How To Activate Chewy Mode On Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run

Diehard Star Wars fans will consider the land of Batuu at Disney World and Disneyland a veritable playground.  They can meet their favorite Star Wars characters, fight the Resistance and even pilot the Millenium Falcon.  True Star Wars fans will also want to uncover an Easter Egg the Disney Imagineers planted on Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run.  While I’m not a huge Star Wars fan, my wife and son are.  And, since Chewbacca (the tall, furry guy) is her favorite character, this Easter Egg is right up her alley.  If you’re lucky, you can activate “Chewy Mode” the next time you ride Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run.  That means instead of Hondo Ohnaka giving you instructions, Chewy will.  I mean, as much as a furry beast who doesn’t speak English can actually give instructions.  Here’s how to activate Chewy Mode the next time you ride Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run.

Activate Chewy Mode On Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run

It’s not difficult to activate Chewy Mode but it does take cooperation from all six members in your group.  Some help from the Cast Member loading your ride vehicle won’t hurt, either.  In fact, just asking some Cast Members to activate Chewy Mode will get the job done.  The first time we told a Cast Member we were trying for Chewy, they performed all the steps for us.  Here’s what you need to do:

Step 1. Talk To The Folks In Your Ride Group

Activating Chewy Mode requires all six members of your ride group to perform a specific function.  If you don’t have a group of six you’ll need to ask some strangers for help.  And, if they’ve never ridden Smugglers Run, they might prefer the standard ride experience.

Step 2. Talk To The Last Cast Member You See Before Entering The Ride Vehicle

You meet a number of Cast Members in the process of riding Millenium Falcon.  The last one you meet before riding will be in a smaller room after the large meeting area in the “ship”.  Side note: If you’re a Hidden Mickey hunter, the only Hidden Mickey I’ve found inside Millenium Falcon is in this room, hidden on the side of a video monitor on the wall.

Your best bet for success is to tell the Cast Member that you’re planning to try to enable Chewy Mode.  Your group has a number of steps to complete before  the Cast Member closes the door on your ride vehicle.  If they know you’re working on Chewy Mode they’re likely to either help or at least wait to close the door until you complete the steps.

Seat belts don’t seem to play a role in the activation sequence, so you can go ahead and get seat belts fastened before proceeding further.

Step 3. Pilot’s Instructions

There are three roles on Millenium Falcon.  The two pilots have the most specific instructions.  The pilot on the left will move their controls to the far right or far left before hitting any buttons.  Then, once your controller is in the far right or left position, hold the controller in that position and hit the flashing activation button.

The pilot on the right will move the controls all the way up or all the way down.  Holding the controller in that position, they’ll hit the activation button.

Step 4. Gunner’s Instructions

Gunners instructions are a bit easier and don’t need to be done one at a time.  I haven’t tested whether they need to be done prior to the pilot activation.  To be safe, I recommend completing the pilot instructions before the gunners activate until I have the time to test further.

Gunners will press and hold  one of the white buttons either to the side or under their control panel before pressing their orange activation button. Keep holding the white button until after you hit the activation button.

Step 5. Engineer’s Instructions

Engineers perform essentially the same steps as gunners.  Engineers will press and hold  one of the white buttons either to the side or under their control panel before pressing their orange activation button. Keep holding the white button until after you hit the activation button.

Chewy Mode!

If you did all the steps correctly, you’ll shortly hear Chewy’s voice instead of Hondo.  Chewy will, ahem, guide you through your mission.  If you’ve never ridden Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run it may not be 100% clear what your objectives are.  Chewy’s dialect can be a bit hard to understand for “Star Wars Muggles” like myself.  Hopefully, you’ll have more luck.

True Chewy fans will enjoy a special ride with Chewy quite unlike any other!