Disneyland has long had games in its parks, from a shooting range in Frontierland to what is essentially a collection of mini video games in Disney California Adventure’s Toy Story Midway Mania. Also, if you’re not versed in video games, prepare for an unstable ride.Thrill seekers, then, may want to steer the Falcon straight into asteroids, but if you bang up the ship too bad it will become clear to the video game engine driving Smugglers Run that you’re not fit to control it. But you have to be really, really bad: Of my three rides this afternoon, all part of the grand media unveiling of Galaxy’s Edge, only once did Ohnaka chime in to say that Chewbacca was taking control of the ship remotely.Honestly, on that mission I was glad the system took over. While the Falcon does not utilize a video game controller — think giant flashing buttons and levers — it does, at least when it comes to piloting, use standard flight and video game control schemes. The good news is this so-called “hunk of junk” is fast and responsive, which, of course, “Star Wars” fans know because it completed the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs. And if you’re able to steer clear of obstacles, it appears the challenges will ramp up. On one relatively smooth flight, we ended up dodging and mostly demolishing a Star Destroyer.Thus, Smugglers Run is a ride that warrants repeat visits.

My guess is that it will take at least two runs to get a firm grasp of the controls, but if you’re playing with a group of five friends, that shouldn’t matter. Pilots will be yelling at engineers to push the buttons to fix the ship and engineers will be yelling at gunners to push the buttons to destroy enemy TIE Fighters.This is, in all honesty, a blast — an immersive, theme park equivalent of the zaniness that is the brilliantly ridiculous mobile game “Spaceteam.” But expect to be in a group that’s mixed and matched with strangers. When I rode the ride — or controlled the Falcon, rather — with strangers, I found myself too restrained to shout orders and wished there was a way to unhook my seat belt and show the pilot that pushing forward was continually destroying our ship.That all being said, this ride is detailed. Mess up, and expect to receive a lecture and walk through an exit in which the ship’s hallway is bursting with static and alerts. Succeed, and see a more jokey video with Ohnaka noting we brought back some as-yet-unidentified creatures to the Galaxy’s Edge planet of Batuu. A view of merchandise for sale at the Droid Depot inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)Both, honestly, were fulfilling.

Disney has promised that your success or failure on the ride will follow you throughout the Batuu city of Black Spire Outpost, but even at this press event it’s still unclear how this will happen. A cast member, speaking reluctantly to a member of the media, said this functionality will live at Disneyland on the Play Disney Parks app (the app’s full functionality was not available during the media preview).The belly of the Falcon will be an Instagrammer’s paradise, where guests will crowd around a holographic chess table. No holograms, but Luke Skywalker’s Jedi training materials can be spotted, as can multiple porg nests. Additionally, there are games to discover while waiting to enter the cockpit. Don’t expect a traditional queue in the moments before boarding, as visitors are allowed to enjoy photo opps or try to trigger some of the unexpected surprises in the ship.Also impressive is the Ohnaka animatronic — and quite frankly the amount of animatronics present throughout Galaxy’s Edge.

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The story goes that Chewbacca has lent Ohnaka the Falcon for his questionable smuggling runs in return for some supplies to help the resistance, but it’s clear that was a bad idea as we make our way through the line. Once inside Ohnaka’s warehouse-like shipping center, we’ll walk up what appear to be rusty ramps and see a smattering of run-down equipment, droids and a ship that stutters and stops as it tries to power up. The audio will fill in the backstory of the place, as we’ll listen to Ohnaka’s workers fight with one another, along with alerts that Stormtroopers are coming by for an inspection.A couple of particularly choice details include a “Star Wars” radio, which looks like a cross between a child’s toy and a ’70s subwoofer, and a preboarding video with graphics that look to be a nod to the early-’80s “Star Wars” coin-op.Just make sure you come ready to play.

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at Disney's Hollywood Studios Walt Disney World Resort Fly the Millennium Falcon on a thrilling interactive smuggling mission—new at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The new land plays host to several unique experiences including the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride. The ride's story is about businessman and smuggler Hondo Ohnaka and his need for a crew to.

