When Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run opened at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, it was described as an interactive and immersive evolution of Star Tours. It turns out that comparison is more accurate than many would have guessed. Disney’s Imagineers originally designed Smugglers Run to have five unique missions, making each ride an unpredictable adventure.
The rumored multiple missions for Smugglers Run were confirmed in an article by the Wall Street Journal discussing Walt Disney Imagineering. The article discussed budgets and how ambitious projects were scaled back in recent years, including Smugglers Run.
A Millennium Falcon ride in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge was designed with five different missions, but opened with only one due to budget and time constraints. The other Star Wars attraction, called Rise of the Resistance, wasn’t ready when Galaxy’s Edge opened in 2019 and broke down frequently at first.
Wall Street Journal
Years later, Smugglers Run is finally rolling out some new missions at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Guests will be able to run missions to Bespin, Endor, or Coruscant with a new responsibility for the engineering role – hanging out with Grogu. The upcoming update aims to smooth out some of the common complaints about the ride, including the engineering position feeling underwhelming.
We’re excited to see how new missions add fresh life to Smugglers Run. After all, the big perk of screen-based attractions is the ability to update them and keep them relevant. That’s one of the reasons Star Tours is still enjoyable today after more than 35 years. Hopefully Disney plans to keep updating Smugglers Run for years to come.
