Smuggler's Snooze

[HorizonsRIP]

Just wrapped up a first visit to Galaxy's Edge. Good fun overall, and Rise of the Resistance is awesome, but...

Smuggler's Run is really disappointing, especially if you actually wait it out on standby. It's basically Star Tours with some pointless button mashing thrown in. Now, I did it twice, and only got to be Engineer and Gunner, so maybe pilot is where it's at or something, but I just felt like the ride offered very little that was fresh. The scenery waiting in line was pretty cool, but I wouldn't rush back.

 

[sleepydog25]

Didn't ride it, but your description appears to be in the majority based on what I've read and seen. I'll go you one further and post an unpopular opinion. ROTR is not worth the hype. Good? Sure. Detailed? Yep. Exciting? Meh.

 

[Robo]

Smuggler's Run is really disappointing... It's basically Star Tours with some pointless button mashing thrown in...

So, you also consider Star Tours a snooze?

 

[HorizonsRIP]

So, you also consider Star Tours a snooze?

No, but it's almost 30 years old.

 

[sleepydog25]

No, but it's almost 30 years old.

I will say that when we rode it a week ago, we experienced a new "episode" which made the ride a bit fresher. Without giving away any plot points from the new ST movie, I recognize this new version of the ride was a logical tie in to the film itself.

 

[DWillowBay]

Just for me, Smuggler's Run could be made better if the skill of the pilot(s) wasn't so critical to the ride experience. In theory, it's really cool that you can "fly" the Falcon (I'm an Air Force wife, so.....) BUT...in reality, most won't fly very well or will have to ride many times to 'master' the flying for optimal ride experience. It IS very similar to Star Tours, which for me is not bad. However, just standardize the ride and let it be a great, fun experience on the Millennium Falcon! JMHO!

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

Just wrapped up a first visit to Galaxy's Edge. Good fun overall, and Rise of the Resistance is awesome, but...

Smuggler's Run is really disappointing, especially if you actually wait it out on standby. It's basically Star Tours with some pointless button mashing thrown in. Now, I did it twice, and only got to be Engineer and Gunner, so maybe pilot is where it's at or something, but I just felt like the ride offered very little that was fresh. The scenery waiting in line was pretty cool, but I wouldn't rush back.

Point of order. The button mashing is not pointless. Your accuracy for gunner and quickness of the engineer is actually important to the overall score. It's not like Mission Space where everything actually is automated.

As for the line, I haven't had to wait more than an hour which is actually not . For some perspective, I live in an area with a theme park an hour away. When a particular new attraction opened (roller coaster to be specific), it was consistently a 3 hour wait...without fastpass.

So to me, MFSR is a relatively short wait and this was in mid-morning & mid-afternoon. A lot of people suggest hitting it at night.

Just for me, Smuggler's Run could be made better if the skill of the pilot(s) wasn't so critical to the ride experience. In theory, it's really cool that you can "fly" the Falcon (I'm an Air Force wife, so.....) BUT...in reality, most won't fly very well or will have to ride many times to 'master' the flying for optimal ride experience. It IS very similar to Star Tours, which for me is not bad. However, just standardize the ride and let it be a great, fun experience on the Millennium Falcon! JMHO!

I hear you but, the lack of skill of the pilots makes it so much more interesting for the engineers

Joking aside, I think sometimes, at least for some (my dad), it's not clear on where you need to go. He was right/left pilot and for some reason he couldn't find the train. I don't know if it was an aspect of the visuals or just the overall new experience & sensory overload. We somehow got way off course with it being in the upper right corner.

I think standardizing the ride would actually take away from the experience. Since credits are meaningless here, I would just rather have a variety of experiences no matter what skill someone is. What I wish they could do is create an "Ace" and "greenhorn group", with the latter for people like me who don't care about score or how good someone is in what position.

 

[NWOhiogal]

Just for me, Smuggler's Run could be made better if the skill of the pilot(s) wasn't so critical to the ride experience. In theory, it's really cool that you can "fly" the Falcon (I'm an Air Force wife, so.....) BUT...in reality, most won't fly very well or will have to ride many times to 'master' the flying for optimal ride experience.

I agree. Having seen the YouTube videos, the layout makes it difficult for even experienced pilots to not hit SOMETHING - the game has you flying through and around some very tight spaces, and quickly. If you're not good at gaming you're just going to keep banging into things and having to correct. And good luck if you can't see well, or if English isn't your first language.

I've also read complaints from people who weren't the pilot, but some group's five year old child was, and basically just slammed the Falcon into everything for the whole game while their parents screamed at them. Whee.

I think it would be great if the game had an 'auto' mode, where you didn't have to do anything but make the jump to hyperspace - that's the only thing most people want to do anyway. Have it be something everybody participates in to make it happen. Then everybody could just sit back and enjoy the experience instead of being so focused on having to participate in a video game they don't understand that they don't even look around them until they're getting up to leave.

 

[SG131]

I agree. Having seen the YouTube videos, the layout makes it difficult for even experienced pilots to not hit SOMETHING - the game has you flying through and around some very tight spaces, and quickly. If you're not good at gaming you're just going to keep banging into things and having to correct. And good luck if you can't see well, or if English isn't your first language.

I've also read complaints from people who weren't the pilot, but some group's five year old child was, and basically just slammed the Falcon into everything for the whole game while their parents screamed at them. Whee.

