Review: Droid Depot in Star Wars Land
Droid Depot is a build your own droid shop in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World and at Disneyland. In this review, we’ll detail the experience, whether it’s worth the $99 price tag, and how it compares to the $200 lightsaber experience in Star Wars Land.
As a bit of background, Droid Depot is a split retail space, with one half of the store having normal off-the-shelf Star Wars items you can buy while the other half is a workshop with stations for droid customization and purchase. Droid Depot’s building area is stocked with parts, chips, manuals guests can collect to construct (and purchase, of course!) droids.
After choosing a BB-series unit or R-series unit, you’re given a basket and blueprint for parts. From there, you head to the parts station at the back of Droid Depot, which is literally a conveyor belt from which you pull items as they pass by. This is cool, and gives Droid Depot a certain authenticity. Plus, it’s fun to see and snag pieces as they pass you…
From there, it’s on to the build station, where you take the four parts (dome, connection plate, body sphere, and motivator for the BB-series or dome, body, and two sets of legs for the R-series) to follow placemat instructions. Assemble the droid its the proper sequence before the activation process begins.
Pretty simple and quick, and an experience that’ll take under 15 minutes from start to finish (plus whatever time you have to wait in line to start building a droid, if any).
Once finished, you can buy additional accessories, including a personality chip or carrying backpack.
If you want your droid to interact with elements in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge or other droids guests have built, the backpack is your best option.
It seems awkward to just carry them around, so I guess the other option is getting one of those baby slings.
Joking aside, it’s amusing to hear the droids beeping at one another on occasion as you wander Black Spire Outpost.
I think it’s worth discussing how Droid Depot compares with the $200 Handbuilt Lightsaber Experience at Savi’s Workshop, which we lavished with praise. While Star Wars Land has numerous shops and retail stalls, these are the two with a ‘pay-to-play’ show component. The rest can be enjoyed in full without spending a dime.
Quite simply, I don’t think Droid Depot stacks up to Savi’s Workshop in the least. Unless you really want one of these droids, you’re absolutely better off doing Savi’s Workshop–even though it’s double the cost. It’s a next level experience; Droid Depot is cool, but not on that level.
Don’t get me wrong, building an R2 unit at Droid Depot was neat, and the finished droids are cute and fun. However, there’s no emotional resonance to it.
Savi’s Workshop is this communal experience of creating something by hand. Savi’s has a strong show component that’s steeped in lore, tradition, and makes you feel connected to something bigger. Yeah, it’s theme park retail, but it’s nonetheless powerful stuff.
By contrast, Droid Depot feels almost like the anthesis of that. The setting is cool (as is literally everywhere in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge), but also vaguely reminiscent of an automobile assembly plant.
As you grab parts from the conveyor built and take them to your workstation, there’s a certain coldness to the experience.
The setting is also loud and discordant, with a flow of guests waiting in line, entering, and leaving their own workstations. The creation process is interactive and engaging, but it’s about as communal as an assembly line, and there’s no show component that’s comparable to Savi’s.
Whereas the lightsaber experience makes you feel connected to something bigger, Droid Depot is essentially disconnected.
The one exception to this is when the droid is first placed into its activation slot, paired with a remote, and powered up for the first time.
There’s a flurry of blinking lights and sounds, and you witness the droid come alive. Arguably, the coldness of the first half of the experience is such a sharp contrast with this moment that it makes the droid “being born” more poignant.
In the end, that moment was fleeting, and the overall Droid Depot experience didn’t really stick with me. It’s easy enough to peek into the custom droid building side of the shop and see what it’s all about, and I think that’s a sufficient version of this ‘experience’ if you don’t want to drop $99 on a droid.
Worth noting here is that while I built my own droid, I did Droid Depot as part of the media event and was unable to keep my finished droid. Perhaps I’d feel differently if I had an ’emotional bond’ with my creation and had to care and provide for the droid once I got it home. I’m guessing not, as I don’t really feel a bond with the lightsaber I bought and built.
After Sarah saw a number of friends with very cute droids, we debated going back and doing Droid Depot. However, we also saw several falling apart while roaming around Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge (technically not allowed, but we literally never saw this enforced) and the build quality felt cheap.
You could buy both the excellent Sphero R2-D2 and BB-8 app-enabled droids for just a bit more money than one creation from Droid Depot. Not exactly an apples to apples comparison, but I’d rather have the Sphero products. (Or, you could buy the DJ Rex non-customizable droid from Droid Depot.)
Ultimately, Droid Depot is a neat experience that I really enjoyed and probably would’ve reviewed much more enthusiastically had I not also done Savi’s Workshop. Even though it feels a bit like you’re churned through a production facility, there’s enough heart and substance to make it something special. However, when compared side by side to the lightsaber building experience, there’s a stark contrast, and Droid Depot leaves you wanting more.
If you’re planning on visiting the new land, you’ll also want to read our Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Guide. This covers a range of topics from basics about the land and its location, to strategically choosing a hotel for your stay, recommended strategy for the land, and how to beat the crowds. It’s a good primer for this huge addition. As for planning the rest of your trip, we have a comprehensive Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide as well as a thorough Walt Disney World Planning Guide.
Your Thoughts
Have you built a customized droid at Droid Depot? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? If you done both Droid Depot and Savi’s Workshop, which did you prefer? If you’ve done neither, which is more appealing to you? Any questions? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
does anybody have any advice to do the droid thing early or later in the day with the crowds? Thanks
Does anyone have the weights and dimensions on the the bb units. We have a 26 hour flight back to Australia and need to know if these are luggage friendly or a weighty carry on item.
