When Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run first opened with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in 2019, the reaction from many fans was surprisingly mixed. Walking through the Falcon itself was jaw-dropping. Sitting in the cockpit was a genuine childhood dream come true. But once the mission began, many guests found themselves wondering if Disney had built an immersive Star Wars attraction… or simply an elaborate six-player video game. The experience was great for some, but left many others disappointed.
Now, nearly seven years later, Disney has rolled out the attraction’s biggest overhaul yet with an all-new mission featuring Din Djarin and Grogu. The updated adventure officially launches May 22, 2026, at Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios alongside the upcoming The Mandalorian and Grogu film.
And honestly? The update helps. Quite a bit.
The new version adds more story, more personality, more replay value, and more reasons to ride again. But while the attraction is now far more entertaining than its original incarnation, it also highlights something longtime Disney fans have quietly known for years: Star Tours still delivers the better actual simulator ride experience.
VIDEO: Full POV of the New Mandalorian & Grogu Mission
We’ve got full POV video of the new mission… while you won’t quite get the feel for the new gameplay elements, you will be able to see how the storyline of the new ride film develops. We’d like to hear your thoughts…
What Is Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run?
Located inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run allows guests to step aboard the “fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy” and take control of the legendary Corellian freighter made famous by Han Solo and Chewbacca.
Unlike traditional Disney attractions, Smugglers Run is interactive. Guests are assigned one of three jobs inside the cockpit:
- Pilots steer the Falcon and control jumps to hyperspace
- Gunners fire the ship’s weapons
- Engineers repair damage and interact with ship systems during the mission
Each cockpit seats six guests, and the success (or complete disaster) of the mission depends heavily on how well everyone works together. Or, more realistically, whether the pilots keep flying directly into canyon walls.
The attraction is set on the remote Outer Rim planet of Batuu, where guests are recruited by the infamous pirate Hondo Ohnaka to fly dangerous missions for profit.
Who Is Hondo Ohnaka?
For casual visitors who may not spend their evenings debating Clone Wars lore online, Hondo Ohnaka is a recurring fan-favorite pirate from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels.
Voiced by Jim Cummings (also Winnie the Pooh), Hondo operates somewhere between lovable rogue, questionable businessman, and galactic insurance liability. He’s the owner of Ohnaka Transport Solutions on Batuu and serves as the primary mission-giver for Smugglers Run.
The original attraction revolved around stealing coaxium — an unstable and highly valuable hyperfuel — while trying not to completely destroy the Falcon in the process.
The new Mandalorian version expands Hondo’s operation into bounty hunting territory involving Din Djarin, Grogu, pirates, and former Imperial forces.
What’s New In The Mandalorian & Grogu Update?
The updated storyline recruits riders into a new bounty hunting mission alongside Din Djarin and Grogu after Hondo uncovers suspicious dealings involving pirates and former Imperial officers on Tatooine.
Rather than repeating the same coaxium train heist every ride cycle, crews can now be routed to multiple destinations depending on decisions made during the mission. Potential locations include:
- Cloud City on Bespin
- Coruscant
- The wreckage of the second Death Star near Endor
The biggest gameplay changes involve the engineer role. Previously, the least desirable position aboard the Falcon (unless your dream vacation involved slapping blinking buttons while strangers crashed into walls), engineers now influence the direction of the mission and interact directly with Grogu during portions of the adventure.
The attraction also features updated visuals, environmental damage effects, expanded mission outcomes, and more dynamic story progression depending on crew performance.
Disney and Lucasfilm are clearly trying to solve one of the ride’s biggest long-term problems: replayability and the enjoyment factor for each seat in the cabin.
What To Expect When You Ride
The Mandalorian and Grogu mission is now fully integrated into the standard Smugglers Run experience. Guests can access the attraction through:
- Standby line
- Lightning Lane
- Single Rider line
The queue itself remains one of the attraction’s greatest strengths. Guests wind through hangars, maintenance bays, engine rooms, and corridors packed with Star Wars details before finally entering the Falcon itself.
And yes, the famous holochess table is still there. Expect crowds around it.
Once inside the cockpit, the experience changes depending on your assigned role and how competent your crew happens to be that day. Skilled pilots genuinely improve the ride experience.
