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Old 29 Aug 19, 02:53 PM  
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My Top 5 Things to Love about Smugglers Run at Star War's Galaxy's Edge

As Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disney's Hollywood Studios opens to the Public today 29 August, here are my top 5 things I love about the new ride on planet Batuu - Smugglers Run.



Please Note: - This Post Contains Spoilers


At number 5 - As you approach the ride area you can't help to be amazed at the life sized Millennium Falcon that presents itself to you. Even if you are not a Star Wars fan, the Millennium Falcon sitting within the backdrop of the spires of Batuu and level of detail incorporated in to this life sized model is just staggering. It doesn't matter how long you examine the fine details of the Millennium Falcon, from the intricate pipe work to the burnt and damaged panels sustained from enemy fire, next time you look at it you'll see something that you didn't see before.

At number 4 - Nobody enjoys standing in line right, but if you want to experience a very popular ride then unfortunately it's unavoidable. Fortunately, Disney has got very good at designing queue lines so that the pain of waiting and moving slowly towards the front is lessened somewhat and the Smugglers Run queue is no exception.

When you first enter the standard queue line it first meanders around the rear of the Millennium Falcon which gives guests a really good close look at the detail of the ship that can't be seen from anywhere else. As it continues its course guests will see many props and items from Star Wars films. Eventually the queue passes some windows on a higher level which give allow guests to view the Millennium Falcon from above, you can see that the level of detail here is just as impressive as it is from the ground.

One of the things guests can do whilst in the queue is play a game that Disney has incorporated. Before you even enter the queue load up the Star Wars 'Data Pad' part of the Play Disney Parks app. To begin just tap the Millennium Falcon shaped icon on the animated park map. You will have a scavenger hunt to complete which requires you to be standing in a certain place within the queue to complete each section.


At number 3 - Towards the latter part of the queue guests are ushered in to a waiting area. This area is where guests get to meet Hondo Ohnaka. Hondo is arguably one of Disney's best created animatronics using A-1000 advanced robotics with custom built elements to create a very lifelike recreation of the space pirate previously seen in the animated Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels.

Hondo gives you the run-down on your mission - to acquire a supply of the hyperfuel known as coaxium from Han Solo's homeworld of Corellia. Keep an eye on the area behind Hondo as he is briefing you and you'll get a breathtaking view of the Millennium Falcon landing in the docking bay.



At number 2 - After you have exited from the Hondo stage area and traversed a short tunnel 6 guests are called forward and randomly given a card each, these cards determine your role on the ride. You are then shown in to a waiting area that is unlike any other queue waiting area. This area is a recreation of the Millennium Falcon's Lounge and serves as the Pre Launch area.

You can linger and explore the lounge until your group is called forward by the colour on the cards you were given. Whilst in the lounge get to know the others in your group also don't miss an opportunity to take a selfie at the 'Holochess Table' (Dejarik table). You'll find lots of props from the films scattered around the lounge.

In this video we were assigned the role of Engineers.


And at number 1 - Smugglers Run is a great ride no matter where you are seated and what role you are assigned. Having experienced the ride in all three roles, Engineer, Gunner and Pilot, for me the Pilot role gives the better experience.

Taking control of the Millennium Falcon as the Pilot means you you are at the front so you get full view out of the cockpit and you get to fly the ship, left and right if you are the lefthand pilot and up and down if you are the righthand pilot. If you are the pilot in the righthand seat you also get to throw the lever that jumps the Millennium Falcon into lightspeed.

As the Engineer and Gunner I felt that the constant need to press flashing buttons detracted from the whole flight experience. The buttons are placed to the side so it takes your view away from the cockpit screens. I found myself watching the screens through the cockpit windows and then just mashing the buttons to my side without really looking, just so I could experience what was happening in front.

As the Pilot you are fully immersed in the action, as you move your levers the ship moves, you are actually flying the ship and you do this whilst maintaining a forward position looking through the cockpit windows in to the action in front of you.

The Ride is fun whatever position you are in but for me it seems that the Engineers and Gunners are just passengers and they are given some flashing buttons to push to make it seem more interactive for them.

This video we recorded from the Engineers seat.


DIBB bit:-
If the Queue to Smugglers run reaches the entrance to the ride then it takes roughly 60 minutes queue time before you get to ride, may be less depending on how the line is configured.

Instead of a traditional ride film, the Millennium Falcon ride film was developed by Lucasfilm's immersive entertainment studio as a real-time rendered experience in partnership with NVIDIA and Epic Games.

To give a realistic experience for the riders the ride uses 5 QuadroSync projectors to display a ultra high resolution image on the screens. The film runs on the Unreal Engine found in many top end games and is powered by 8 NVIDIA Quadro P6000 Graphics Processor Units.
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Old 30 Aug 19, 09:09 AM  
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Thanks for the review. GE sounds great and I'm hoping we get to experience flying in the Millennium Falcon when we visit next year - fingers crossed for the pilot spot!
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Old 30 Aug 19, 09:30 AM  
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Stu do you know how many people the whole of GE will hold
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Old 30 Aug 19, 09:43 AM  
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Sounds amazing.
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Old 30 Aug 19, 10:06 AM  
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Originally Posted by disney20042012 View Post
Stu do you know how many people the whole of GE will hold
Unfortunately not and Disney won't release the numbers.
It's hard to estimate as when you are in a crowd 100 people can easily look like a thousand.

What I can say is that in California on opening day and when we visited again a week later was that we found people didn't stay in Galaxy's Edge for a prolonged time.

Galaxy'y Edge as a whole is a definite WOW moment when you enter and wander around the land, the theming is on another level even if you are not a Star Wars Fan (I'm not a SW Fan), however once you have taken in the scenery, done the ride, looked around the shops, been in the Cantina, tasted the Blue/Green Milk you are probably going to move on to other parts of the park rather than linger.

There is a lot to do in GE if you use the Play App on the phone, lots of things to Hack, Scan and digitally collect.

Simon and I are doing a Media trip between 8-15 Sept so we will be able to see what the footfall is like after the first week of opening.
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Old 30 Aug 19, 10:18 AM  
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Be interesting to see your media trip and thoughts.
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Old 30 Aug 19, 02:15 PM  
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Sounds fantastic
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Old 31 Aug 19, 12:02 PM  
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Thanks Stu, looks amazing. I'm fully committed to fighting all comers to get the right hand side pilot seat. No quarter asked, none given haha.
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Old 10 Sep 19, 02:51 PM  
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Originally Posted by Stu View Post
Unfortunately not and Disney won't release the numbers.
It's hard to estimate as when you are in a crowd 100 people can easily look like a thousand.

What I can say is that in California on opening day and when we visited again a week later was that we found people didn't stay in Galaxy's Edge for a prolonged time.

Galaxy'y Edge as a whole is a definite WOW moment when you enter and wander around the land, the theming is on another level even if you are not a Star Wars Fan (I'm not a SW Fan), however once you have taken in the scenery, done the ride, looked around the shops, been in the Cantina, tasted the Blue/Green Milk you are probably going to move on to other parts of the park rather than linger.

There is a lot to do in GE if you use the Play App on the phone, lots of things to Hack, Scan and digitally collect.

Simon and I are doing a Media trip between 8-15 Sept so we will be able to see what the footfall is like after the first week of opening.
I'll wave if I see you. We're flying out tomorrow and will think about visiting GE - we have a ressie at Oga's Cantina but not sure about queueing for the ride.
I'm guessing it's pretty stomach churny for those who struggle with Pandora?

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