Pilot, Gunner, or Engineer? How to Master the New Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run on May 22

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is getting a major upgrade at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disneyland park on May 22, 2026, with new Mandalorian and Grogu missions and three branching destinations — Bespin, Coruscant, or the Second Death Star wreckage above Endor. This guide breaks down every seat and how to maximize the crew’s score.

Beginning May 22, 2026, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is getting its biggest overhaul since the attraction opened — and the cockpit you board at either Disney's Hollywood Studios or Disneyland park will feel meaningfully different. New missions, new planetary destinations, and an updated dynamic with The Mandalorian and Grogu mean that picking your seat — pilot, gunner, or engineer — matters more than ever.

From the moment Hondo Ohnaka recruits your crew inside Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, the goal is simple: track down elusive bounties amid high-speed chaos and collect valuable optional crates for Hondo. The updated experience layers in Din Djarin and Grogu alongside that core loop, with new branching destinations that meaningfully change what every seat ends up doing.

Pilots: Steer the Falcon, Dodge Danger, Punch It

Pilot seats are the dream for anyone who has imagined themselves as Han or Chewie. The mission depends on the two pilots working as a single brain — dodging obstacles, evading TIE fighters, and keeping the ship intact while gunners and engineers do their respective jobs.

Left Pilot

The left pilot controls the ship's left-to-right motion, which is everything when it comes to keeping a smooth flight path and lining gunners up with incoming targets. A nearby boost button helps you accelerate past walls, towers, canyon obstacles, and other ships — collisions cost credits, so steady steering is more lucrative than aggressive flying.

Right Pilot

The right pilot handles vertical motion: push forward to descend, pull back to climb. The right pilot also makes the jump to hyperspace, which means quick reactions and sharp reflexes pay off here more than anywhere else in the cockpit.

It may feel like complete control, but success is a coordination problem. As the script goes: traveling through hyperspace is a little more complicated than dusting crops in this galaxy.

Gunners: Defend the Ship, Boost the Score

Choosing Automatic or Manual Mode

Each gunner picks a targeting mode at the start by pressing buttons on the pad to your side. In automatic mode, targets are tracked both horizontally and vertically — you just keep pressing the primary fire button to spit bursts of five at incoming TIE fighters. This is the friendly mode for young flyers and first-timers.

In manual mode, horizontal tracking is still automatic, but each gunner picks between three vertical targeting zones (high / middle / low) using separate buttons. It's higher skill, higher score — ideal for veterans who want to flex.

One running theme: Hondo wants the Falcon back in near-perfect shape. Take every accurate shot you can get, because beat-up returns will leave Hondo grumbling at Docking Bay 5.

Engineers: Pick the Destination, Call Grogu, Snag the Cargo

Engineers had the smallest role in the original ride. In the updated mission they get the most expanded responsibility. From the back row of the cockpit, the left and right engineers track enemy ships, choose the destination, collect cargo, repair the ship — and keep tabs on Grogu.

Before takeoff, Hondo cuts a deal with the New Republic: deliver the coordinates of the bounties in exchange for any cargo the crew collects. As your crew of six follows Hondo's coordinates to three high-value bounties on Tatooine, the Mandalorian and Grogu cross your path. Your job becomes swiping illegal goods while Mando captures the bounties.

An Engineer's Job Is Never Done

When things go sideways, engineers carry the mid-mission decisions:

• Call Grogu: Click the call-icon button to ping Grogu aboard the Razor Crest.
• Repair the Ship: Buttons light up when the Falcon takes damage — hit them quickly to keep the flight smooth.

Once the action splits, one engineer launches homing beacons at all three bounty ships. The other follows one of those beacons to lock in the crew's next destination, directly shaping the rest of the mission. After the jump, the two engineers work as a pair to grab up to six crates of cargo (three max per side) using the masher button when the tractor beam alert sounds.

Soar Through the Skies of Bespin

If engineers pick Bespin, the crew arrives just outside Cloud City to pursue an Imperial officer in a Zeta-class Shuttle. The route demands dodging freighters carrying massive Tibanna gas canisters and weaving around tug-ships through hazy skies. Gunners stay especially busy here — TIE fighters swarm and the environment is highly destructible. Bespin is far from Tatooine, which translates to a longer, more coordination-heavy mission.

Dodge TIE Fighters Amid Coruscant City Lights

Pick Coruscant and you'll arrive above the bustling Uscru Entertainment District at night. The crew chases an Imperial officer in a Sentinel Assault Shuttle through dense civilian traffic, weaving through illuminated skyscrapers, ducking into tunnels, and dodging TIE fighter fire. Engineers stay busy grabbing crates while pilots try to keep the Falcon running smoothly under the city's glow. Expect an unexpected mid-mission turn that demands a key-system reboot — stay alert for allies who can help guide you back to Batuu.

Escape the Wreckage of the Second Death Star Above Endor

The third destination drops the Falcon into the debris field surrounding the forest moon of Endor, where the shattered remains of the Second Death Star loom in twisted metal and wreckage. The bounty here is a Trandoshan pirate hiding among the fragments — including pieces of a fallen Star Destroyer. Pilots need to thread a tight, cluttered environment for an experience the cast describes as "creating your very own Trench Run." Halfway through, the gunners take center stage when the crew has to rescue Mando and Grogu from a rogue tractor beam by firing a well-timed torpedo.

Complete Your Mission and See What's Inside the Crates

Whichever route engineers chose, the mission ends with the right pilot punching it back into hyperspace and the Falcon touching down on Batuu. Mando and Grogu have secured one of the bounties — keep an eye on the hangar bay for the carbonite gas spilling out of the Razor Crest as they lock it in.

Inside, Hondo tallies your crew's performance and calls out how many crates you successfully recovered. The reveals can range from shipments of galactic credits to Kyber Crystals to baby Rancors. Each haul affects your cabin score, and individual seat performance is added up — the elusive Employee of the Month recognition is reserved for elite crews who land the high score.

What This Means for Disney Fans

The May 22 overhaul is a much deeper version of Smugglers Run than the linear adventure that opened with Galaxy's Edge in 2019. Branching destinations, expanded engineer agency, and the day-and-date connection to Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu in theaters mean repeat rides will play out differently — which is the entire pitch. Whether you're a left-pilot perfectionist, a manual-mode gunner chasing the high score, or an engineer routing the crew toward Coruscant for the third time, the new attraction is built for guests who want to keep flying.