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Disneyland’s Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run has always been a fully realized “Star Wars” toy, an intimate, interactive attraction that focuses on arcade-style joy. A new upgrade opening Friday makes it decidedly slicker, giving the ride enhanced visuals, increased participatory actions and even an injection of cuteness.

Smugglers Run, which opened in 2019, puts six players in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, the ship made famous by Harrison Ford’s Han Solo in the original “Star Wars” trilogy. There’s still no Solo, but there is now Din Djarin, often referred to as simply the Mandalorian, and Grogu, the latter colloquially known as “Baby Yoda.” And although tied to the opening of the new film “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” Smugglers Run version 2.0 smooths out and improves upon many of the attraction’s quirks.

Blessedly, this is one marketing-driven decision that doesn’t feel like a gimmick, bringing unpredictability, humor and even more video game-like zaniness to the ride. Walt Disney Imagineering, the relatively secret division of the company focused on theme park attractions, has clearly listened to guest feedback and zeroed in on ways to not only improve the ride but also make it feel fresh, all while giving players more agency.

“This is an inherently collaborative adventure,” says Asa Kalama, a creative executive with Imagineering. On the ride, groups of six are teamed up to take on various tasks within the Falcon. Kalama says Imagineering was focused on how the various positions of pilot, gunner or engineer interact with one another.

“We took all of those learnings and applied them to enhancements for each and every one of those roles,” Kalama says.

I was a fan of the initial version of the attraction, writing when it opened that it was a heavily detailed blast, especially if one was seated in a pilot’s role (one guest controls the vertical motion of the ship while another focuses on the horizontal). But over time some of the less-than-endearing traits of Smugglers Run started to nag, namely that the two guests assigned to an engineering position had little to do and its storyline was essentially a glorified errand in which we retrieved goods for Hondo Ohnaka, a scoundrel-smuggler who sets the ride in motion.

Concept art of the sci-fi-like planet of Coruscant, a new location in Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.

(Disney Parks)

Smugglers Run has always been a technical marvel, but it was a feat of engineering rather than one that forged an emotional connection. The tweaks should fix much of what has long ailed it. Now, instead of a singular fixed mission, guests will have the ability to visit one of three “Star Wars” locations: a planet such as the urban Coruscant, the gas realm of Bespin or the wreckage of the second Death Star near Endor. This decision is made by one of the engineers and levels up the attraction’s ability to surprise.

Using the latest version of Epic’s Unreal Engine, each Smugglers Run locale is heavily detailed, putting us in more of a dogfight as the Mandalorian chases down pirates and ex-Imperial officers. No matter the route, it feels more active and lighthearted. Those who have ridden it before know Smugglers Run has always been responsive, perhaps too much so as inexperienced gamers could spend the entire attraction crashing the ship. Those flight controllers have been softened a bit, meaning guests will still steer but now do so with something of an invisible guided hand.

“We’ve tuned it in such a special way that no matter how skilled or unskilled you might be, you’re always guaranteed to have a flight that feels really cinematic,” says Kalama. In the past, particularly bad fliers could spend the entirety of the attraction being berated by the character of Ohnaka. That element has essentially been removed, with Kalama joking that guests shouldn’t feel as if they are being “chastised.”

Concept art of the Death Star wreckage above Endor, one of the new locales of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.

(Disney Parks)

Narratively, after some quick training on the desert-like planet of Tatooine, we join the Mandalorian in an effort to break up a deal between the pirates and the ex-Imperial officers. That’s enough of a setup to inspire some space fights and chase scenes through fantastical locations.

I rode it three times to visit each vista once, and each has a different tone and look. The neon, sci-fi area of Coruscant, for instance, contrasts with the darkened, industrial Death Star wreckage. At various times, I watched the Mandalorian chase down his targets, get the Falcon caught in a tractor beam or careen through magnetic-like fences. Those seated in the gunner or engineer positions will also be treated to additional clips of Grogu via their adjacent flight panels, the young alien here portrayed as something of a playful pet of a child who is exaggeratedly chill during the commotion.

