The new Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run flight simulator ride coming to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland will put a new generation of pilots, gunners and flight engineers at the controls of the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.
For the past 40-plus years, Star Wars fans have been on a first name basis with the smugglers and scoundrels who have flown the Millennium Falcon. But when Galaxy’s Edge opens, that list of names is going to grow exponentially.
Han, Chewie, Lando and Rey say hello to Anne, Louie, Armando and Rachel, the newest co-pilots of the most famous starship in the Star Wars universe.
So you think you have what it takes to fly the Millennium Falcon? Well, climb into the cockpit and give it a shot. What’s the worst thing that can happen? You crash the famed YT-1300 light freighter and a bounty hunter tracks you all over Galaxy’s Edge looking for the money you owe a space pirate for the damage you did to the ship. It could happen.
The Millennium Falcon will first reveal itself in all its glory as you round a corner in Black Spire Outpost on the Star Wars planet of Batuu, the setting for the new 14-acre lands coming to Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Framed by a curved archway, the 112-foot-long Millennium Falcon will be docked in front of Ohnaka Transport Solutions, against a backdrop of 135-foot-tall petrified tree spires rising skyward behind the battle-beaten beauty. You may stop in your tracks. Your jaw may drop. You might even gasp, whoop or scream. Grown men will drop to their knees and cry.
“It would not be ‘Star Wars’ without the Millennium Falcon and it would not be Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge without giving guests the opportunity to finally get to see her in all her glory,” said Asa Kalama, Walt Disney Imagineering executive creative director.
It’s real and it’s right there. So close you could reach out and touch the mandibles. And in a few short hours — let’s not kid ourselves, the lines are going to be ridiculous — you will be in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon. In a dogfight with TIE fighters on a smuggling run for a vengeful space pirate who is in desperate need of new recruits.
The mighty Millennium Falcon has taken many forms since it streaked onto the silver screen in 1977: Scale models in the original trilogy, computer-generated renderings in more recent films and versions of the ship built for movie sets. But unless you’ve been on the crew of a “Star Wars” film, you’ve never seen the Falcon like this.
“This is the very first time that really anybody is getting the opportunity to see all of the Millennium Falcon in all her glory at full scale,” Kalama said.
Step inside Ohnaka Transport Solutions, the shady shipping operation run by a dreadlocked space pirate with six tusk-like chin protrusions. Hondo Ohnaka will be your new boss should you accept the mission. But there’s a catch. Crash the Millennium Falcon or lose the contraband cargo onboard and you’ll pay the price. Hondo will send a bounty hunter after you who will track you all over Black Spire Outpost to extract a debt payable in galactic credits. Assuming you opt into the land-wide game and supply Disney with your smartphone information.
The Smugglers Run queue will wind through Ohnaka Transport Solutions. You’ll wander past communication equipment and stormtrooper armor spilling out of cargo containers.
“This is the main maintenance bay here at Ohnaka Transport Solutions,” Kalama said. “This is where the crew do whatever they can to keep his deprecated fleet in working order. It’s also in this space that guests will come to get a sense of some of the types of equipment and cargo that Ohnaka Transport Solutions delivers throughout the galaxy. Some of it more innocuous, some of it potentially a little less savory.”
Up above, an animated blaster-riddled starship engine — glowing a pulsating red — hangs from the ceiling as you ascend a switchback catwalk.
“This is an engine that has come off of one of the ships in Hondo’s fleet,” Kalama said. “Much like pretty much every ship that he’s got, it’s riddled with blaster marks. It is also not working properly at the moment. As guests in this space, we’ll also get to hear some of Hondo’s crew trying diligently to get this engine back online. It is an animated piece, so we’ll get to see it in action.”
You hear Ohnaka’s crew preparing the often-damaged Falcon — performing maintenance tests on the engines, weapons and various systems — in a desperate race to get the starship in working order for her next mission.
“As we know from canon, the ship is often in a state of disrepair,” Kalama said. “Today’s no different.”
Look out the row of second-story windows for a birds-eye view of the Millennium Falcon from multiple angles. The domes of the Black Spire village dot the skyline off in the distance.
“We’ve designed the entire queue to make sure that guests get as many angles as possible of the Millennium Falcon,” Kalama said. “We know how important she is and we will make sure that whether you ride the ride or don’t ride the ride, everybody gets an opportunity to see the ship and take a photo with the ship.”
It’s time to meet your new boss. The imposing Hondo waiting for you in the Command Center is one of the most sophisticated audio-animatronic figures ever designed by Walt Disney Imagineering.
