The C-141 Starlifter Lives On In WDW’s Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and Disneyland’s Soarin’ Over California

Here is a great bit of military and aviation trivia for Walt Disney theme park fans.

Walt Disney World Hollywood Studios’, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run attraction has a piece of military aviation history used as a set dressing.

When Disney Imagineers are building a new attraction, they will go to the ends of the earth to find interesting, creative items to place around the attraction and its queue in order to make it look authentic. Interesting items are used as is or sometimes modified for use.

When walking through the queue for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, you will be able to see an external portion of a C-141 Starlifter’s engine.

Dating myself

I’m dating myself here, but the C-141 was the primary aircraft that I flew on during my military career. The 141 was retired in 2006, and I kept on flying the C-5 after that.

An Interesting Find

So here’s what I found in Smugglers Run.

Be on the lookout when walking through the standby ride queue, you will enter the engine room/mechanic shop of Ohnaka Transport Solutions, the location where the Millennium Falcon is parked at Black Spire Outpost, the fictional town in Disney’s Hollywood Studios Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

As you walk through the queue in the engine room on the scaffolding, sitting on the floor is the thrust reverser section of a C-141 engine. It is sitting on the floor with the rear facing up. For those in the know, the TR section is intact, including the stang doors (those are the pointy tips that are sticking up).

There’s no telling where Disney found this piece of history, but it’s amazing to see it every time I go through the ride now!

Above is the TR Section as it sits in Smuggler’s Run. It has some wires and conduits shoved in the tail section and a screen sitting on top, but it’s totally intact.

Below is a great image of the C-141 flying over the National Museum of the United States Air Force. If you look at the rear of the engines, you’ll see the pointy tips of the stang doors sticking out the rear at the top and bottom of each engine.

Here are some close-up photos of the 141 engine, where you can get a much better look at the Thrust Reverser Section.

The Thrust Reverser Section starts at that first vertical line (on the left) on the engine cowling. When you compare it to the photos in the attraction, you can see that it is intact.

Here’s a rearview of the TR section.

Below are a few more photos from the attraction for you to check out.

Bonus Find

Here’s an update to this post. In August 2024, this Number 3 Escape Hatch from a C-141 was discovered in the queue for Disneyland’s Soarin’ Over California! It is high on the left wall as you enter the indoor historical hall leading to the ride.

The Number 3 Escape Hatch was a circular plug-type hatch located on the right side ceiling near the rear of the C-141. The 4 escape hatches were numbered numerically 1 through 4 from the front to the rear of the aircraft, and all were in the ceiling. Number 1 was in the cockpit, number 2 over the front aircraft entrance. number 3 forward of the right rear paratroop door, and number 4 aft of the left paratroop door. There were also 2 side escape doors on each side, even with the engines.

Over to you

Pretty cool, right?

Please leave your comments below in the comments section. Anything is fair game, tell us about your time on or memories of the C-141, or about other cool things you’ve discovered in Disney’s theme parks!

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