“I think what we were very deliberate about is that actually each of these different planetary locations that you go to has a different vibe,” Kalama says. “If you go to Endor, you’re in the derelict wreckage of the old Death Star 2. The feel of it is really spooky. It’s dark. It’s mysterious. It’s smokey. The music is almost ominous. In contrast to something like Coruscant, which feels very bustling, vibrant and colorful. The goal was not only are you going to a different location from a geographic perspective but to feel emotionally like you’re going on a different adventure.”

Concept art of Tatooine, where the new mission of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run begins.

(Disney Parks)

By emphasizing a chase being driven by the Mandalorian, the tone of the ride feels faster. While it’s the same length of around five minutes, rushing the Falcon through the reddish, fiery atmosphere of Bespin, for instance, where riders will encounter mountainous natural wonders and floating, bulbous structures, gives guests plenty to admire. Smugglers Run has always been full of distractions, as the screen — in front and somewhat above guests — pulls viewers away from the seat-adjacent wall controls. I minded less having my attention ping-ponged around the cockpit with the enhancements, as taking the Falcon into a brief battle creates a more pleasurably hectic tone.

Ultimately, with more choices to make, from which location to visit or whether to focus on Grogu’s antics or the action ahead, Smugglers Run feels more dynamic. “What’s even really kind of extra cool is that in addition to choosing the planets, there are different paths you can take within each location,” says Matt Martin, a senior creative executive with Lucasfilm. “You can choose to go left or choose to go right. And you’re going to see and experience different things.”

The tweaks to Smugglers Run follow big changes to Galaxy’s Edge, as Disney recently expanded the land’s timeline to feature classic, fan-favorite characters such as Darth Vader, Han, Luke and Leia. The character additions bring added life to the area but do take the land away from its original intent as a mythical world where actions unfolded in real time. The dream, however, of a fully interactive theme park experience lives on with Smugglers Run.

Tell us your stories. Ask us your questions.

Have a theme park tale to share? Whether it was a good day or less-than-perfect day, I would love to hear about it. Have a question? A tip? A fun photo from the parks to share? Email me at todd.martens@latimes.com. I may feature your note in an upcoming newsletter.

Ride on,

Todd Martens

P.S.

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Route 66 has its tendrils throughout SoCal, and especially in the L.A. area, winding through Pasadena, West Hollywood and culminating in Santa Monica. But the most loving ode to Route 66 may in fact be at the Disneyland Resort, specifically at Disney California Adventure.

Stories, photos and travel recommendations from America’s Mother Road

Cars Land opened in 2012 as part of a reworking of the theme park and at long last gave it a striking land that could rival — and in many cases surpass — those of its next-door neighbor, Disneyland. Flanked by sun-scarred, reddish rocks that look lifted from Arizona, Cars Land is a marvel of a theme park land, with its backdrop mountain range ever so slightly nodding to the fins of classic Cadillacs from 1957 to 1962. That design element is a salute to the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, where 10 vintage Cadillacs are buried nose-first in the ground that to many resembles a 20th century Stonehenge.

Yet before the area was attached to the 2006 film, it was envisioned as a theme park destination dedicated to roadside attractions and trips along the so-called Mother Road. Cars Land is a make-believe area based on a fictional town from an animated film, but its roots are decidedly real.

Cadillac Ranch, an artwork made from 10 old cars by the Ant Farm artists’ collective in the 1970s, has become one of Amarillo’s top attractions. Visitors are invited to add their own spray-painted touches.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The backdrop mountain range of Radiator Springs Racers is a nod to Cadillac Ranch. The peaks are designed to look like the tail fins of classic cars.

(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

“We very much acknowledge that up front, that you’re walking down Route 66,” says Kathy Mangum, the retired Walt Disney Imagineer who served as the executive producer of Cars Land.

