A Disney World Imagineer Just Spilled New ‘Star Wars’ Ride Secrets

Something BIG has changed in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in both Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and we think every Star Wars fan is going to be pretty excited about it.

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run just got an updated version with a new story inspired by The Mandalorian and Grogu with new scenes, new interactions, and more. We recently had an opportunity to speak with an Imagineer about these updates, and we’re sharing some secrets about the ride with you.

We spoke with Morgan McDowell, a senior software project manager for Walt Disney Imagineering, who worked on this new version of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. The ride still has Hondo Ohnaka in the pre-show, and he’s now running a very “legitimate shipping business in Batuu.” Sure…. Anyway, during a smuggling mission, he’s been approached by some bounty hunters for a ship and crew. The ship is the Millennium Falcon, and the crew is you.

But this time, the mission has you working with Din Djarin and Grogu, and you get a chance to go to one of several new locations, meaning that the ride could change each time you get on it. McDowell talked about this new choice that the Engineer gets to make. “I think something I really enjoy about the attraction is that each of the three different bounties — or three different planets — that you can go to.” Basically, that means that each mission will be different, so you’ll want to ride the attraction multiple times.

During the new ride, the Engineer not only gets to decide the destination but also gets to communicate with Grogu throughout the experience. McDowell called this one of those “dream-fulfilling moments.” She said, “It’s that mindset that we put ourselves in, and that’s kind of how we weave in fun things, like being able to call Grogu during the mission.”

So one of the things we were most interested in about the new ride is the Easter eggs. We were told there are things that casual Star Wars fans might notice, but also things that hardcore fans will see. McDowell suggested that riders pay attention to the different signs on correspondence or neon signs.  You’ll also want to keep an eye out for familiar ships on Bespin, as well as familiar ships you might see in Coruscant.

McDowell said one of her favorite parts is when going through Coruscant, “you can go left, right, up, down, or whatever.” However, if you stay a little more to the left, you get to hear the cantina music. 

You’ll be able to see all these details for yourself when the new version of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run opens to the public on May 22nd. In the meantime, check back with AllEars again soon for more.

We Rode the NEW Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at Disney World, and We Have THOUGHTS

What do you think of these changes to the ride? Let us know in the comments!

Disclosure: We were invited by Disney to attend a media preview of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. This did not affect our reporting of the event — our opinions are our own.