Thanks for your review. I am not a Star Wars fan in the least. I have watched the movies, but not the recent ones. Mostly the originals from the 80’s. I will enjoy walking through the land, but am not a fanatic! My opinion is that I don’t care about a lightsaber…the droid is more interesting to me and also is one of my favorites from Star Wars. Obviously, the R2D2!! Can’t wait to build one, but most likely will have to wait until next summer. Going to Disney World end of August and my last day is opening day!
Do you have any pictures of the options for color choices?
What did you mean by “However, we also saw several falling apart while roaming around Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge (technically not allowed, but we literally never saw this enforced)”
What is not technically allowed? I thought you meant at first just that while you were roaming around you saw several robots falling apart, and couldn’t understand why that wouldn’t be allowed. But now I realize maybe you meant the droids were roaming around – ie; like radio controlled or just on their own volition and that’s what’s not allowed?
Where are those ‘rules’ published?
When you purchase your droid, they tell you that you need to keep them in their box or backpack while in the land. I’m guessing the droids that keep falling apart are the BB units that can have their heads come off (since they are held on by magnets). That is part of the way they are designed (they wouldn’t look as cool if the head was more firmly attached), and they easily pop right back on.
I’m actually very disappointed in the BB droid. There is a section right outside the droid shop where you can use your new droid unit. The BB droid has a sphere body that houses the motor. The only problem is that it is made to come apart and frequently splits apart while you play with it. They should have made the body much better for $100.
I built a Lightning McQueen & a Mater Truck at Downtown Disney a few years back & had a great time assembling it. I would assume the droids would be as fun.
Question about both experiences. We want to do the droid and the lightsaber as a family. I saw somewhere only two people can build one. Are they strict on this rule? Thanks!
At Savi’s, only one person can build w two “witnesses”. There was one dad in our group with three boys and all of them were building. ($800 to do that, yikes!) So maybe if there is extra room you can have more witnesses. There is a phone number on the booking site. But if it is sold out and every builder had more than two witnesses that would be pretty crowded!
If I wanted my younger child to build one with myself as a witness, am I able to assist to keep them moving forward? Would hate for her to get frustrated and give up and I not be able to help, but would also hate to make her sit back and watch me do it when she’s more of a hands on learner anyway.
Erik, I can’t imagine the two builder assistants and one CM leader will not allow you to help a younger child. If not, the Disney CM were helping the builders too. My sister and I were busy taking video (especially during the crystal lighting ceremony), photos and checking out the room!
How big are the droids? Also do I need to buy the personality chip or is one included? Can I change the chips out later?
Well now I need a baby sling.
Do the droids do anything…move with a remote or anything? What do the lightsabers do? We’re going next month and my 11 yr old son wants to know what the end result gets you!
They do! They are remote controlled and they move really well, plus their heads spin and you can make them “talk”. They also interact with the spaces around them while you are in the land (they get nervous acting in first order areas).
So $100 for Build a Bear in a theme park, except a cheap plastic droid instead of a stuffed animal….
Don’t think this will be on the list of things to do.
I felt rushed to complete my droid because so many people were waiting to build theirs. Not enough employees to help with the droid construction. My R2 unit turned out okay, but my friend’s BB8 unit falls apart all the time. Oh, and they were out of backpacks to carry the droids. Save your money!
There was no waiting and only people in about half the building spots at Droid Depot on July 17 in the afternoon.
My kids were satisfied with just seeing the “depot” and getting some green milk.
TIP: There was a decent line to enter the depot. However, just go in the back (retail) door. From that gift store, you can walk back into the depot to look around without having to wait.
My sister and I joined my sixteen year old nephew who built a lightsaber at Savi’s. When I first saw the price, I joined Tom in thinking “are you kidding?”. But we took Tom’s advice and it was a GREAT experience. Be sure to do it early enough in the day so the builder can walk around with it slung over his/her back and discuss it with fellow park goers! And take photos with it too!
Having checked out the Droid Depot it is a cool shop and the $25000 R2D2 is fun to see (we were told one has actually been purchased) but I don’t think the experience comes even close to Savi’s. I think it would be good for younger kids though or just someone who wants to spend less and get a cute droid!
According to multiple sources, at least three of the $25,000 R2D2 models were sold in the first WEEK alone. https://screencrush.com/galaxys-edge-custom-r2d2-25000/ . I’m guessing many more since then.
Wow! Thanks!! That is even more amazing!
While I’m not quite sold on the price, it does sound like the lightsaber experience is more than twice as good as the droid experience.
Thanks!
We were there last week and both the personality chips and the backpacks were sold out with no indication of when they will be restocked. My two boys were disappointed that they couldn’t carry their droids around in the backpacks that they were hoping to get, and my husband & I were even more disappointed, as we had to carry the droids around in those cardboard cases that feel like razor blades on your hands after a while.
$99, $200 dollars. I sure hope Bernie Sanders makes this all “free” in 2020.
Ha! Maybe they should Add Free Dining to there agenda Too !!!
i think probably the names “depot” versus “Workshop” tell the difference right there. for what it’s worth, i think my 5 year old who knows nothing about SW would have a blast building a droid, and the price point and expected lines for the workshop sort of make the decision there. any word if droid depot will have the same 2 person limit at HS?
I think they’ll probably apply/remove limits (as well as reservations) as demand dictates. It’s tough to say whether this will draw a consistent line at DHS given the price point, but I suppose we’ll see.