The Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run attraction at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge blends prop-based party game mechanics with top-notch lighting and motion effects. But fans who visit Star Wars land will likely spend far more time waiting in the attraction’s line than on the ride itself. Thankfully, Disney Parks has given the waiting area lots of love, cramming the queue with loads of franchise Easter eggs around every corner.
Here’s what to be on the lookout for as you make your way through Black Spire Outpost’s station B, home of Ohnaka Transport Solutions — a perfectly reputable shipping company, and absolutely not a front for illegal smuggling.
[Warning: What follows contains spoilers for the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run attraction at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The Easter eggs pertain to previously released Star Wars films and pieces of the Star Wars extended universe, but if you want to visit Smuggler’s Run without knowing any of the references, this is not the post you’re looking for.]
First off, you’ll want to load up your Datapad, part of the Play Disney Parks app, before you even get in line. Look for the job labeled “Flight Crews Wanted,” or just tap the Millenium Falcon-shaped icon on the animated park map to begin. Once you’re logged in, you’ll have a short scavenger hunt to complete. Take care though, as it requires you to be standing in a certain place in the queue to complete each portion.
Your first objective is a short stack of crates roughly behind the ship on the ground floor. They’ll be on the right-hand side once you’re past the overhead LED sign that tells you how long the line is. Just look for the hexagonal QR codes.
Once inside the workspace, look to your left. There you’ll find the remains of a game of sabacc, the poker-like game in which Han Solo won the Falcon from Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
To the right of the sabacc table is a large gray crate. Walk gingerly: leaning up against the crate’s open door is a proton torpedo. It’d be a shame if that bad boy fell over, especially since it could set off the whole rack of them standing there in the background. Above that rack of torpedoes are a half dozen or so DLT-34 heavy blasters, the same ones favored by Imperial stormtroopers in Star Wars: A New Hope.
But look closer... What’s that inside the gray crate? Well, that’s one of the smaller containers filled with credits that the Rebellion gave to Han Solo as payment for rescuing Princess Leia from the Death Star. Nice to see that they’re not going to waste.
Just beyond the crate there, and in front of the rack of blasters and torpedoes, there’s a whole mess of gear spread out on a green crate to be sorted and cleaned. You can see that someone is changing the barrel on a DLT-34, but if you look closer you’ll also see Jyn Erso’s blaster from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
That big, bulky, double-barreled gun sitting on the green crate in the background? That’s the rear gun from a T-47 airspeeder, also known as the “snowspeeder,” made famous in the Battle of Hoth.
From above you can even see the harpoon and a bit of tow cable. While not actually pictured in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, anyone who owned the original Kenner toy will know that harpoon shape well. Looks like one of Ohnaka’s helpers is trying to figure out how to get it mounted.
Continuing to the right, in the foreground you’ll see another shipping container with most of a set of Imperial stormtrooper armor inside. No blaster holes to speak of, so I imagine this one will turn a pretty penny. Behind that, in front of a few jumpsuits, you’ll see a smaller model of the classic WED Treadwell droid. The multi-armed repair droid can be found amongst the jawas outside the Lars homestead in A New Hope and inside Echo Base in The Empire Strikes Back.
While you’re admiring the droid, take a closer look at those jumpsuits. One is awfully small, and the other... is that a third arm?
Continuing on to the right, this time in the foreground, you’ll find a tool that looks an awful lot like a modified hydrospanner — the Star Wars universe’s version of an impact wrench.
Behind it you’ll find that Ohnaka and company have turned a poor, unfortunate R2 unit into a trashcan. Rest in pieces, little buddy.
Just before you turn a corner, heading left and up to the next level, be sure to peer carefully into the shadows. That’s where you’ll find a scout trooper helmet, just like the ones shown in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Someone has repurposed the headgear as a drip pan for a hasty oil change.
On your way up to the second level, look down. That’s one of the Falcon’s turret-mounted quad laser cannons, stripped and receiving an overhaul. Its removal is canonical for the ride. On Smugglers Run, fans only have access to the Falcon’s forward weapons, not the ventral or dorsal quad laser turrets. That’s the same weapons system that took out Darth Vader’s escort during the climactic Death Star trench run in A New Hope.
Just to the right, inside a blue crate, you’ll see a few more bits of contraband: a pair of First Order flametrooper helmets ready to go to the highest bidder. It makes sense that these would be tucked a bit further back in the hangar. They’re in active use, and stormtroopers are wandering the streets of Batuu, after all.
Once up on the gantry that comprises the hangar’s second floor, all eyes are on the massive sub-light engine in the center of the room. Ohnaka’s helpers are working hard to get it repaired and, once every thirty minutes or so, they fire it up to test their progress.
When they do, the whole thing comes to life. Individual air intakes all over its surface flap in the breeze, and a cascade of cool lighting effects transform the centerpiece into a fire breathing jet engine.
After working your way past the engine, be sure to look out the large windows on your left to see the top side of the Falcon. Here you’ll get the best view of the long lines of refueling cables as well as the articulated blast doors of the hangar itself. In the above image, they’re the panels providing shade to the other windows. The blast doors are reminiscent of the design found on Jabba the Hut’s sail barge in Return of the Jedi.
Just before you enter the command deck to meet Ohnaka, check out the garbage can. In Aurebesh it reads “Trash to sector 3263827.” That’s the designation of the trash compactor on the first Death Star where Chewbacca, Han, Leia, and Luke were trapped in A New Hope. How this can made it off the station in one piece is anyone’s guess.
Once you’re settled in the big waiting room, all eyes should be on the stage at the front of the room. Ohnaka is a canonical character from the Star Wars expanded universe. He’s showed up in cartoons, comics, and even novels. Underneath his skin are some of Disney’s most state-of-the-art animatronics. You can watch a quick preview of how they put him together on YouTube.
Finally you’ll gain entry to the Falcon’s lounge. This isn’t like a traditional theme park line. The space is a recreation of the Millennium Falcon interior as it’s featured all across Star Wars fiction. Before you hop on the ride, you and a couple dozens guests can explore.
You’ll want to linger in the space for as long as the cast members will let you. Job one is to take a selfie at the Dejarik table. Also known as a holochess table, it’s a focal point for many of the Star Wars franchise’s most intimate moments.
But, that’s not all you’ll find in the lounge area. Look up from the chess table to the alcove just above to find a bunch of neat trinkets.
On the left side you’ll find one of the Falcon’s oxygen masks, which appeared in The Empire Strikes Back and The Force Awakens. There’s also the helmet Luke used to first reach out with the Force, complete with its blast shield in the down position. Below that is the Marksman-H combat remote, also known as the “training droid” featured in that same scene. Below them you’ll see a pair of welding goggles, just like the ones worn by Leia in The Empire Strikes Back. Rounding out the set of goodies is a pair of binoculars, likely the ones from Hoth that Luke and Han both used at different times during Empire.
Finally, once the door opens to allow you into the Falcon cockpit itself, pay close attention to the wall. On the right side you’ll find a curious contraption that looks like a hexagonal box, positioned over a rotary lever with a long handle. This is where, during a famous scene in The Empire Strikes Back, Han and Leia shared their first kiss — only to be interrupted by C-3PO with news about the ongoing repairs to the Falcon.
There are likely a few more Easter eggs that we missed during our time in the attraction. If you’ve got pictures and descriptions of anything else you spotted during your trip to Batuu, drop them in the comments below.