Star Wars fans will want to plan a trip to Galaxy’s Edge in Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort from 22 May 2026 onwards. More details on the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride were shared during the Walt Disney Imagineering panel at Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025 over the Easter weekend. The launch of the ride’s update concides with the highly anticipated theatrical release of The Mandalorian & Grogu too, which falls on 22 May 2026 as well.
During the panel, Imagineers Anisha Deshmane, Michael Serna and Matt Martin from Lucasfilm spoke about the creative development behind current and future Star Wars projects at Disney parks and resorts around the world. More importantly, they shed some light on what fans can expect from the update to Galaxy’s Edge’s Millennium Falcon ride.
For the first time ever, the crew will be in control of their own destination, and they can choose to head to the Cloud City of Bespin, the wreckage of the second Death Star floating above Endor, and the bustling city-planet Coruscant. Additionally, new gameplay will be added to the engineer crew positions, giving them the ability to communicate with Grogu during the mission. The engineer will be able to trigger reactions and interactions, which is a whole lot better than simply pressing buttons as they light up.
The new thrilling storyline featuring The Mandalorian and Grogu will have Hondo Ohnaka get wind of a deal going down on Tatooine between ex-Imperial officers and a band of pirates. There’s a generous bounty for their capture, so you’ll borrow the iconic ship and team up with Mando and Grogu to track them down and explore the galaxy across one of three destinations of your choice. The ride’s visual technology and gameplay system is all built on Unreal Engine 5 by Epic Games which are the same tools Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) uses on the Disney+ show, The Mandalorian.
The updated ride experience for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run will launch simultaneously with The Mandalorian & Grogu at Disneyland Resort (LA) and Walt Disney World Resort’s (Orlando) Galaxy’s Edge on 22 May 2026.
Yonk is a geek who is fortunate enough to have an equally geeky Star Wars fan for a wife, who owns a LEGO Millennium Falcon encased in a glass coffee table as their home’s centre-piece.
Natalie
