Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is a thrilling interactive attraction in Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Disney Park and Star Wars fans alike are taken on a daring flight to help Chewbacca make a smuggling run for Hondo Ohnaka.
Problem Statement: How can Imagineers immerse guests in a thrilling ride that allows for interactivity during the experience with branching story outcomes based on the performance of the crew (guests).
Scope: Managing software development for the show systems, I partnered with a lead SWE to establish software programs and solutions that would not only control all of the show elements for the animatronic figures, show lighting, video, audio and sfx, but also control the interactivity of the experience inside the Falcon cabin and then scale this across the large number of different turntable cabins.
Results: Smugglers Run launched on time with the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disneyland and then again with the opening of the land in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Fans and guests have raved about the experience and the attraction won a Themed Entertainment Association Award for Outstanding Achievement and an International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Brass Ring.