Smugglers Run Gets Its Best Mission Yet, Powered by Unreal Engine 5

Smugglers Run Evolves with a New Mandalorian Mission and Next-Gen Tech

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run has always been a technical marvel, a full-motion simulator that puts guests in the cockpit of the most famous ship in science fiction. Now it is getting a significant evolution. Disney Experiences confirmed that a brand-new mission featuring Din Djarin and Grogu is live at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort, timed to launch day-and-date with the theatrical release of Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu.

The update goes deeper than a reskin. According to Disney Experiences, Imagineering upgraded the core rendering engine from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5, paired with new Nvidia compute hardware and graphics cards. Asa Kalama, Executive of Creative and Interactive Experiences at Walt Disney Imagineering, explained that the visual fidelity leap let the team rethink how the adventure unfolds. The original attraction followed a largely linear path. The new mission introduces branching possibilities, giving flight crews the ability to choose which adventure they take.

That creative ambition was shaped by early conversations with director Jon Favreau and Lucasfilm President Dave Filoni. "Before we got into any real technical development or detailed experiential design, we spent a lot of time just talking through story," Kalama said in the Disney Experiences piece. The team aimed to extend the story into a physical, interactive medium instead of retelling the film beat for beat. Kalama described the narrative work required to make Hondo Ohnaka's framing, the characters' relationships, and the film's iconic locations all feel like part of one cohesive story, where the park adventures could conceivably be happening just off camera from the movie.

Disney Food Blog notes that the changes are already live, with guests finding new stories and experiences each time they board. The simultaneous debut across film and attraction is a first for Disney, and it signals a philosophy worth paying attention to: the parks are no longer trailing theatrical releases by months or years. They are arriving in lockstep, treating the theme park experience as a parallel storytelling canvas rather than a delayed promotional tie-in.

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The Parks

The Smugglers Run update lands during one of the busiest operational weeks Walt Disney World has seen in months. Disney Food Blog reports that multiple attractions opened ahead of schedule this past week, including FØØD by Swedish Chef and The Walt Disney Studios at Disney's Hollywood Studios, along with Soarin' Across America at EPCOT. All three were originally slated for May 26th but are already welcoming guests. More closures are set to reopen on that date as well, which marks the official start of Cool KIDS' SUMMER.

Among the changes at Magic Kingdom, The Diamond Horseshoe is closed and will reopen May 26th as the home of Jessie's Roundup, a temporary kid-focused space for crafting, dancing, and indoor activities. According to Disney Food Blog, the restaurant is expected to return to its normal table service format around September 8th when Cool KIDS' Summer wraps. Elsewhere in Magic Kingdom, Pete's Silly Sideshow remains temporarily unavailable since January 2026, though the characters have relocated to other spots in Storybook Circus. Big Top Souvenirs also remains closed, and Disney Food Blog spotted that the entire top of the structure is gone, with no reopening date announced.

Away from the parks, a small but meaningful piece of Disney retail news: MickeyBlog reports that two limited-time Disney Store locations are opening in collaboration with Go! Retail Group. The first opened at Ross Park Mall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a second location at Westfield Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus, New Jersey, will follow this fall. These stores carry merchandise found only through the Disney Store, which matters because the company has spent years shrinking its physical retail footprint. MickeyBlog attended the Pittsburgh opening and described scenes of overwhelming demand, with the QR-based return time system running out of slots through the following day.

On the collectibles front, WDW News Today reports that Disney Legend Bob Gurr is selling autographed posters of classic Disney Park attractions through his online shop, linked from his Instagram bio. Gurr, the Imagineer behind Autopia and the Monorail among other attractions, is offering over 35 poster styles for a limited time. For fans who care about Imagineering history, a signed piece from one of the original architects of Disneyland is about as close to a primary source artifact as you can get.

Disney Experiences also announced a series of senior leadership changes this week. Disney Parks Blog reported that Thomas Mazloum, now Chairman of Disney Experiences, announced several appointments, including Natacha Rafalski as President of Disney Signature Experiences (the division overseeing Disney Cruise Line and premium offerings) and Joe Schott as President of Walt Disney World Resort. The company framed the moves as part of "a period of transformative growth" and "an era of ambitious expansion." Rafalski's appointment is particularly notable for cruise fans. Disney Cruise Line is operating more ships across more regions than at any point in its history, with the Disney Adventure sailing from Singapore and the Disney Treasure running Caribbean voyages out of Port Canaveral. Whoever holds this role shapes fleet expansion, new itineraries, and private destination development. Now the name is on the door.

Speaking of the Disney Adventure, DCL Blog has published Personal Navigators from a 3-night cruise departing Singapore on April 20, 2026. Captain Wesley Dunlop commanded that sailing with Cruise Director Stephen Cloete handling entertainment. For anyone planning a future Adventure voyage, these navigator documents offer granular detail on dining rotations, show times, and character meet schedules.

The Screen

Star Wars is back on the big screen, and the reverberations extend well beyond the parks. D23 unveiled "Disney Blockbuster Summer," a cross-company campaign anchoring a season that includes Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5, and Disney's live-action Moana. The Mandalorian and Grogu merchandise wave is already substantial. D23 highlights new LEGO sets including an AT-RT Attack set and an Ultimate Collector Series N-1 Starfighter, Hasbro's Ultimate Grogu animatronic with over 250 lifelike animations, and new Funko Pop! figures spanning the film's cast. Hasbro's Action Buddy Grogu, a 10-inch animatronic with over 50 sound and action combos, is positioned as a theater companion piece.

The merchandise blitz connects to a larger strategic narrative that played out at Licensing Expo in Las Vegas. The Walt Disney Company reports that Disney Consumer Products anchored its presence with the theme "Icons Unleashed," framing its portfolio as living cultural forces designed to move across fashion, wellness, sports, and music. Paul Gitter, EVP of Global Brand Commercialization, described licensing as "a central way Disney storytelling shows up in consumers' everyday lives." The expo brought together senior leaders from across the company, including Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, Lucasfilm's Dave Filoni, and Frozen 3 director Trent Correy. The showcase also featured talent from the upcoming Disney Channel Original Movie Camp Rock 3 and West End performers from Disney's Frozen musical. The message from Las Vegas was scale and intentionality. Disney wants licensees to view its characters as evolving cultural properties worth long-term investment through holiday 2027 and beyond, rather than static images to slap on products.

The Vault

Disney Experiences earned 10 awards at this year's Telly Awards and two honors at the Shorty Awards. Disney Parks Blog detailed the wins, which span video and digital storytelling projects many fans have encountered across social media, Disney+, and YouTube over the past year. The standout is Disneyland Handcrafted, which took home three Telly Awards: Gold for Best Sound and Sound Design, Gold for Best Use of Archival Footage, and Silver for Best Documentary, Long Form. The documentary explores the days leading up to Disneyland's opening in July 1955, capturing the pressure of tight deadlines and the hands-on craftsmanship required to build the original park.

Awards ceremonies rarely make fans' hearts race, but these wins matter for a specific reason. They validate Disney's investment in telling its own history with the production quality of a prestige documentary rather than a promotional featurette. Disneyland Handcrafted winning for archival footage and sound design suggests the team treated its source material with the seriousness it deserves. The Imagineers and construction crews who built Disneyland in barely a year left behind a story that rivals anything the studio has put on screen. Recognizing that story with proper craft is a form of respect for the people who made the parks possible, and for the fans who have spent decades trying to understand how it all came together.

Sources

Disney Experiences · Disney Food Blog · MickeyBlog · WDW News Today · D23 · Walt Disney Company · Disney Parks Blog · DCL Blog · Lightning Brain