Disney has revealed extra particulars in regards to the new mission that includes Mandalorian and Grogu for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run in Star Wars Land at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. This shares idea artwork & information in regards to the 4 new locations, how the engineer can have a very powerful job within the galaxy because the Child Yoda Babysitter, and every little thing we all know in regards to the modifications to what appears like a very redone trip sequence.
This information was introduced throughout the Disney Experiences Panel at Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo, Japan. Becoming a member of host Ashley Eckstein on stage had been Asa Kalama and Anisha Deshmane from Walt Disney Imagineering, in addition to Michael Serna from Disney Stay Leisure and Matt Martin from Lucasfilm. This revolved round how Star Wars involves life at Disney theme parks all over the world, with WDI and different inventive minds providing a glimpse at Star Wars initiatives and sights.
The Star Wars Celebration panel constructed on the announcement of a brand new Mandalorian and Grogu mission for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run initially introduced eventually yr’s D23 Expo in Anaheim. Simply final month at SXSW, Jon Favreau, director and producer of the upcoming Star Wars movie, “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” who was joined onstage by Imagineers Leslie Evans and Asa Kalama to speak about what’s coming quickly to Batuu. They revealed throughout SXSW that Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run would have three new locations: Tatooine, Bespin and Endor. At present in Tokyo (technically tomorrow), Imagineers revealed one other location: the town planet, Coruscant.
Beginning Could 22, 2026 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disneyland, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run will enable visitors to manage the long-lasting ship like by no means earlier than. For the primary time ever, the crew will likely be accountable for their very own vacation spot, resulting in potential adventures on Bespin, the wreckage of the second Loss of life Star round Endor, or the just-announced bustling city-planet, Coruscant. One other new gameplay addition permits the engineer positions to look after and talk with Grogu throughout the mission.
This ‘select your individual vacation spot’ replace debuts on the identical day as Lucasfilm’s upcoming title, “The Mandalorian and Grogu.” Nevertheless, the storyline of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run will observe a special path than the upcoming movie.
On this new trip storyline, Hondo Ohnaka has gotten wind of a deal happening on Tatooine between ex-Imperial officers and a band of pirates. There’s a beneficiant bounty for his or her seize, so that you’ll borrow the long-lasting ship and workforce up with Mando and Grogu to trace them down and discover the galaxy. That means that the mission will depart Batuu certain for Tatooine, and the crew will select from considered one of three locations–Bespin, Endor, or Coruscant–from there.
Based on Imagineering, none of this may be attainable with out its partnership with Industrial Gentle and Magic (ILM). With their assist, you might be accountable for your individual future on the attraction. This know-how is all constructed on Unreal Engine 5 by Epic Video games that are the identical instruments ILM makes use of on the Disney+ present, The Mandalorian.
Right here’s a take a look at among the new Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run scenes in Bespin, Endor, Tatooine, and Coruscant:
Beforehand, the massive unanswered query was whether or not the “new story” that includes the Mandalorian and Grogu can be all-new gameplay and a mission constructed from the bottom up, or simply recycled property and a quick scene for the sake of selling.
It’s nonetheless attainable this will likely be a Star Excursions-style change, with a brand new section with Mandalorian and Child Yoda spliced into the present story. It’s additionally attainable that an all-new mission will likely be developed, nevertheless it’ll in some way be worse. In any case, it is a interactive attraction that visitors of all ages and backgrounds want to have the ability to decide up rapidly and play and not using a prolonged tutorial or studying curve.
Whereas pessimism is rarely a nasty thought given Disney’s current observe file, it’s positive sounding like it is a fairly bold overhaul to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. That Imagineering is basically taking visitor suggestions and the largest complaints in regards to the gameplay loop and attraction expertise, and fixing these faults.
Personally, I feel there’s a fairly excessive probability of this being a serious improve over the outdated Smugglers Run mission. Having a ‘select your vacation spot’ component has shades of Star Excursions or Horizons (IYKYK) and fan consensus is that engineer is much and away the weakest function. So Imagineering is making the visible expertise extra akin to Star Excursions and enhancing the engineer function so it doesn’t really feel such as you get “caught” with it for those who’re fortunate. That’s addressing two of probably the most evident shortcomings of the attraction!
