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Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run (DL)

Bringing this up here and on the WDW section, but it has been confirmed by the recent Barron's Iger article that the Falcon's interactive components will be optional for guests who wish to opt-out of the interactive nature (as it seems now).
 
As a huge fan of Star Wars; the clone wars I am so happy hondo is going to be a major character and animatronic in the ride and land!
 
I haven’t heard anyone talk about this yet but as someone who has now been on this over 5 times I thought I would bring it up.

A lot of bashing going on saying the wait time isn’t there on this ride. That’s fine and is up to debate for a lot of people on why.... so I won’t get into that!

What I do want to talk about is the actual turnover and capacity. This thing has two different sides with multiple cockpits / domes on each side.

Let me put in perspective how efficient this thing is... You know how on Simpson’s before the ride starts there is this awkward feeling that you are just sitting there listening to homer make weird comments until the ride operator finally presses on go...? This is also true of Soarin and mission space. You are sitting around until it’s time to go. This sensation is present in a lot of simulators! but doesn’t exist with Smugglers... let me explain.

The second that you sit down and strap in it’s almost jarring how fast this thing is. You don’t feel like you are waiting on other ride systems or an attendant to hit “go” ... you sit down, strap in and the CM begins yelling at you “go go go!”

The ride is up to YOU to hit go on the center console. I was almost taken back because I am used to the awkward sit and wait but with this one I was yelled at for sitting around. They told me to press the button and I actually muttered “ITS READY?!” That’s how fast this ride can turnover.
 
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I haven’t heard anyone talk about this yet but as someone who has now been on this over 5 times I thought I would bring it up.

A lot of bashing going on saying the wait time isn’t there on this ride. That’s fine and is up to debate for a lot of people on why.... so I won’t get into that!

What I do want to talk about is the actual turnover and capacity. This thing has two different sides with multiple cockpits / domes on each side.

Let me put in perspective how efficient this thing is... You know how on Simpson’s before the ride starts there is this awkward feeling that you are just sitting there listening to homer make weird comments until the ride operator finally presses on go...? This is also true of Soarin and mission space. You are sitting around until it’s time to go. This sensation is present in a lot of simulators! but doesn’t exist with Smugglers... let me explain.

The second that you sit down and strap in it’s almost jarring how fast this thing is. You don’t feel like you are waiting on other ride systems or an attendant to hit “go” ... you sit down, strap in and the attendant begins yelling at you “go go go!”

The ride is up to YOU to hit go on the center console. I was almost taken back because I am used to the awkward sit and wait but with this one I was yelled at for sitting around. They told me to press the button and I actually muttered “ITS READY?!” That’s how fast this ride can turnover.

I agree it is super fast and almost too fast. I wanted to sit down and take everything in but once the CM closed the cockpit door it was go time. The operations on this ride are very good. I rode it during a slower period with a listed wait time of 20 min, but they got the system down right. I know people want to haggle to get pilot and I am sure CM's have to deal with that but overall the experience was great.
 
I agree that it felt the CM seemed to rush you into the cockpit, get you buckled in and close the door. They were certainly trying their best for max capacity.

Is it just me or did the final scene try to mask the motion of the turntables turning because it seems like I felt it turn? As soon as motion stopped, the door opened.

Found this online and thought it was interesting to see the load/unload process.

 
I agree that it felt the CM seemed to rush you into the cockpit, get you buckled in and close the door. They were certainly trying their best for max capacity.

Is it just me or did the final scene try to mask the motion of the turntables turning because it seems like I felt it turn? As soon as motion stopped, the door opened.

Found this online and thought it was interesting to see the load/unload process.



I remember seeing this diagram online a while back. I am glad someone figured it out, because the handful of times I have been on the ride I have wondered how they managed to make it move so efficiently. I knew turntables were involved, I just wasn't sure how many pods were in each one.

You can feel the turntable at the end, yes.
 
Real talk: that means it’s putting 1300 guests an hour through. It’s designed for way more than that. Soooo..... downtime? No demand? Shut down carousels?
The first three weeks had the reservation period with a limited land capacity. They didn’t need to run 1600 PPH during that period.
 
Did another ride in Single Rider line. This thing is a people eater and waited about 20 min for a 65 min standby wait. Of course you're not likely to get pilot but then again you only have a 33% chance of getting pilot in SB.

Still a fun ride. I do hope they have other missions that would make this ride better for re-ridability.
 
I don't see the need to compare it with Hagrids.. They are completely different types of ride and are excellent in their own right.

This whole disney vs universal attitude is petty. Neither would be what they are today without the other.
Thanks Mom next time I will be more thoughtful in my post. or how about sometimes we have a little fun at the expense of either company when they are not doing their best. or it's just not that serious.
 
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