Home » The Ultimate Guide to Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run

The Ultimate Guide to Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run

Natalie Sim08 mins

The day is finally almost here. With less than 24 hours to go before the official opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the largest expansion in Disneyland park’s history, all eyes are on Anaheim for this momentous occasion. And though there are several restrictions on exactly how guests can experience this new land in its opening weeks, Disney has just released a ton of new information about the signature Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run attraction, opening this weekend at Disneyland and flying in to Disney’s Hollywood Studios on August 29th!

The Story

Image: Disney

Since Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge takes place on Batuu’s Black Spire Outpost (a location never visited in any Star Wars film), some might wonder how this infamous ship got to such an obscure spot. And Disney has kindly now provided us with an explanation: 

Following the events of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Chewbacca brought the Falcon to Black Spire Outpost for repairs at this spaceport on the edge of the galaxy. In exchange for some much-needed replacement parts, Chewbacca is loaning the Falcon to Hondo Ohnaka, a smuggler who is now making good use of the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs. It is at this point guests enter the story of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.
 
Apparently Hondo (who moviegoers may not recognize but Clone Wars fans will recognize)  is running a “legitimate business” out of the spaceport, called Ohnaka Transport Solutions. When guests meet Hondo in Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, he tells them he has more cargo than he can handle and needs extra flight crews to make some runs for him – especially crews that won’t ask too many questions about the cargo or how Hondo acquired it!
 

Guests will be able to take in the scenery

Image: Disney
After guests progress through the line to enter the attraction, they will be able to enter a pre-show area of the Falcon via an access hatch on the ship’s starboard airlock. Once aboard, they spend some time in the ship’s main hold and lounge, where they can sit at the famous Dejarik (chess) table or poke around at other equipment in the room.

6 Guests, 3 jobs, one team 

Image: Disney
When it’s time for the ride to begin, guests will be able to board the attraction in groups of six. Each person is assigned one of three jobs during the ride that they will have to complete in order to succeed in the mission. Here’s the job breakdown:
  • Pilots – Work together to steer the ship – the left pilot controls horizontal motion, the right pilot controls vertical motion – avoiding obstacles that could cause damage
  • Gunners  – Use blasters and missiles to defend the Falcon and its precious cargo (switching to manual targeting creates an even greater challenge!)
  • Flight Engineers  – Keep the Falcon from falling apart on its mission by managing the ship’s systems, repairing any damage the ship encounters and take control of the “special modifications” Hondo installed for these unusual missions

Though this sounds like a lot (and early reports suggest that there is some skill needed for these roles) Disney has said that guests will know it’s their turn to act when buttons light up in the cockpit, similar to the way buttons light up on Mission: Space. 

You’ll definitely want to try your hardest to complete your “job” to the best of your ability

Image: Disney

Guests’ actions during the ride will have a big effect on the ride experience. For instance, if a pilot fails to get out of the way of an object and the ship takes damage (that can’t be fixed by an engineer), something like the job to hyperspace might not work, which will result in some real mission complications.

At the end of the mission, Hondo will also inform each team how well they accomplished their objectives. And if guests’ mission aboard the Falcon doesn’t go quite as well as planned, the ship’s hallways will show damage as they leave the attraction.

Disney has also said that success or failure on this mission will follow guests throughout the land, but has remained mum so far on how this will happen. 

Image: Disney

Though it’s a bit of a bummer that we still don’t know when Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance will debut, Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run sounds like a super fun attraction, and will hopefully give Star Wars fans the chance to live out their dreams of piloting this iconic ship when Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens at Disneyland this weekend and at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on August 29th!

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