Five Things to Know About Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run

Pop quiz: What ship made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs? It’s the Millennium Falcon, of course … or at least, that’s what Han Solo claimed to Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi when they first met in Mos Eisley Cantina. Fast forward from “a long time ago” to today, and you too can jump to hyperspace in the Falcon! Read on and we’ll tell you everything you need to know to prepare for Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run. Or if you want to skip to the meat of the matter, like where to find the ride and whether there’s a Lightning Lane, go straight to the Nuts and Bolts section.

1. Enter the Falcon to learn what your mission will be.

The queue begins next to an actual-size Millennium Falcon in Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. You’ll enter Ohnaka Transport Solutions and traverse some catwalks through a ship repair bay. Look around to see tons of details the Imagineers have included here, and when you’re facing the right direction, you’ll have one-of-a-kind views of the Falcon snugged up to the building just outside. Tip: If you’re playing along in the Play Disney Parks app, this is your chance to pick up your “job” while you’re in the queue. If not, don’t worry – Hondo will take you on anyway.

Next, you enter the hold of the Falcon itself. The Imagineers have replicated exactly how it looks in the original Star Wars trilogy. It’s absolutely incredible! You can see the holographic chess table, lots of familiar-looking items from the original trilogy, and even the hallway where Han and Leia kissed. (Who knew what trouble that would lead to down the road?) It definitely feels as if you’re in the real deal.

In the preshow, an animatronic Hondo Ohnaka explains why you have been recruited. Now, maybe you’re wondering, “Who the heck is Hondo Ohnaka?” Hondo appears in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the Star Wars Rebels animated series. He’s one of those characters who’s often on the wrong side of the law and mostly motivated by money, but somehow seems to only help out the good guys.

Anyway, Chewie has made a deal with him to use the Falcon for this run. But he needs a crew! The mission: steal some coaxium (used to make the jump to hyperspace, so it’s valuable!) from a First Order train on Corellia. Simple enough, right?

2. You’ll be crewing the “fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.”

So now you’ve figured out that “smugglers” (that’s you) are making a “run” that may involve doing something sneaky under the nose of the First Order. When boarding, you’ll be assigned a role to play. Crews of six are needed to make a single run: two pilots, two gunners, and two engineers. The tricky part (read: “fun”) is for the pilots to get the Falcon behind the train by working together to steer the ship. This enables the engineers to fire the harpoons to grab the coaxium. And with the mission completed, you’ll land back on Batuu, safe and sound.

The seat you’re in becomes the role you play; it also determines the tasks you have to perform in order to successfully complete this mission. Because each role has a different “job” to perform, an engineer’s ride experience will differ from the pilots’ or the gunners’, and so on.

The good news is that there isn’t a whole lot you can do to screw up the mission. No matter what you do, the scenario projected on the screen doesn’t vary too widely – which makes sense, since you have to get back to Batuu to disembark. Even if you crash the Falcon somehow along the way, you’ll still get home.

At the end, you’ll get a cut of the profits, prorated based on your performance, and then adjusted for any damages you may have incurred to the Falcon. (Maybe crashing it wasn’t such a good idea after all.) If you’ve logged into the Datapad App in Play Disney Parks, your cut will show up in your credits.

Riding the Falcon isn’t as bumpy as Star Tours, but it is still a motion simulator. Friends told me that the engineer was the position least likely to experience any motion sickness, and I found that to be good advice. Others advocate for the pilot’s seat to keep busy and avoid turning sideways. For the full motion-sickness rundown, see A Ride Chicken Review of Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run.

3. A long time ago…there was some history.

The names of the two big attractions in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, including Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, weren’t announced until 2018. Prior to this, the working title for this ride was “Big Bird.” Smugglers Run opened with the rest of Galaxy’s Edge on May 31, 2019, at Disneyland and August 29, 2019, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World.

In early discussions, Imagineering thought that maybe how each member of the crew performed their job would affect the outcome of the ride – as well as all the rest of the time they spent in Galaxy’s Edge! As research and testing progressed, they learned that participants weren’t all that willing to work together. According to the Disney Dish podcast, Imagineers then looked for ways to make the attraction more accessible for the everyday guest and not just for those looking for “total immersion.” In November 2018, Disney announced that the more immersive elements would be optional, found in the Play Disney Parks app.

At August 2024’s D23 event, Disney announced that the attraction would be updated to coincide with the release of the Mandalorian and Grogu movie. If you’re visiting after May 22, 2026, you can expect to join the Mandalorian and Grogu for a new mission.

4. There are some secrets, including a secret menu.

⭐ Have you ever wondered how the ride accommodates so many guests? Here’s where the Imagineers really went to work! Everyone starts out in one room for the preshow with Hondo. Then groups proceed into one of two chess rooms. Each chess room leads to three different loading stations (six total). From inside the cockpit, you might think that the next group waits for your ride to finish. But actually, these stations connect to four turntables, each with multiple cockpits. While you ride, the turntable spins to load the next group.

⭐ In the usual way of things, Hondo barks orders at you throughout the ride, “helping” you to snare your cargo and accomplish the mission. But if you can get a team of six to work in concert, you can unlock “Chewie mode” to replace Hondo’s narration with Chewie’s gentle yowls. Find the steps on the FreshBaked! YouTube channel.

⭐ In the cockpit, there are more than 200 different levers, buttons, and switches. While some just light up, the others are functional, and how you use them will affect the outcome of your ride. So no two missions are ever exactly the same.

⭐ There’s a miniature Millennium Falcon hidden in the vented section on the outside of the cockpit area. Follow the vents down to where there are two pipes, and above them is the tiny ship, tucked in.

⭐ See if you can spot the garbage can that says, “Trash to sector 3263827” (written in Aurebesh, of course). It’s a reference to the huge trash compactor that appears in the famous scene from A New Hope.

5. The Nuts and Bolts.

Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run is located in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, with the entrance just to the left of the honking big Millennium Falcon. The main queue is indoors, so the weather doesn’t affect its operation. The ride itself lasts about 4 1/2 minutes.

Seats on the Falcon are padded chairs with no armrests and an individual fabric lap belt, arranged in three rows of two. In the gunner and navigator positions (rear two rows) the controls you’ll use during the ride are to the side of the seat. If turning sideways is an issue for you, ask to be the pilot or choose the side that you can work with most easily.

Guests must be at least 38 inches tall to ride, and as with all rides that have a height requirement, Rider Switch is offered. Guests in a wheelchair/ECV must transfer. If you’re not able to transfer, you can still experience the queue and pre-shows. Service animals are not permitted. To make the attraction accessible to as wide an audience as possible, the following aids are available from Guest Services for a refundable deposit: Handheld Captioning, Audio Description, and Assistive Listening.

Disney advises that riders on Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run should be in good health and free from high blood pressure, heart, back, or neck problems, motion sickness, or other conditions that could be aggravated by this adventure. Expectant mothers should not ride.

Standby wait times for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run can average an hour or more. Alternatively, you can enter via the Lightning Lane with a Lightning Lane Multi Pass or Premiere Pass. There is a Single Rider line if you don’t mind being split up from the rest of your party, but it skips over the whole pre-show and most of the queue. Smugglers Run is open for Early Theme Park Entry, and for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours when Hollywood Studios has them.

The Bottom Line.

We think Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run is not to be missed. While not nearly as immersive as Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, it offers you the chance to yell things like, “Never tell me the odds!” while piloting the ship. Where else can you do that?

What did you think of Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run? Which role did you play? Let us know in the comments.