Not every Disney World attraction update needs a new character, storyline, or major refurbishment to make a noticeable difference.
Sometimes, Disney simply has to get an original feature working again.
That’s exactly what has happened at Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. A set of doors that had remained open for years is finally operating as Disney originally intended.
Guests entering the Hondo Ohnaka preshow room can once again watch the doors open for their group before closing behind them.
For longtime visitors, it restores a piece of Smugglers Run that largely disappeared shortly after the attraction’s early days.
An Original Smugglers Run Feature Is Back
The affected doors sit between the main queue and the attraction’s Hondo Ohnaka preshow.
There are two doors, positioned on the left and right sides of the entrance.
When Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge initially opened, Disney used the doors to control the transition between the queue and Hondo’s room.
Guests would approach closed doors and wait for the next preshow. Once Disney was ready for another group, the doors opened and allowed guests inside. They then closed again behind the group.
That sequence eventually disappeared.
The doors stopped operating and remained open instead.
Guests could continue moving through the attraction normally, so their failure didn’t prevent Disney from running Smugglers Run. But one of the original presentation elements was no longer part of the experience.
Years later, Disney has finally restored it.
The Preshow Feels More Separated Again
The biggest difference involves how guests transition between different parts of the attraction.
Smugglers Run doesn’t begin when riders buckle themselves into the Millennium Falcon cockpit. Disney starts building the story throughout the queue.
Eventually, guests meet Hondo, who recruits them for a mission aboard the Falcon.
Working doors help separate that preshow from everything happening outside the room.
Instead of approaching an entrance that remains open continuously, guests can now enter as a group and have the doors close behind them.
It’s hardly the biggest technological effect at Walt Disney World, but those details contribute to the way Disney tells stories inside its attractions.
And Smugglers Run has received plenty of other changes recently.
The Mandalorian and Grogu Recently Joined the Attraction
Disney introduced a new Smugglers Run adventure in May featuring Din Djarin and Grogu.
The project had been in the works for some time. Disney announced the new experience during D23 in 2024 before eventually bringing it to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World and Disneyland.
The update also changed Hondo’s part of the story.
Hondo remains a major character in the attraction, but he is now stealing the Millennium Falcon rather than borrowing it from Chewbacca.
Disney also removed references to the First Order and Resistance from the updated preshow.
Those storyline adjustments were only part of the overhaul.
Smugglers Run Now Offers Three Possible Adventures
The attraction previously suffered from one obvious issue for repeat visitors: crews generally knew what adventure awaited them after entering the cockpit.
The new version adds more variety.
Guests can travel to Bespin, Coruscant, or the wreckage of the second Death Star above Endor.
A randomly selected engineer chooses the crew’s location, meaning riders may not know exactly where they’re headed when their adventure begins.
For Disney, that gives Smugglers Run more replay value.
Guests who receive Coruscant during one ride could potentially encounter an entirely different location the next time they enter the attraction.
It represents a significant evolution for a ride that had spent years offering a more predictable experience.
An Old Effect Joins a Much Newer Attraction
With all those additions, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is going through an unusual combination of changes.
Disney has introduced new Star Wars characters and destinations while simultaneously restoring a feature from the attraction’s original version.
The preshow doors fall firmly into that second category.
They aren’t a brand-new effect, and Disney didn’t need to redesign the attraction to introduce them. The doors are simply functioning the way they were designed to work when Galaxy’s Edge opened.
For guests who never saw them operate, however, they might as well be new.
And for longtime fans who remember the original version of the attraction, their return restores one more layer of the experience.
Smugglers Run has received much larger changes in 2026, but the latest improvement shows why smaller operational details still matter.
After years of sitting open, the doors to Hondo’s preshow are finally closing once again.
