Bright Suns, Chloe! Welcome to planDisney and thanks for stopping by with such a great question!
I am so excited to hear that you and your son will be traveling to the planet of Batuu in
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland Park. What an out-of-this-world adventure! Of course, no trip to Batuu would be complete without an exciting smuggling mission on
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, and as someone who really wanted to have a successful mission, I had similar concerns on my family's first run. I'm thrilled to answer your question today and help you and your family have the best time on your flight on the Millennium Falcon.
While all of the roles (pilots, gunners, and engineers) on Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run are interactive and affect the mission, I think you will be happy to hear that no matter what, the mission will be completed and everyone will have the best time. When my daughter and I were the pilots, we crashed into ... well, everything, but we still completed our run and had the best time doing it. When we rode with a friend's little one as a gunner, she basically closed her eyes throughout the entire adventure and didn't push her button at all, but we still successfully completed our mission. Basically, although the interactive roles determine how successful you will be, you are flying on the Millennium Falcon, so no matter what, you'll get the job done.
By far, the pilots are the most involved roles. For the gunners, you can choose an automatic setting where you just press one button to shoot, and I found that the engineer was the simplest role with just one button to push at specific times during the mission. If you think your son may be more comfortable just pushing one button, I suggest chatting with a Cast Member about it and requesting that he take on the role of a gunner or engineer for his first mission. But even if he doesn't press his button, no worries! The Falcon will handle it for him. Get ready to punch it!
I hope this helps, Chloe, and I hope you and your Padawan have the best time on your magical adventure. Please feel free to stop by any time with any questions you may have along the way.
May the Spires Keep you,
Mandy