Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run will venture to three Star Wars planets first visited in the original film trilogy of the 1970s and ‘80s when the rebooted Disneyland ride embarks on a new adventure with the Mandalorian and Grogu.
The refreshed Smugglers Run motion simulator ride in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will visit Tatooine, Endor and Bespin when the updated attraction debuts on May 22, 2026 at the Anaheim theme park.
Concept art of the new adventure aboard Smugglers Run released by Walt Disney Imagineering shows a Sandcrawler on the desert planet of Tatooine, the Death Star disintegrating in orbit near the Endor moon and the Millennium Falcon racing toward the Cloud City of Bespin.
Tatooine is best known as a base for smugglers and a hive of scum and villainy in the original 1977 “Star Wars” movie. The harsh desert world on the Outer Rim of the Star Wars galaxy was once home to both Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker.
Endor is best known as the home of the Ewoks in 1983’s “Return of the Jedi.” The lush forest moon is where the Galactic Empire met its downfall and the site of Darth Vader’s funeral pyre.
Bespin is best known for its floating mining complexes that extract valuable gasses from deep within the Star Wars planet. Lando Calrissian was the administrator of Cloud City on the giant gas planet during 1980’s “Empire Strikes Back.”
The Star Wars galactic calendar marks time on either side of the attack on the Death Star, known as the Battle of Yavin. Dates fall before the Battle of Yavin (BBY) or after the universe-saving attack (ABY).
Galaxy’s Edge is currently set between 34 ABY when “The Last Jedi” takes place and 35 ABY when “The Rise of Skywalker” film is set.
“The Mandalorian” takes place in 9 ABY a few years after “The Return of the Jedi” — more than two decades before the current time period for Galaxy’s Edge.
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Disneyland has recently signaled that old school characters from the original Star Wars trilogy can now appear in Galaxy’s Edge. A young Luke Skywalker meet-and-greet character will appear during the Season of the Force seasonal event starting on March 28 at Disneyland.
That means Darth Vader, Han Solo and Obi-Wan Kenobi may soon be joining Luke Skywalker in the Black Spire Outpost village on the Star Wars planet of Batuu, the setting for the 14-acre themed land at the Anaheim theme park.
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Up until now, Galaxy’s Edge has been stubbornly stuck in the Star Wars timeline of the sequel trilogy between 2017’s “The Last Jedi” and 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker.”
The new Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run mission tied to the release of the “The Mandalorian and Grogu” film coming out on Memorial Day Weekend 2026 will be introduced on the twin rides at Disneyland and Disney Hollywood Studios in Florida.
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Imagineering and Lucasfilm have been working together to come up with a new mission for Smugglers Run that ties into the new film’s narrative.
Imagineers captured scenes on the movie set of “The Mandalorian and Grogu” that will be used in the updated Smugglers Run attractions.
“This isn’t going to retell what happens in the movie,” Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau said at SXSW in Austin. “It’s more like participating in something that’s happening just off-camera from what you see in the film.”
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Star Wars creative executive Dave Filoni told the crowd at the D23 fan event in Anaheim in August that the Epic Games Unreal Engine used to create the virtual sets for “The Mandalorian” television show on Disney+ will also be used to update the Smugglers Run attractions in the Galaxy’s Edge themed lands.
“Just imagine it,” Filoni said during D23. “You’ll be able to fly alongside Mando and Grogu on thrilling and dangerous missions.”
The digital nature of the Millennium Falcon ride at Disneyland will let Walt Disney Imagineering change the storyline of the Star Wars attraction from a Smugglers Run to a Mandalorian Mission with a simple flip of a switch.