New Mandalorian & Baby Yoda Mission for Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run
Disney and Lucasfilm have announced a new story for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland. This post shares details, concept art, and everything we know about the change–plus our tried and true commentary about why Star Wars land needs to break the rules.
This news was announced during the “Horizons: Disney Experiences Showcase” or Parks Panel presentation during the 2024 D23 Expo at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro offered a sneak peek at concept art for the future in addition and teased what was to come in a few years.
This was just one of several blockbuster announcements for Parks & Resorts at Horizons, during which D’Amaro revealed several ‘shovel to soil’ projects that will come online in the next 5 years, including over a half-dozen additions that will debut before the end of 2025. He and head Imagineer Bruce Vaughn followed through on their promise to deliver concrete details and not just tease more ‘Blue Sky’ possibilities.
This announcement weirdly came during a Fortnite portion of the presentation, when almost no one was paying attention. Well, except for the 1 million kids who were watching the livestream from within Fortnite. But as far as the adults in the room go, not a whole lot of interest.
In any case, Star Wars creative executive Dave Filoni joined a bunch of other Fortnite folks onstage to discuss the upcoming addition to the attraction in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort. As Dave explained, the Lucasfilm team uses Epic’s Unreal Engine to create some of the virtual sets for “The Mandalorian.”
Now, with the expanded partnership between Disney and Epic Games, Epic’s Unreal Engine will help bring to life the latest adventure in a galaxy far, far away. When the upcoming “The Mandalorian and Grogu” movie blasts off in theaters in 2026, it will also touch down at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. A brand-new story featuring Mando and his youngling is coming to Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run.
“The intersection of storytelling and innovation has always been central to Lucasfilm and we’re excited to see where this collaboration will take us next,” Dave told the crowd. “Just imagine it: you’ll be able to fly alongside Mando and Grogu on thrilling, and dangerous, missions.”
Expect to see this new mission jump to lightspeed when “The Mandalorian and Grogu” hits the big screen in 2026. This is the way.
Turning to commentary, I feel like I “get” to pat myself on the back a little here, especially after the debacle where I bet against the Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster, which will now be added (nearby?) in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. In this case, I first said that Disney should look at acquiring a video game studio, as it was a major blind spot for the company. Then they acquired a stake in Fortnite, after which I suggested that Disney should use the partnership to update attractions and better ‘gameify’ future ones. Then this happened.
More importantly, I have consistently and repeatedly been advocating for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge to have a soft reboot. I’m not going to rehash all of that here, but the bottom line is that I’d like to see Batuu break the sacred timeline and use the setting of the land as a jumping off point for new adventures. (See Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Needs to Break the Rules for my take on all of that.)
A soft reboot of the Star Wars land would be an opportunity to introduce beloved characters, use the catwalks in the land for mini-shows, and make the land more lived-in thanks to droids and additional performers. They could also doing a test run of a dinner show in Starcruiser at Walt Disney World for a future purpose-built venue in the land. All of this would breathe new life into the land and help it finally realize its full potential.
As things currently stand, Millennium Falcon is arguably the third place Star Wars ride. Rise of the Resistance is the clear #1. And every time I do Star Tours, I’m reminded of how good it is. I’ve really enjoyed all of the additions over the years, which keep it relevant and fresh.
I love Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and think it’s a better overall experience from start to finish, but the ride portion of Star Tours blows it away. Imagine how great Smugglers Run could be if it combined the settings of Star Tours with the interactivity and complete package of the Millennium Falcon?!
Instead, Smugglers Run is the Star Wars equivalent of working for UPS. (For those who enjoy deliveryman simulators, might I suggest Death Stranding?) Heck, the asteroid field delay scene is better than the actual core gameplay of Smugglers Run! Point being, this attraction has so much unrealized potential, and a more compelling mission could be a complete gamechanger–elevating Galaxy’s Edge as a whole along with it.
To be totally honest, I thought a new mission for Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run was a bit of an unrealistic dream. Even though it would move the needle more than anything else on that list, I assume it would be the most expensive thing to accomplish, and would be cost-prohibitive until the ride were at least a decade old. I’m very pleased to see it’ll get a new mission sooner, and featuring fan-favorite characters Mandalorian and Baby Yoda.
This reassures me that the other entries on that list also have a realistic chance of changing within the next 2 years (it was a jam-packed presentation, so it’s no surprise more granular details might’ve been skipped over). It’s also reassuring that maybe Disney is listening to guest feedback about Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and acting accordingly. To be clear, this is not me taking a victory lap or credit for the change. Right below the ‘soft reboot’ for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge on my D23 Expo wishlist was ‘more Muppets’ and, well, that doesn’t appear to be going so well.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Are you excited to see the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda in Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run? Do you hope the new mission is actually exciting? Do you think Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge should break its own rules or stick to the fixed timeline and story? What about Darth Vader and other original trilogy characters? Think Galaxy’s Edge should focus on fun, canon, or a mix of both? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I guess I get your desire for more interactive storylines, but I dislike this news. The real attraction of Smugglers Run for me is that I am driving the Millennium Falcon. Mando and Grogu do not belong on the Falcon. Period.
