactive stuff makes you look away form the screen and tweak your arm/body weird. That's why the attraction is worse than Star Tours.
They meed to move the buttons off the side walls and change how it all works so you can ALL look forward toward the screen the whole ride.
Also, they need to simplify what's on the screen, it was too chaotic, too much visual stimulation. The topography you fly through should read boldly, graphically, with clear differentiation of values, colors, and shapes.
I've said this before, but this ride is way more fun when you have a 6-year-olds piloting and crashing every 5 seconds than when you have someone who's actually trying hard to win.
Honestly, whenever I pilot, I try to maximize the ship's damage. I'm scrapping against the walls, running into projectiles, and rapidly changing directions. I'm at a theme park, why would I not want to push this simulator to its limits?
Personally, I think these changes tackle the two biggest problems with the attraction (the Coaxium mission was pretty lame/inconsequential, and non-pilot roles weren't fun). I'm really looking forward to the results, and I'm happy these much requested features are finally being addded.
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About time for an update that's overdue to make the ride better. Only complaint is family Disneyland trip is two weeks before the change.