I think it would be great if the game had an 'auto' mode, where you didn't have to do anything but make the jump to hyperspace - that's the only thing most people want to do anyway. Have it be something everybody participates in to make it happen. Then everybody could just sit back and enjoy the experience instead of being so focused on having to participate in a video game they don't understand that they don't even look around them until they're getting up to leave.

I was in a group where the parents gave their youngest, barely meeting the height requirement 3 or 4 year old be one pilot and a 5 year old be the other. The youngest couldn't even reach all of the controls and the 5 year old didn't understand what they were trying to do. That ruined the ride experience for me, so I don't plan on waiting in line for the ride again anytime soon!

 

[Jennasis]

I'm glad I rode SR before RotR was even open so I didn't have to directly compare the two. When I rode SR, I was blown away by the immersion and the experience. Have done all the various roles (with a trip with a 5 year old at the controls and it was hilariously bad). I LOVE IT. Then i rode RotR the day after it opened and i makes SR look like Its a Small World LOL.

Nobody's opinion on any ride is wrong. Remember I'm the one who HATES Flight of Passage. What a waste of space that thing is.

 

[pjynx]

What I didn't like about it was that as a gunner or engineer, I felt like I was constantly looking at the side to see the buttons light up (I didn't experience pilot but I'm assuming they are facing forward). I felt that by doing that, I was missing all the cool scenery in front of us. So when I rode it the 2nd time, I just looked forward, and didn't pay attention to the lights. My fingers were on the firing button and I was repeatedly pushing it without looking. I'd glance over every now & then to see a different button lit up. But I want to SEE the things. Not just look at flashing buttons.

Pam

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

They did give my 3 year-old a pilot card and I not-so-discreetly swapped him my gunner's post so that the people riding with us wouldn't have to endure that. As it was, my tall 8 year-old couldn't reach/didn't see his side of the light speed controls and I ended up trying to push them both up. He's very good at video games so I thought we did OK keeping with the thing we were supposed to be following, but our score wasn't that awesome, maybe because my 3 year-old's skill at shooting wasn't that much better than his piloting would have been.

 

[loves to dive]

I loved it and I hate and won't ride Star Tours, it makes me sick. My son (adult) and I were gunners and still had a blast. We did the single rider line and got lucky to get in the same group. Will try to do RotR next month when we are there, from what I've seen on videos we will enjoy that too. I'm not overly fond of FOP either, it makes me a little queasy as well. Smugglers didn't bother me at all.

 

[dagored]

I was in a group where the parents gave their youngest, barely meeting the height requirement 3 or 4 year old be one pilot and a 5 year old be the other. The youngest couldn't even reach all of the controls and the 5 year old didn't understand what they were trying to do. That ruined the ride experience for me, so I don't plan on waiting in line for the ride again anytime soon!

So, you rode with the same people my wife and I got stuck with. Were yours screaming at the kids the entire ride also.

 

[Carol_]

Star Tours feels like a new ride every time as the story is modified. I love it. (Just don’t sit all the way in back near a wall that bangs into your head)

Smugglers was a long wait for a group activity with absolute strangers. Everybody loves group activities with strangers. The theming was awesome. The CMs were borderline rude. Perhaps they can be replaced with droids. We missed a bit of the preshow for some unclear reason. The whole thing felt rushed when we were finally on deck. After all that, we could have used a photo pass moment on the ride but nope... Get out, move along, Next!

And where’s the First Order Training Academy?

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

And where’s the First Order Training Academy?

Kids want to be the hero not the villain

 

[yulilin3]

Star Tours feels like a new ride every time as the story is modified. I love it. (Just don’t sit all the way in back near a wall that bangs into your head)

Smugglers was a long wait for a group activity with absolute strangers. Everybody loves group activities with strangers. The theming was awesome. The CMs were borderline rude. Perhaps they can be replaced with droids. We missed a bit of the preshow for some unclear reason. The whole thing felt rushed when we were finally on deck. After all that, we could have used a photo pass moment on the ride but nope... Get out, move along, Next!

And where’s the First Order Training Academy?

sorry you had a bad experience. I can tell you that not all CM are borderline rude.

 

[HorizonsRIP]

What I didn't like about it was that as a gunner or engineer, I felt like I was constantly looking at the side to see the buttons light up (I didn't experience pilot but I'm assuming they are facing forward). I felt that by doing that, I was missing all the cool scenery in front of us. So when I rode it the 2nd time, I just looked forward, and didn't pay attention to the lights. My fingers were on the firing button and I was repeatedly pushing it without looking. I'd glance over every now & then to see a different button lit up. But I want to SEE the things. Not just look at flashing buttons.

Pam

Yup. This is a great point.

 

[DnA2010]

I had to tell my sister that the gunner position was not in a sweet chair that swung around like in the movie..that was disappointing...

 

[Alynw]

Didn't ride it, but your description appears to be in the majority based on what I've read and seen. I'll go you one further and post an unpopular opinion. ROTR is not worth the hype. Good? Sure. Detailed? Yep. Exciting? Meh.

Agree, this was our first ride of our trip and at first I thought yea, best ride at Disney but then we went to AK and ride FOP and hands down, FOP is still best ride by far, nothing even comes close. ROR was good and it's worth always riding once per trip but if I had choose between ROR or FOP, no question FOP.