For the reason that Grogu & Mandalorian mission was introduced, we’ve been optimistic and excited in regards to the updates to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. Our perspective has been that this virtually assuredly going to enhance the attraction, doubtlessly by a substantial quantity. With every new replace, I’m extra optimistic in regards to the course of this trip reimagining (has it risen to the extent that we will now name it that?!).
Readers have been far much less enthusiastic. Every time Smugglers Run comes up, followers bemoan how boring it’s once you’re in any function however pilot–particularly engineer, or if children are pilot. I disagree with the final half. If something, I feel the present expertise is so boring that the factor that makes it most attention-grabbing is a very horrible pilot that simply smashes you round into every little thing.
I’m not even kidding–apart from my first time as pilot, all of my favourite ride-throughs have been sitting within the again with children charting our course. Each time I’m assigned the pilot function and there’s a child within the crew, I ask their dad and mom in the event that they’d like to change with me. (To not go on an excessive amount of of a tangent, however I discover it odd what number of Disney Adults are anti-children. They’re getting extra out of the expertise than you! If you happen to can droop disbelief in a faux mission on a faux spaceship, absolutely you are able to do the identical with that mission not going flawlessly and the faux spaceship crashing into stuff.)
In any case, most different visitors don’t appear to agree with me. And it’s true that engineer is probably the most boring function in a boring mission, even whether it is extra enjoyable when issues are going off the rails and you’ll simply sit again and watch the trainwreck (err…spaceship-wreck?) unfold.
Accordingly, having a brand new mission that really seems to be participating and an engineer function that isn’t an afterthought are each good issues. It could be “unlucky” to make the gameplay loop truly enjoyable and satisfying, and have the hole between pilot and engineer develop even additional, defeating my “argument” above and making engineer really really feel like lacking out on all of the enjoyable.
Increasing the engineer function to permit them to work together with and look after Grogu, or having better management over the mission as a complete, is a brilliant change. My guess is that the function nonetheless received’t be as sturdy as pilot or gunner, however there are lots of people who would fortunately leap on the alternative to babysit Child Yoda. It’ll be attention-grabbing to see how that is built-in into the expertise–presumably by way of a display feed of Grogu, and maybe with the power to feed him and produce other cute interactions.
The gunner function will virtually actually enhance with the Mando mission replace. As we’ve mentioned earlier than, the present asteroid discipline delay scene is one of the best gameplay loop in Smugglers Run–and that’s not even a part of the primary mission. This could possibly be easier and higher, simply providing the satisfaction of seeing cool settings and acquainted characters, blowing stuff up, and beating the unhealthy guys. I don’t assume it must be extra advanced or difficult to be good. It may be easier and extra satisfying. They’re not mutually unique.
In our view, Smugglers Run is a narrative of squandered potential. There’s a cause why Imagineering is revisiting this trip roughly 5 years after it opened, far prior to comparable screen-based sights like Avatar Flight of Passage.
Smugglers Run is arguably the third-best Star Wars trip. Or, said in a different way, the worst. Rise of the Resistance is the clear #1. And each time I do Star Excursions, I’m reminded of how good it’s. I’ve actually loved all the additions through the years, which preserve it related and recent.
I like Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and assume it’s a greater total expertise from begin to end, however the trip portion of Star Excursions blows it away. Think about how nice Smugglers Run could possibly be if it mixed the settings of Star Excursions with the interactivity and full bundle of the Millennium Falcon?!
As a substitute, Smugglers Run is the Star Wars equal of working for UPS. I do know some hardcore followers benefit from the coaxium story, however the fetch quest gameplay is simply not very compelling for the majority of visitors. And as a passive attraction for individuals who aren’t into the gameplay, the plot and visuals are much less participating than even the unique Star Excursions. It’s simply too area of interest and tedious.
Level being, Smugglers Run has a lot unrealized potential. The whole bundle of the attraction across the gameplay is improbable and there’s quite a bit to be mentioned for the want achievement of stepping contained in the Millennium Falcon cockpit, pulling the lever to leap to lightspeed, and so on. However then there’s the mission itself, which falls flat.