“But you’re also not walking down a part of Route 66 that exists anywhere,” Mangum continues. “There’s no part of Route 66 where you’re looking up at a Cadillac range surrounded by red rocks. It’s the spirit of Route 66. I wouldn’t even call it a ‘best-of.’ It’s just a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and combined it feels real.”

Tour guide Michael Wallis, left, and Walt Disney Imagineer Kevin Rafferty during a research trip at Cadillac Ranch in 2008.

(Kevin Rafferty)

Before those at Walt Disney Imagineering, the secretive arm of the company devoted to theme park experiences, were even aware that Pixar Animation Studios was working on the “Cars” film, an automotive-focused land was in the planning stages for Disney California Adventure. The park had opened in 2001 and had struggled in its early years to pull in crowds, with audiences zeroing in on a lack of Disneyland-style attractions and an absence of grandly designed vistas.

In an effort to rejuvenate the park, then-Imagineer Kevin Rafferty envisioned an area to be called Car Land — without the “s” — pulling heavily from his family’s road trips and Route 66-like roadside attractions and oddities. Among its standout attractions was to be one initially named Scoot 66, later changed to Road Trip, USA, a slow-moving ride that took guests on a cross-country journey through nature and roadside quirkiness, although its showcase scene would have been a trip trough a miniaturized Carlsbad Caverns, a bit of a detour from Route 66.

“It was kind of tongue-in-cheek,” says Rafferty, now retired, of the never-built ride. “You were going to be seeing all these roadside attractions that would draw you in, like giant bunnies.”

Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree brings the rusty, old tow truck character from the “Cars” movie to life in Cars Land at Disney California Adventure. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

An artwork in Seligman, Ariz., pays homage to the Disney-Pixar “Cars” movie, which was heavily inspired by the town. (Mark Lipczynski / For The Times)

Rafferty believed a place such as Car Land would be ripe for exploration in a Disney park, as it was to be set from the late 1950s to the early 1960s and tap into a collective nostalgia for a time when a vehicle meant the freedom to explore the open road. Cars Land today still has some of that ageless energy, boasting a vintage rock ’n’ roll soundtrack and a strip of a street filled with colorful neon, its lights, especially at night, beckoning guests to come closer.

“The reason why I thought it would fit into a Disney park, especially Disney California Adventure, is because cars are so much a part of the California story,” Rafferty says. “Cars are designed in California, even though they’re built elsewhere. There’s more custom shops in California. There’s more design studios in California. There’s more car clubs. And all the cars songs. ‘She’s so fine, my 409.’ It was all the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean.”

The neon signs of Radiator Springs. Flo’s V8 Cafe isn’t a direct match for any Route 66 diner, but it was inspired in spirit by the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, Texas.

(Paul Hiffmeyer / Disneyland Resort)

Development on Rafferty’s Car Land idea would change course when Imagineering and Pixar eventually aligned. But it was also a shift that would more formally ground the area in the culture of Route 66, which heavily influenced the film. Both the filmmakers and, later, those with Imagineering, embarked on 10-day research trips along the road led by historian Michael Wallis, author of “Route 66: The Mother Road.” Those at Pixar, in fact, were so charmed by Wallis’ tours that the author was asked to voice the role of the film’s sheriff.

Wallis says he took the teams out in rented Cadillacs. “I like to stop every 300 yards,” Wallis says. “If I’m doing a road trip, I get into it. So we stopped to move box turtles off the road. I waded them into winter wheat to dance, to pick wild grapes. I introduced them to people that I guaran-damn-tee that they never would have met, the great characters of the road, and I showed them the man-made and natural sites of the road.”

Though the fictional “Cars” and Cars Land community of Radiator Springs has no single inspiration, it echoes the scenery and history of several small towns between Tulsa, Okla., and Kingman, Ariz., including Tucumcari, N.M., Seligman, Ariz., and Oatman, Ariz. And the single, graceful bridge that is centered upon the land’s backdrop mountain range closely resembles Pasadena’s own Colorado Street Bridge, although there’s no roaring waterfall next to the original.