The new branching destinations and story paths also mean repeat rides may offer slightly different experiences. Remember your path so you can experience different destinations on future rides.
The Original Smugglers Run Problem
Back in 2019, Smugglers Run felt like two completely different attractions awkwardly stitched together.
The queue, pre-show, Falcon exterior, and cockpit remain among the most impressive themed environments Disney has ever built. Walking through the Millennium Falcon still carries genuine emotional weight for Star Wars fans in a way very few theme park experiences can match.
But the ride itself often struggled to deliver the same level of immersion.
Pilots could accidentally steer the ship into endless walls. Gunners often ignored instructions entirely. Engineers became glorified Whac-A-Mole players. And because every crew depended on random strangers, experiences varied wildly from flight to flight.
The result was an attraction that sometimes felt more stressful than cinematic.
The new Mandalorian version finally shifts the balance more toward storytelling and adventure rather than pure scorekeeping.
Why The New Version Works Better
The biggest improvement is that the attraction now feels more like a Star Wars story instead of a task-management simulator.
Grogu adds humor and personality throughout the mission, the branching routes create unpredictability, and the updated structure gives riders more reasons to pay attention to the adventure itself rather than obsessing over whether their pilot just clipped another antenna tower.
There’s also a stronger sense of momentum now. Destination changes, environmental transitions, and mission variety help the ride feel larger in scope and less repetitive.
Importantly, Disney appears to have embraced the idea that Smugglers Run should be something guests want to experience multiple times instead of a one-and-done technical curiosity.
That’s a smart move. But not quite enough.
But Star Tours Is Still The Better Ride
Here’s the awkward truth behind all of this:
A nearly 40-year-old simulator attraction still delivers the more thrilling Star Wars flight experience.
Star Tours may lack the walk-through Millennium Falcon queue and interactive cockpit, but once the ride begins, it simply flies better.
The motion base is more aggressive. The pacing is tighter. The transitions hit harder. The simulator throws guests around with actual intensity while Smugglers Run often feels comparatively restrained and mechanically cautious.
Ironically, the more advanced Falcon attraction still struggles to match the visceral thrill factor and superior storytelling of its much older cousin across the park.
That doesn’t make Smugglers Run bad. Far from it. In fact, the new Mandalorian update may finally make the attraction consistently enjoyable in a way the original version sometimes wasn’t.
But it does reinforce the feeling that Disney built an extraordinary Millennium Falcon environment around a ride system that never fully reaches hyperspace.
The Attraction Disney Fans Really Want
In many ways, Smugglers Run and Star Tours now feel like two halves of the perfect Star Wars attraction.
Smugglers Run has:
- The better queue
- The better setting
- The better emotional immersion
- The better vehicle
- The better sense of “being there”
Star Tours still has:
- The better motion system
- The better pacing
- The bigger thrills
- The stronger sensation of flight
- The more cinematic ride experience
Combine those two attractions together and Disney might finally have the definitive Millennium Falcon ride fans imagined all along.
Still, credit where it’s due: this new Mandalorian and Grogu mission is a meaningful improvement. It gives Smugglers Run more heart, more humor, and far more replay value than the original 2019 experience.
And after years of criticism, Disney finally seems to understand that guests don’t just want to operate the Millennium Falcon… They want to go on an unforgettable Star Wars adventure aboard it.
Discount Disneyland Tickets and Travel
Did you know you could get discount Disneyland tickets and travel from MiceChat’s approved sponsor? It’s true! You could save a bundle folks:
Discount Disneyland Tickets and travel – HERE
Let’s Hear From You
The new Mandalorian and Grogu mission looks like a substantial upgrade for Smugglers Run, adding more story, more destinations, and more reasons to ride again. But does it go far enough?
Are you excited about the new branching missions and updated gameplay, or do you still think Smugglers Run needs a more intense ride system to truly compete with Star Tours? And if Disney ever decided to completely overhaul the attraction, what would you want to see added or changed?
We’d love to hear your thoughts below. Especially from longtime Galaxy’s Edge fans who’ve been waiting for the Falcon to finally get a new mission.