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run could possibly be a ten/10 attraction–top-of-the-line on each coasts–and a extra compelling mission would get it there. Suffice to say, the addition of Mandalorian and Grogu together with the 4 new locations and an elevated engineer function could possibly be an entire sport changer for the attraction.
Now that we all know when the brand new mission will debut in Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, the massive unanswered query is what else will change with the attraction?
Let’s begin with what we don’t anticipate to vary: Hondo Ohnaka or Ohnaka Transport Options, his smuggling operation that ‘borrows’ the Millennium Falcon. Hondo has a wry humorousness, is a lovable scoundrel, and the Audio Animatronics of Hondo within the pre-show is actually spectacular. It appears more and more seemingly that his dialogue will change, however we wouldn’t anticipate any bodily modifications to the determine or pre-show scene.
It’s exhausting to see how Hondo’s current dialogue will be weaved right into a mission with Mandalorian and Grogu, so it’s secure to imagine the script will likely be rewritten. However swapping out the AA and surroundings within the pre-show would seemingly be means too costly, ballooning the finances and timeline. I suppose they may throw a helmet on Hondo and provides him new threads to make the AA appear to be Mando, however I doubt that.
Who is aware of, although. Change this scene to at least one with Audio Animatronics of Mandalorian and Grogu and Smugglers Run might have wait occasions rivaling Rise of the Resistance. Simply take a look at the crowds for the walk-around characters, now think about Child Yoda as probably the most lovable AA ever.
Past that, it’s unclear whether or not the brand new Mandalorian mission will necessitate a closure or be completed in a single day just like the added scenes in Star Excursions. As a extra elaborate attraction, my hope is that Smugglers Run will go down for a minimum of just a few weeks for minor modifications to make the queue and pre-show mesh with the mission.
My guess is that this won’t be the case. That as an alternative, the brand new mission will likely be framed in such a means that no pre-show dialogue wants to vary, not to mention any bodily options of the ship. I might see just a few easter eggs being added to the queue pulled from the Disney+ collection or the film simply to provide followers one thing to search for and discuss, however I wouldn’t depend on that.
Once more, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run remains to be new (by Disney requirements) and the attraction has ‘good bones.’ In order a lot as I would wish to see a complete reimagining, there’s additionally a way of “don’t repair what isn’t damaged.” On this case, the one factor right here that wants altering is the gameplay/mission, and that component can most likely be swapped out in a single day.
On the subject of a closure, there’s additionally the query of timing for the Disney’s Hollywood Studios model. As mentioned in When Will Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster Shut?, there’s the consideration of not having a number of headliners down on the similar time. With RnRC now trying prefer it is likely to be reimagined sooner slightly than later, this most likely isn’t a serious concern at this level.
In the end, all of this Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge information is improbable. It actually looks like Imagineering is setting the desk to lastly ‘break the principles’ and quit on the sacred timeline in Batuu. My hope is that there’s nonetheless extra to return, and we’re primarily getting a smooth relaunch of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in 2026.
It’s nice that Imagineering had the chance to take an enormous swing with Galaxy’s Edge, however ~6 years later, it nonetheless hasn’t fairly lived as much as its promise. It looks like that’s beginning to change, first with the introduction of the walk-around Mandalorian and Child Yoda characters, and now this plus the BDX Duckling Droids and (hopefully) Luke Skywalker and extra.
Imagineering getting the change to reimagine Batuu right into a vibrant canvas for adventures that comport extra carefully with visitor expectations can be an enormous win. The land might really feel alive and thrilling, even when it turns into much less coherent from a storytelling perspective. It’s solely a matter of time. Informal guests hear “Star Wars land” and anticipate to have the ability to see Darth Vader, Yoda, C-3PO, and different characters they love. A smooth reboot of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge could possibly be precisely the shot within the arm that’s wanted. It is also the marketable addition that’s wanted on each coasts in 2026, with no new sights on faucet. That’s, except this new mission goes to date that it counts as a reimagined trip!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you consider the expanded engineer function? Excited to be Child Yoda’s babysitter or select from 4 new locations? Are you excited to see the Mandalorian and Child Yoda in Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run beginning on Could 22, 2026? Do you hope the brand new mission is definitely thrilling? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluation of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge? Any questions? Listening to your suggestions–even once you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!