Difference between revisions of "Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run"

Revision as of 19:09, 11 April 2020

Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run is an attraction in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge in Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Attraction History

The attraction that would eventually become Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run, was initially announced at the 2015 D23 Expo along with the rest of Disney's planned Star Wars Land. At thistime, details of the attraction were not revealed, however it was made public that the new land would feature an attraction that woud allow guests, "to take the controls of one of the most recognizable ships in the galaxy, the Millennium Falcon, on a customized secret mission" ^[1]

When Disney set out to create what would eventually be known as Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, they knew that they needed the Millennium Falcon to be a centerpiece of the new land ^[2]. The fact that the ship had become an iconic character in the franchise's lore, combined with the ability to fulfill guest's fantasy of actually piloting the vessel, made it a natural fit.

In order to turn visor's dreams into reality, Imagineers wanted to create a fully interactive experience that put guests in control of the Falcon. According to Imagineer Steve Goddard, this presented a unique set of challenges:

It’s a completely interactive game, which is a big technology jump for us because that means we’re rendering everything with real-time graphics, real-time motion cues. It’s not something that we’ve done before....When we started this, the technology for doing our rendering of graphics didn’t even exist. We’re filling an enormous screen with theatrical quality graphics in real time, and that technology didn’t exist when we started. So we found ourselves just kind of looking over the horizon, trying to figure out what’s going to be there when we need it, and what isn’t there, that’s what we’re going to invent" ^[3]

In the end, the attraction that Imagineers created was part motion simulator, part video game. Due to the interactive nature of the attraction, there are thousands of possible ride combinations, as every action guests take affects the ride experience ^[4].

When creating the Millennium Falcon that guests would boarding, Imagineers combined aspects of the various Falcon's created for the Star Wars film franchise, to create an "iconic" version. In order get the ship just right, the team spent three years studying, creating, and tinkering with the vessel's various details ^[4]. In addition to visiting the real Millennium Falcon set in London, the team also poured through the Star Wars films to get every detail just right. According to creative director Asa Kalama:

"Making sure that walking into that cockpit, it didn’t feel like a toy, it felt like a real, honest spaceship,” Kalama says “We spent an incredible amount of time just playing with the feel of the buttons and the switches and the hyperspace handle to make sure it had that heft that made it all feel not like a simulation of being in a spaceship, but an authentic experience.” ^[4]

The name of Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run was revealed on November 17, 2018, along with new ride footage ^[5].

References

1. ↑ https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2015/08/star-wars-themed-lands-coming-to-walt-disney-world-and-disneyland-resorts/
2. ↑ https://screenrant.com/millennium-falcon-ride-galaxys-edge-explained/
3. ↑ https://collider.com/millennium-falcon-smugglers-run-interview-steve-goddard/
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-galaxys-edge-millennium-falcon-smugglers-run
5. ↑ https://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/star-wars-land/news/17nov2018-star-wars-galaxys-edge-attractions-get-their-official-names.htm