Scenes from Route 66 in Seligman, Ariz. The town was one of the inspirations for the fictional “Cars” and Cars Land town of Radiator Springs.

(Mark Lipczynski / For The Times)

The centerpiece bridge of the Cars Land mountain range was modeled after a local landmark. (Paul Hiffmeyer / Disneyland Resort)

The Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena, an inspiration for the Cars Land structure. (Adam Markovitz)

Elsewhere, Ramone’s House of Body Art connects with the U-Drop Inn, a 1936 Art Deco gas station in Shamrock, Texas, that now serves as a visitor center and cafe. The Cozy Cone Motel nods to the Wigwam motel chain, which once included seven locations from Kentucky to California. Two remain in business along Route 66: the Wigwam in San Bernardino and another in Holbrook, Ariz.

While Imagineers had visual references from the animated film, Mangum says the research trip was invaluable in lending authenticity to the park.

“We could walk into a building in Shamrock, Texas, that looks so much like what Ramone’s House of Body Art looks like and see that those tiles are made of raised terra-cotta,” Mangum says. “So we could get the actual texture. It’s a movie world, but it’s also a real world.”

Flo’s V8 Cafe isn’t a direct match with any Route 66 eatery, the Imagineers say, but was certainly influenced in spirit by the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, Texas.

The Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, Texas, celebrates the halfway point on Route 66 between Chicago and Los Angeles.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

“We sampled all their pies and food and made copious notes on this stuff,” Rafferty says. “The two women who owned the Midpoint Cafe had what they said was their mother’s recipe for ‘ugly crust pies.’ We fell in love with ugly crust pies. I met with the head chef of Disneyland, who was a Frenchman at the time, and I said we wanted to serve ugly crust pies at Flo’s V8 Cafe. And he said, ‘No, no, no, nothing at Disneyland will be ugly.’”

No, but it may be influenced by abandoned buildings. Mangum says a key locale for the land was the deserted structures of Two Guns, Ariz. Gas station remains led to sketches that would inspire parts of the “Stanley’s Oasis” area of the Radiator Springs Racers queue, which Rafferty and company filled out with an oil service station and then a building composed of empty oil bottles. The story goes that Stanley’s Oasis is a roadside attraction settlement that led to the development of the town of Radiator Springs.

At the Cozy Cone Motel, a string of cone-shaped food stalls sell quick bites such as swirled soft-serve cones. (Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

The Cozy Cone is based on the real-life Wigwam Motels. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

“That kind of Route 66-inspired story was all made up,” Rafferty says. “It wasn’t in the film.” That backstory, however, would inform the 2012 short “Time Travel Mater.”

The enduring strength of the land, however, isn’t just due to the popularity of the animated properties that led to it. While Route 66 wasn’t magic for everyone — the history of the road is dotted with tales of extreme poverty and horrific racism — it’s become romanticized as a slice of Americana and stands as a jumping-off point to further delve into our past.

The land is, in a word, timeless. It’s also representative of the ideal of a working small town, the sort of place we forever long for. “It may not be the America of today,” Mangum says, “but in a way it is.”

Times staff writer Christopher Reynolds contributed to this report.

Walt Disney Co. has picked up a vocal ally in its fight against the Federal Communications Commission: one of the panel’s three commissioners.

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez — the panel’s lone Democrat — took a rare step of sending a letter to Disney Chief Executive Officer Josh D’Amaro Monday to describe what she sees as a pressure campaign to weaken not just Disney’s ABC network — but all media outlets that provide critical coverage of President Trump.

“What Disney and ABC are facing is not a series of coincidental regulatory actions but a sustained, coordinated campaign of censorship and control, carried out through the weaponization of the FCC’s authority as a federal regulator,” Gomez wrote.

