A big change is coming soon to Galaxy’s Edge in Hollywood Studios and Disneyland Park! Since Disney originally announced the new storyline and mission coming to the Millennium Falcon ride, they have been gradually revealing more and more about this new experience. Now, as part of the most recent episode of “We Call It Imagineering” on YouTube, Disney has shared some more details about how they are bringing this new version to life.
Keep reading for all of the details! At Mickey Visit, we cover all of the latest Disney news, like new Disneyland Resort ride closures added to the refurbishment list and the reveal of a new Olaf robotics figure for the World of Frozen lands.
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Behind the Scenes of Millennium Falcon Ride Changes
Credit: Walt Disney Imagineering; Artist Concept Only
Disney previously shared that there would be a new storyline coming to the Millennium Falcon featuring the Mandalorian and Grogu. During this new experience, guests will have the opportunity to visit several iconic locations from the Star Wars universe.
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After you take off from Batuu and go to Tatooine, the crew will get to choose the next destination between three new locations: Bespin, Endor, and Coruscant. The engineer position will also be getting some improvements and expanded gameplay, including the ability to communicate with Grogu throughout the mission. The new mission will debut alongside the release of the upcoming The Mandalorian and Grogu feature film on May 22, 2026.
Credit: Walt Disney Imagineering; Artist Concept Only
The new episode of “We Call It Imagineering,” which focuses on “how Disney uses robotics, AI, and immersive technology to bring stories to life,” touched on the new changes coming.
Bruce Vaughn, President & Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Imagineering, shared, “It will actually be better quality. Real time, so that the interactivity and agency of the guests can actually be greatly improved but include scenes, characters, places that will come out with this new movie.”
Asa Kalama, Executive Creative & Interactive Experiences at Walt Disney Imagineering, shared a little bit about how they are creating the worlds of this new experience. The ride is powered by Unreal Engine, and Disney works closely with Epic Games to make sure that the effects you get on a single screen can work across multiple monitors for the ride.
Credit: Walt Disney Imagineering; Artist Concept Only
Kalama describes that “The Mandalorian leverages a lot of 3D models. They actually play them back in real time on set. We were able to take those unreal models directly from production and bring them in to our version of unreal for the attraction, so instead of having to create all of those assets from scratch, we’re essentially able to go shopping from this library of existing assets, which allows us to not only bring the story to life much faster than ever before, but also guarantee that it’s 100% authentic, because it’s exactly the same asset that you’d see onscreen.”
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We’re really excited to see this new version of the ride. It seems like these changes will really up the stakes of the experience and feel much more immersive than the existing storyline.
The changes also tap much more into the emotion of the Star Wars fanbase with the inclusion of the Mandalorian and Grogu (who have become beloved characters since they were first introduced) and more iconic, recognizable locations from across the Star Wars universe.
We do not yet have a date when this ride will close to implement the new changes, but we do not anticipate this will be very long before the new change debuts. You can see our full discussion of when Disneyland’s new rides will open here.
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