Disney has revealed more details about the new mission featuring Mandalorian and Grogu for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run in Star Wars Land at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. This shares concept art & info about the 4 new destinations, how the engineer will have the most important job in the galaxy as the Baby Yoda Babysitter, and everything we know about the changes to what sounds like a totally redone ride sequence.
This news was announced during the Disney Experiences Panel at Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo, Japan. Joining host Ashley Eckstein on stage were Asa Kalama and Anisha Deshmane from Walt Disney Imagineering, as well as Michael Serna from Disney Live Entertainment and Matt Martin from Lucasfilm. This revolved around how Star Wars comes to life at Disney theme parks around the world, with WDI and other creative minds offering a glimpse at Star Wars projects and attractions.
The Star Wars Celebration panel built on the announcement of a new Mandalorian and Grogu mission for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run originally announced at last year’s D23 Expo in Anaheim. Just last month at SXSW, Jon Favreau, director and producer of the upcoming Star Wars film, “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” who was joined onstage by Imagineers Leslie Evans and Asa Kalama to talk about what’s coming soon to Batuu. They revealed during SXSW that Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run would have three new destinations: Tatooine, Bespin and Endor. Today in Tokyo (technically tomorrow), Imagineers revealed another location: the city planet, Coruscant.
Starting May 22, 2026 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disneyland, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run will allow guests to control the iconic ship like never before. For the first time ever, the crew will be in control of their own destination, leading to potential adventures on Bespin, the wreckage of the second Death Star around Endor, or the just-announced bustling city-planet, Coruscant. Another new gameplay addition allows the engineer positions to care for and communicate with Grogu during the mission.
This ‘choose your own destination’ update debuts on the same day as Lucasfilm’s upcoming title, “The Mandalorian and Grogu.” However, the storyline of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run will follow a different path than the upcoming film.
In this new ride storyline, Hondo Ohnaka has gotten wind of a deal going down on Tatooine between ex-Imperial officers and a band of pirates. There’s a generous bounty for their capture, so you’ll borrow the iconic ship and team up with Mando and Grogu to track them down and explore the galaxy. Meaning that the mission will depart Batuu bound for Tatooine, and the crew will choose from one of three destinations–Bespin, Endor, or Coruscant–from there.
According to Imagineering, none of this would be possible without its partnership with Industrial Light and Magic (ILM). With their help, you are in control of your own destiny on the attraction. This technology is all built on Unreal Engine 5 by Epic Games which are the same tools ILM uses on the Disney+ show, The Mandalorian.
Here’s a look at some of the new Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run scenes in Bespin, Endor, Tatooine, and Coruscant:
Previously, the big unanswered question was whether the “new story” featuring the Mandalorian and Grogu would be all-new gameplay and a mission built from the ground up, or just recycled assets and a brief scene for the sake of marketing.
It’s still possible this will be a Star Tours-style change, with a new segment with Mandalorian and Baby Yoda spliced into the current story. It’s also possible that an all-new mission will be developed, but it’ll somehow be worse. After all, this is a interactive attraction that guests of all ages and backgrounds need to be able to pick up quickly and play without a lengthy tutorial or learning curve.
While pessimism is never a bad idea given Disney’s recent track record, it’s sure sounding like this is a pretty ambitious overhaul to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. That Imagineering is essentially taking guest feedback and the biggest complaints about the gameplay loop and attraction experience, and fixing those faults.
Personally, I think there’s a pretty high likelihood of this being a major upgrade over the old Smugglers Run mission. Having a ‘choose your destination’ element has shades of Star Tours or Horizons (IYKYK) and fan consensus is that engineer is far and away the weakest role. So Imagineering is making the visual experience more akin to Star Tours and enhancing the engineer role so it doesn’t feel like you get “stuck” with it if you’re lucky. That’s addressing two of the most glaring shortcomings of the attraction!
Since the Grogu & Mandalorian mission was announced, we’ve been optimistic and excited about the updates to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. Our perspective has been that this almost assuredly going to improve the attraction, potentially by a considerable amount. With each new update, I’m more optimistic about the direction of this ride reimagining (has it risen to the level that we can now call it that?!).
Readers have been far less enthusiastic. Whenever Smugglers Run comes up, fans bemoan how boring it is when you’re in any role but pilot–especially engineer, or if kids are pilot. I disagree with the last part. If anything, I think the current experience is so boring that the thing that makes it most interesting is a truly terrible pilot that just smashes you around into everything.
I’m not even kidding–aside from my first time as pilot, all of my favorite ride-throughs have been sitting in the back with kids charting our course. Every time I’m assigned the pilot role and there’s a kid in the crew, I ask their parents if they’d like to switch with me. (Not to go on too much of a tangent, but I find it odd how many Disney Adults are anti-children. They’re getting more out of the experience than you! If you can suspend disbelief in a fake mission on a fake spaceship, surely you can do the same with that mission not going flawlessly and the fake spaceship crashing into stuff.)
In any case, most other guests don’t seem to agree with me. And it is true that engineer is the most boring role in a boring mission, even if it is more fun when things are going off the rails and you can just sit back and watch the trainwreck (err…spaceship-wreck?) unfold.
Accordingly, having a new mission that actually appears to be engaging and an engineer role that isn’t an afterthought are both good things. It would be “unfortunate” to make the gameplay loop actually fun and enjoyable, and have the gap between pilot and engineer grow even further, defeating my “argument” above and making engineer truly feel like missing out on all the fun.
Expanding the engineer role to allow them to interact with and care for Grogu, or having greater control over the mission as a whole, is a smart change. My guess is that the role still won’t be as robust as pilot or gunner, but there are a lot of people who would happily jump at the opportunity to babysit Baby Yoda. It’ll be interesting to see how this is integrated into the experience–presumably via a screen feed of Grogu, and perhaps with the ability to feed him and have other cute interactions.