The FCC’s efforts were all about “pressuring a free and independent press and all media into submission,” Gomez wrote in the four-page missive to D’Amaro — Disney’s recently installed chief executive.

Her outreach comes after the FCC, in a highly unusual move, initiated an early review of the broadcast licenses for ABC stations that Disney owns, including KABC-TV Channel 7 in Los Angeles. Disney owns eight stations and its licenses were not set to expire for another two to five years.

The FCC also demanded that Disney’s Houston television station explain why the ABC daytime show, “The View,” should be entitled to an exemption from providing equal time rules for politicians whose opponent appears on a program.

Disney has said “The View” was granted an exemption — which is widely used among news programs — in 2002. Last Thursday, Disney sent a blistering letter to the FCC, challenging its inquiry on “The View.”

Gomez has been outspoken about the tactics of her colleague — FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee — and the dangers she said that certain FCC actions represent to 1st Amendment freedoms. Monday’s letter escalated her criticism and gives Disney potent ammunition to use in its legal battle against the FCC.

Disney and the FCC did not immediately comment.

Gomez, a telecommunications attorney, listed four key events, which began when Disney decided to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump one month after he was reelected for a second-term. Some free speech experts felt Disney had a chance to win that case, based on erroneous statements made by ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos.

However, Disney agreed to pay $15 million in late 2024 to make the case go away.

“Whatever the legal calculations behind that decision, its effect was immediate and unmistakable,” Gomez wrote. “It told this administration that pressure works. It told every other company watching that capitulation was an option. And it opened the door to every action that has followed.”

Gomez said the administration’s goal has not been to bring challenges that the FCC would have to defend in court, but rather, to prompt TV networks to self-censor and tone down their news coverage as a way to avoid getting pulled into fights with the president and Carr.

“Most [FCC investigations] are destined never to be brought to any enforcement conclusion that could face judicial review,” Gomez wrote. “That is because the threat is the point.”

Walt Disney Co.’s ABC is forcefully resisting Federal Communications Commission efforts to soften the network’s programming, accusing the federal agency of an overreach that violates 1st Amendment freedoms.

Last week, the FCC took the unusual step of calling in the licenses of eight Disney-owned television stations for early review. The move — widely interpreted as an effort to chill the network’s speech — came a day after President Trump demanded that ABC fire late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel over a joke about First Lady Melania Trump.

The FCC separately has taken aim at ABC’s daytime discussion show, “The View,” which delves deeply into politics.

The FCC has questioned whether the show, which prominently features Trump critics Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar, could continue toclaim an exemption to rules that require broadcasters to provide equal time for opponents of political candidates.

In its filing this week with the FCC, Disney’s Houston television station raised the stakes in the dispute over “The View,” calling the commission’s actions “unprecedented” and “beyond the Commission’s authority.” The ABC station’s petition for a declaratory ruling said “The View,” has long qualified as a “bona fide” news interview program with freedom to conduct interviews of legally qualified political candidates.

“The Commission’s actions threaten to upend decades of settled law and practice and chill critical protected speech, both with respect to The View and more broadly,” the Houston station KTRK-TV said in the filing.

The network’s firm stance sets up a clash with the Trump administration, including the president’s hand-picked FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who has made no secret of his disdain for Kimmel and other ABC programming. Earlier this year, Carr announced that decades-old exemptions from the so-called “equal time rule” for news programs, including “The View,” were no longer valid.

ABC’s strenuous arguments mark a departure for the Disney-owned outlet.

In December 2024, a month after Trump was elected to a second term, the network quickly settled a lawsuit over statements made by news anchor George Stephanopoulos that Trump found offensive. ABC agreed to pay Trump $15 million to end his legal fight — sparking an outcry among free speech advocates, who accused the network of caving on a case it could have won.