“Star Wars” fans who have been dreaming of flying the Millennium Falcon for four decades will get the chance to climb into the cockpit and pilot the famed starship on coming to the Galaxy’s Edge themed land at Disneyland.But how do you actually fly the Falcon after you’ve taken your seat in one of the pilot, gunner or flight engineer positions? Riders will enter the Smugglers Run ride queue through Ohnaka Transport Solutions, a shady shipping operation run by Hondo Ohnaka, a dreadlocked space pirate with six tusk-like chin protrusions.

Riders will receive their smuggling mission from an audio-animatronic Hondo before moving into the hold of the Millennium Falcon and eventually the cockpit of Han Solo’s famed YT-1300 light freighter.The Smugglers Run ride experience begins and ends in Black Spire Outpost, with the the hangar bay of Ohnaka Transport Solutions projected on a domed screen outside the cockpit windows of the flight simulator.Six riders will take their seats with the pilots up front, gunners in the middle and flight engineers in the rear. All of the buttons, switches and knobs in the cockpit make clicking, chirping and beeping sounds when activated and their implementation directly impacts each mission.“This is an experience that’s all about touching buttons, playing with buttons. It is highly, highly encouraged,” said Walt Disney Imagineering executive creative director Asa Kalama. “Now, you need to be careful because the buttons already duct into the very systems of the Millennium Falcon. Depending on what you push it might have the desired effect or an unintended consequence.”So which of the 200 buttons, knobs and switches should you be pushing, turning and toggling? “The one that’s flashing,” said Walt Disney Imagineering producer Jacqueline King.Each button will light up to indicate when to push it. The pilot yokes will have lights indicating which direction to fly: Up, down, left or right.

More on Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.Steering the ship left and right is the responsibility of the pilot sitting in the front left seat. The pilot in the front right seat will guide the ship up and down and pull back the throttle lever to make the jump to hyperspace.“We have our pilots up front,” Kalama said. “It is truly up to them to pilot the ship. Depending on how they do, that will determine the overall physical health of the ship.”The gunners in the middle seats are responsible for pushing an array of buttons that fire the Millennium Falcon’s weapons systems.“Because we are a smuggling operation, chances are we may come up against folks who are not too happy about what we are up to,” Kalama said. “It will be up to the gunners in the middle to provide defense for the Millennium Falcon. If they don’t line up the TIE fighters fast enough, the hull is going to get riddled and the ship is going to shake violently.”The gunners have a simple yet essential job: Keep firing the blasters.“You’re going to keep firing them and take out anything that you meet along the way,” King said.The flight engineers in the rear seats are responsible for getting the Falcon back into working condition after an accident or attack.“There are a lot of spires in Black Spire Outpost,” Kalama said.

“If you run into one and the pilots don’t steer out of the way, the ship’s going to crash into them. Warning alarms are going to go off and it’ll be up to the flight engineers in the back to make sure that they keep the ship in working order.”The flight engineers play a vital role: Keep the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy flying.“The pilots are bumping into things,” King said.

“The ship is coming apart because she’s always coming apart to some degree. Your job is really to help keep her running. You’ve got to keep all the systems going so that you can make it to the end.”Smugglers Run is set up to encourage each flight crew to work together as a team throughout the mission.“Everybody gets their own role,” King said.

“You can play your own game even though you’re part of a larger team. We hope for a lot of collaboration between everybody, because that will overall make everybody more successful.”But the video game-like attraction also keeps track of each rider’s success and failure during the mission.“You get to compete against yourself, especially if you play multiple times,” King said. “You’ll know how well you did last time. This time if you took out more TIEs, you did better.”. Sign up for our and find out what’s new and interesting every week at Southern California’s theme parks.Your reputation as a pilot, gunner or flight engineer will stick with you during subsequent visits to Galaxy’s Edge.“We do want it to feel like a consequential act,” Kalama said. “Flying the ship cleanly and beautifully or smashing it to the point where it’s on fire is something that people would know about and talk about it.”Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run debuts at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge on May 31 at Disneyland and Aug.

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