Hi Tom,
Thank you for all the updates and great information. Much exciting news!! I love all of your Star Wars Land ideas! Keep up the great work!
I still think they should split the land. Keep the upper part with Rise Batuu and the sequels but make the lower portion Tatooine with the original characters. You could move the meet and greets with Darth and Chewie to this section and free up the space from the Animation Courtyard. You could replace the Tie Fighter that doesn’t exist in any of the shows with one that does and just put the round dish on the Falcon. People would excuse the Mandalorian being there without a problem especially with Grogu. People overlook a lot for Grogu. The Cantina makes much more sense if it’s Tatooine as that is the Cantina we all know. The open air market could be the transition zone. We suspend time travel in our minds at MK when moving through the lands why couldn’t we here? I get that it’s two different planets and two different timelines but Batuu is made up anyhow. Nobody has really bought into the Batuu thing. You don’t see the new Monsters Inc. being built in some city we never saw in the movies. You won’t see the villains in some place they didn’t show in the movies. Toy Story Land is Andy’s back yard not Chris who lived down the street and we never heard of in the movies back yard. Universal knew that people wanted to visit the places they know from the Harry Potter books. This whole “make your own adventure” is not what people wanted in the first place. Here’s an easy way to give people a choice. The top is Batuu and the bottom is Tatooine. You can visit a place you’ve seen before and loved or visit a place that isn’t in any of the lore, your choice. And it wouldn’t even be that expensive of a change. Would be the perfect time to do it when you launch the new ride.
I love the Original Trilogy as much as anyone over 35 does…but I don’t think Florida could ever pass for Tatooine. The illusion would be broken every time it rains, which is almost every day.
I still think they should split the land and make the area with Rise Batu and make everything on the lower level Tatooine. The top portion can be the sequ
To clarify, is this going to be a replacement of the current incarnation of the ride or is it going to be like Star Tours where you don’t know which version you will get?
Same question here!
Thank you for this Tom! I had not seen this news anywhere in my social media feed this morning. And I’m also so impressed by how much content and coverage you have IMMEDIATELY after the announcements! You must not have slept!
Really curious HOW they’ll handle this. I wonder if they’ll replace Hondo to streamline the story, or if he’s still going to be part of it. I could see it going either way. I also wonder if the engineers are still going to have to fire the harpoons, or if they’ll get a different job.
Woke up this morning to tons of new content from DTB, once again proving you are the best out there Tom! You have obviously been working 24/7 covering D23. You had said this D23 would be different from the typical Blue Sky announcements and you certainly were correct!
After reading all of your headlines, I had to choose this post to read first. So excited for this upgrade to happen! You’ve been spot on with your ideas over the last few years of utilizing Galaxy’s Edge differently and I have read the previous post you referenced above several times. I often refer to it when talking with other people about how things could (and should) be in the land that has such a huge draw but that could be put to much better use. You often compare Disneyland’s version to WDW’s and I am envious to how the Cali version isn’t as beholden to canon. (We’ve never been to Disneyland.) It will be interesting to see how they roll it out. Each simulator reprogrammed one by one or shut half down for limited capacity or all at once? I wonder if the pre show will have to be completely different or just overdub Tanaka with a different storyline. Anyway, very excited to spend the next couple hours (and days) digesting all of these new announcements and your takes on all of them.
Oh and your mention of Star Tours was right on the money. It is the best. We loop it so many times every trip! We were there in March and missed the addition of the new scenes including Mando and Asoka storylines by a couple weeks. We will be back in 10 days for my wife’s birthday trip, ready to loop it a bunch to catch all the new scenes. Also gonna do Chewbacca mode on the Falcon. Haven’t gotten a cast member that would do it for us yet.
Anyway, keep up the excellent work, Tom. And send our thanks to Sarah and the baby for sharing you a bit more lately.
If smuggling things is illegal UPS, then will smuggling Baby Yoda be an illegal bus route?
Smuggling anything is boring until Things Go Horribly Wrong, WDW cliche #8.
My 9yo’s favorite ride is that UPS Delivery ride. Seriously she loves it. A new story will help for adults, but not for kids – Disney needs to remember the rating of that show! Little kids won’t have seen it! But they all know about “baby yoda” so I think they’ll be into it if it requires no real background knowledge of the show.
The Fortnite presentation worked. It had my teenagers talking about “this D23 thing have you ever heard of it Mom?”
@Emily, My son was harassing me to help him find his Switch for an unnamed Fortnite event. I helped, but half-heartedly, and he missed the login time. After reading this post I demanded, “Why didn’t you TELL me this was for D23?? I would have ripped the house apart to find your Switch!” lol!