“Some may dislike certain—or even most—of the viewpoints expressed on The View or similar shows,” the station said in its filing. “Such dislike, however, cannot justify using regulatory processes to restrict those views. The government does not get to decide ‘what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion.’”

The station noted that, while the FCC has questioned the exemption for “The View,” which dates back to 2002, the FCC hasn’t showed interest in regulating programs on other networks, “including the many voices — conservative and liberal — on broadcast radio.”

“The danger is that the government will simply decide which perspectives to regulate and which to leave undisturbed,” ABC said.

On April 28, Carr called for a review of Disney’s broadcast licenses two years before any of them were set to expire, citing the agency’s year-old inquiry into Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies and whether they violated federal anti-discrimination rules.

Walt Disney Co.’s theme parks and cruise line business is holding steady despite national concerns about discretionary consumer spending and higher gas prices.

The Burbank media and entertainment giant’s experiences division reported $9.5 billion in revenue in its fiscal second quarter, up 7% compared with the same period a year ago.

The increase was due to higher guest spending at Disney’s domestic parks and experiences, which reported a 6% bump in revenue to $6.9 billion, and more capacity on the company’s cruise line with the introduction of two new ships. The segment saw a 5% increase in operating income to $2.6 billion for the three-month period that ended March 28.

Disney’s theme parks segment was under close scrutiny given the national conversation about rising consumer costs and gas prices due to the U.S.-Iran war. Analysts had wondered whether consumers would tighten their belts and forgo vacations given the higher travel costs.

Disney did see a 1% decline in attendance at its U.S.-based parks compared with the prior year, which the company attributed to “continued softness” in international visitors, but said it was starting to move past those issues. Company executives have previously said Disney pivoted marketing and promotional efforts to attract local visitors.

Last quarter, executives indicated that results in the company’s second fiscal quarter could be affected, in part, by “international visitation headwinds,” a nod to the lower number of foreign visitors now traveling to the U.S.

Though the heightened economic uncertainty around the world could have a “potential impact” on the business, Disney Chief Executive Josh D’Amaro and Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston said in a shareholder letter Wednesday that the company was “encouraged by current demand.” The company expected that fiscal third-quarter domestic attendance numbers would improve, they wrote.

The company’s overall earnings were powered by its entertainment business, which posted revenue of $11.7 billion, up 10% compared with the prior year’s quarter.

That growth was driven by big gains for Disney’s streaming services — Disney+ and Hulu — which raked in nearly $5.5 billion in revenue, an increase of 13% compared with 2025, thanks to higher subscription fees from user growth and more advertising revenue. Operating income for the streaming business jumped 88% to $582 million.

Disney’s entertainment segment also had a stronger quarter at the theatrical box office, with standout performances from 20th Century Studios’ “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” the animated sequel “Zootopia 2” and Pixar’s “Hoppers.”

Overall, the company reported $25.2 billion in revenue, a 7% bump from the prior year. Income before income taxes totaled $3.4 billion, an increase of 9% compared with the same period in 2025, while operating income rose 4% to $4.6 billion. Earnings per share, excluding certain items, was $1.57, compared with $1.45 a year earlier.

Disney’s sports segment, which includes ESPN, reported revenue of $4.6 billion, a 2% increase from the same period in 2025. It brought in operating income of $652 million, a 5% slide that the company attributed to higher sports rights costs and the absence of UFC pay-per-view revenue compared with last year.

Disney also alluded to the company’s view of artificial intelligence as a “meaningful long-term opportunity,” saying it could play a role in content creation and production, monetization, workforce productivity, consumer and guest experiences and enterprise operations.

“At the same time, we are committed to implementing AI in a way that keeps human creativity at the center of everything we do and respects creators and the value of our intellectual property,” D’Amaro and Johnston said in the shareholder letter.

After noting OpenAI’s closure of the text-to-video AI tool Sora, which Disney had planned to invest in, D’Amaro and Johnston said the company will “continue to explore” commercial opportunities with OpenAI and other companies.