I don't really know how to answer this question. We entered the FP queue. So we didn't get the full queue experience and associated wait times. As such we might be a bit biased. The fast pass queue does not spending a lot of time looking at the Falcon. You can see it a little, but it isn't quite as viewable as from the normal queue. As a result of the queue, it was an immediate placement into the preshow room, which was a great set up and nicely done. The first holding room is somewhat chaotic. The loading into the falcon is seriously cool. Upon the conclusion of the ride, the exit was somewhat unmarked and no one to direct you out.
My family was 2 pilots and a gunner. Another family was the second gunner and engineers. I feel that subsequent rides would yield better results with riders having the benefit of experience of what the attraction does and the story contained within. For the most part, our group spent more time looking out the front and treating it less than an interactive attraction. The video quality was superb and the voice prompts acceptable, but useless on younger riders. The activities for non pilots is button mashing. Those non-pilots who are short will havea harder time viewing the actino. The score/ranking somehow made it to my datapad which was nice, but I didn't use the datapad to pick up jobs or interact within the land, which I think is a big selling point for the land, kind of like a mini sorcerers of the magic kingdom / pirates treasure hunt mashup.
For my 6 year old, it was cool, he knows what the falcon is, and has a general idea of star wars and characters. He wasn't clamoring to go back on it however, preferring slinky dog. My wife liked it but found the controls somewhat confusing as she had never done flight simulators previously. I enjoyed the visuals and ride itself. I think 30-40 minute waits would be acceptable for additional rides, 60-70 minutes for first time experiences. Popularity will likely remain at 7 Dwarf level moving forward.
Overall, I thought the experience was cool for what it was, and would like to ride a few more times before passing final judgement. The ride suffers from 2 things: dependency on other riders if you want to "play the game", a poor pre-ride explanation with how to successfully interact with the ride. The ride scores well on theme immersion, ride mechanics, and ride duration.
I was just wondering how they would have done things differently if they knew the direction the game was going in a few year later. I could easily see the games main screen being the Magic Kingdoms central hub with the castle with and each path leading to a new land/realm for different Disney properties (Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel]
and not actually asking about Smugglers Run! When reading your posts, as in mine, the first thing people should assume is we are being smart