“This is where guests will finally have the opportunity to have their audience with Hondo Ohnaka, the boss man himself,” Kalama said. “He gives us the sales pitch about his amazing fleet of ships, his cargo that he’s got to move and how he needs flight crews to help him move it. He’s looking for pilots, he’s looking for gunners and he’s looking for flight engineers.”
Hondo’s trusty droid R5-P8 keeps the boss on schedule and fixes failing equipment in the Command Center. The Falcon hovers behind the animatronic duo on a video screen before landing in the hangar bay.
Hondo gives you instructions for your smuggling mission and jokingly warns you about the consequences if you fail. But what’s to worry about? It’s only your first time flying the Millennium Falcon. What could possibly go wrong?
And then it’s time to finally step aboard the Millennium Falcon for the first time.
You pass through an umbilical bridge and step into the main hold of the ship. Want to play a game of holographic Dejarik game? Go ahead, sit down beside the game table where Chewbacca played R2-D2. Pose for a selfie anywhere you want in the main hold of the ship while you’re awaiting your flight crew assignment.
“Before boarding the Millennium Falcon, flight crews will be given boarding cards that will assign them to a flight crew,” Kalama said. “When it’s your flight crew’s turn to pilot the ship, you’re called up by one of the Ohnaka Transport Solutions crew members and make your way towards the cockpit.”
Finally, it’s your turn. Don’t be nervous. You’ve only been waiting your whole life for this opportunity. Your six-person flight crew marches down the Falcon’s familiar tube-shaped “chicklet corridor” lined with white pillow-like panels that resemble the square gum with rounded corners.
Hondo offers a few pre-flight specifics on the smuggling mission via a video transmission.
“This is where Hondo sets up the particulars of the adventure where you get to find out where we’re going, what we are smuggling, umm, delivering and what we might want to keep an eye out for if there are any potential hazards along the way,” Kalama said.
You round a corner and there it is. The cockpit of the Millennium Falcon. Is this real? You better believe it. And now it’s your turn to take the controls. Grab your seat. The ship is about to depart.
The co-pilots in the front seats steer the ship.
“It is truly up to them to pilot the ship,” Kalama said. “Depending on how they do, that will determine the overall physical health of the ship.”
The gunners in the middle seats man the weapons systems.
“Because we are a smuggling operation, chances are we may come up against folks who are not too happy about what we are up to,” Kalama said. “It will be up to the gunners in the middle to provide defense for the Millennium Falcon. If they don’t line up the TIE fighters fast enough, the hull is going to get riddled and the ship is going to shake violently.”
The flight engineers in the back put out fires and repair damage after accidents or attacks.
“There are a lot of spires in Black Spire Outpost,” Kalama said. “If you run into one and the pilots don’t steer out of the way, the ship’s going to crash into them. Warning alarms are going to go off and it’ll be up to the flight engineers in the back to make sure that they keep the ship in working order.”
The 200 fully-functional buttons, switches and levers in the cockpit make clicking, beeping and chirping sounds when you adjust them. Every move you make has a direct impact on the mission.
“This is an experience that’s all about touching buttons, playing with buttons. It is highly, highly encouraged,” Kalama said. “Now, you need to be careful because the button’s already duct into the very systems of the Millennium Falcon. Depending on what you push it might have the desired effect or an unintended consequence.”
So which buttons do you push? What switches are you supposed to flip? Which way to do you steer the ship? Well, that’s up to you. But here’s a hint: Follow the flashing lights. If a button is blinking, you better do something. Quick!
Are you ready? Then let’s go. Just outside the cockpit window, the hangar bay of Ohnaka Transport Solutions is projected on a domed screen. Your mission awaits. Good luck. And may the Force be with you.
Your experience isn’t over when you’re journey aboard the Millennium Falcon is complete.
Succeed in your smuggling run and bring the ship back in one piece and you’ll be celebrated a hero. Lose your contraband cargo and return the Falcon a flaming wreck and Hondo’s going to be upset. Worse yet, your reputation follows you around Black Spire Outpost and from one visit to another.
There’s nowhere to run. No place to hide. Walk into Oga’s Cantina after crash landing the Falcon and a bounty hunter might tap you on the shoulder looking for the galactic credits you owe Hondo for the repairs. You’ll have to pay up or offer to make up what you owe on your next mission aboard Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.
Go ahead. Get back in line. You know you want to. Or maybe you need to. If you know what’s good for you.
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run opens at Disneyland on May 31 and at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Aug. 29.
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