The gunner role will almost certainly improve with the Mando mission update. As we’ve said before, the current asteroid field delay scene is the best gameplay loop in Smugglers Run–and that’s not even part of the main mission. This could be simpler and better, just offering the satisfaction of seeing cool settings and familiar characters, blowing stuff up, and beating the bad guys. I don’t think it needs to be more complex or challenging to be good. It can be simpler and more satisfying. They’re not mutually exclusive.
In our view, Smugglers Run is a story of squandered potential. There’s a reason why Imagineering is revisiting this ride roughly 5 years after it opened, far sooner than comparable screen-based attractions like Avatar Flight of Passage.
Smugglers Run is arguably the third-best Star Wars ride. Or, stated differently, the worst. Rise of the Resistance is the clear #1. And every time I do Star Tours, I’m reminded of how good it is. I’ve really enjoyed all of the additions over the years, which keep it relevant and fresh.
I love Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and think it’s a better overall experience from start to finish, but the ride portion of Star Tours blows it away. Imagine how great Smugglers Run could be if it combined the settings of Star Tours with the interactivity and complete package of the Millennium Falcon?!
Instead, Smugglers Run is the Star Wars equivalent of working for UPS. I know some hardcore fans enjoy the coaxium story, but the fetch quest gameplay is just not very compelling for the bulk of guests. And as a passive attraction for those who aren’t into the gameplay, the plot and visuals are less engaging than even the original Star Tours. It’s just too niche and tedious.
Point being, Smugglers Run has so much unrealized potential. The complete package of the attraction around the gameplay is fantastic and there’s a lot to be said for the wish fulfillment of stepping inside the Millennium Falcon cockpit, pulling the lever to jump to lightspeed, etc. But then there’s the mission itself, which falls flat.
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run could be a 10/10 attraction–one of the best on both coasts–and a more compelling mission would get it there. Suffice to say, the addition of Mandalorian and Grogu along with the 4 new destinations and an elevated engineer role could be a complete game changer for the attraction.
Now that we know when the new mission will debut in Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, the big unanswered question is what else will change with the attraction?
Let’s start with what we do not expect to change: Hondo Ohnaka or Ohnaka Transport Solutions, his smuggling operation that ‘borrows’ the Millennium Falcon. Hondo has a wry sense of humor, is a lovable scoundrel, and the Audio Animatronics of Hondo in the pre-show is truly impressive. It seems increasingly likely that his dialogue will change, but we wouldn’t expect any physical changes to the figure or pre-show scene.
It’s hard to see how Hondo’s existing dialogue can be weaved into a mission with Mandalorian and Grogu, so it’s safe to assume the script will be rewritten. But swapping out the AA and scenery in the pre-show would likely be way too expensive, ballooning the budget and timeline. I guess they could throw a helmet on Hondo and give him new threads to make the AA look like Mando, but I doubt that.
Who knows, though. Change this scene to one with Audio Animatronics of Mandalorian and Grogu and Smugglers Run could have wait times rivaling Rise of the Resistance. Just look at the crowds for the walk-around characters, now imagine Baby Yoda as the most adorable AA ever.
Beyond that, it’s unclear whether the new Mandalorian mission will necessitate a closure or be done overnight like the added scenes in Star Tours. As a more elaborate attraction, my hope is that Smugglers Run will go down for at least a few weeks for minor changes to make the queue and pre-show mesh with the mission.
My guess is that this will not be the case. That instead, the new mission will be framed in such a way that no pre-show dialogue needs to change, let alone any physical features of the ship. I could see a few easter eggs being added to the queue pulled from the Disney+ series or the movie just to give fans something to look for and talk about, but I wouldn’t count on that.
Again, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is still new (by Disney standards) and the attraction has ‘good bones.’ So as much as I might like to see a comprehensive reimagining, there’s also a sense of “don’t fix what isn’t broken.” In this case, the only thing here that needs changing is the gameplay/mission, and that element can probably be swapped out overnight.
When it comes to a closure, there’s also the question of timing for the Disney’s Hollywood Studios version. As discussed in When Will Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Close?, there’s the consideration of not having multiple headliners down at the same time. With RnRC now looking like it might be reimagined sooner rather than later, this probably isn’t a major concern at this point.
Ultimately, all of this Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge news is fantastic. It really feels like Imagineering is setting the table to finally ‘break the rules’ and give up on the sacred timeline in Batuu. My hope is that there’s still more to come, and we’re essentially getting a soft relaunch of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in 2026.
It’s great that Imagineering had the opportunity to take a big swing with Galaxy’s Edge, but ~6 years later, it still hasn’t quite lived up to its promise. It feels like that’s starting to change, first with the introduction of the walk-around Mandalorian and Baby Yoda characters, and now this plus the BDX Duckling Droids and (hopefully) Luke Skywalker and more.
Imagineering getting the change to reimagine Batuu into a vibrant canvas for adventures that comport more closely with guest expectations would be a huge win. The land could feel alive and exciting, even if it becomes less coherent from a storytelling perspective. It’s only a matter of time. Casual visitors hear “Star Wars land” and expect to be able to see Darth Vader, Yoda, C-3PO, and other characters they love. A soft reboot of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge could be exactly the shot in the arm that’s needed. It could also be the marketable addition that’s needed on both coasts in 2026, with no new attractions on tap. That is, unless this new mission goes so far that it counts as a reimagined ride!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think about the expanded engineer role? Excited to be Baby Yoda’s babysitter or choose from 4 new destinations? Are you excited to see the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda in Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run starting on May 22, 2026? Do you hope the new mission is actually exciting? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!