Is Star Wars Land’s $200+ Lightsaber Worth It?
Savi’s Workshop – Handbuilt Lightsabers is one of the most popular things in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. This review offers photos & video from this build-your-own lightsaber shop, reservation details, spoiler-free info, and whether it’s worth the high price. (Updated February 25, 2024.)
Savi’s Workshop is an unassuming storefront located in the middle of Black Spire Outpost next to Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities and Droid Depot. Under the guidance of the Gatherers, guests are ushered into a covert workshop where they are using unusual parts to build lightsabers amidst the First Order.
Originally, we planned on skipping Savi’s Workshop. To be honest, I laughed at the idea of a $200+ lightsaber, and might have used the word “sucker” to describe our friend who wanted to do it. This is no knock at Star Wars fans (well, I guess it is), but I spend money on plenty of things others would consider silly or frivolous, so to each their own. Since you’re seeing this review, we did end up doing Savi’s Workshop, so there’s also that.
February 25, 2024 Update: Disney Visa has announced that Cardmembers receive 10% off at Savi’s Workshop for Handbuilt Lightsabers at Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World. Previously, this was one of the excluded locations, but it now joins other retail and restaurants in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge offering 10% off select merchandise when using the Disney Visa credit card or debit cards.
Note that this only applies to the Savi’s Workshop location at Walt Disney World in Florida. It does not apply to the outpost in Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland in California. At least, not for now. The discount just launched, so it’s possible Disneyland will offer the Disney Visa discount soon, too.
However, we wouldn’t bet on it. There’s already a pricing difference at Savi’s Workshop between the two coasts, with the Walt Disney World version costing $249.99 and the Disneyland version costing $219.99. Even without the Disney Visa discount, Savi’s Workshop at Disneyland is still cheaper.
Savi’s Workshop at Disneyland did cost $250 for a brief bit, but fell from that price back down to $219.99 last year. When it comes to Disney, any drop is a big one, as prices typically only go in one direction–up. That’s still up from the $200 price tag on the Savi’s Workshop lightsaber building experience when it first debuted, but pretty much everything at Disneyland is more expensive than it was ~5 years ago.
As for the reason for the decrease, it’s likely that demand dropped for the Disneyland version of Savi’s Workshop after the price increase, and this was the way of fixing that. Honestly, this is not a huge surprise. Savi’s Workshop is still a relatively popular reservation at Walt Disney World thanks to a steady stream of new tourists.
By contrast, Disneyland is more dependent upon a local fanbase. It’s thus likely that the California park has largely exhausted demand for lightsaber building among locals, and is now reliant on the smaller slice of tourists that visit Disneyland.
This would also explain the addition of the Disney Visa discount at Walt Disney World–demand is starting to drop for Savi’s Workshop, but is still fairly strong. Offering a targeted discount is a way to entice more guests to do Savi’s Workshop, while stopping short of decreasing the price for everyone. Good ‘ole price discrimination in action!
With the 2024 pricing and discounts at Savi’s Workshop addressed, let’s turn to the normal one and start with the titular question. Despite that title, this really isn’t expressly about whether the lightsaber itself is worth $220 (Disneyland price), $225 (Disney Visa Cardmember at Walt Disney World price) or even $250 (full price).
I cannot envision a single scenario in which I’d view a lightsaber as holding that amount of value. Perhaps once the technology gets to the point that it’s an actual tool I can use to carve a Thanksgiving turkey or defend myself against the First Order, but even then, it’d be a tough sell. To someone, I’m sure a lightsaber could be worth more than $200. I am not that person, though.
With that said, the lightsaber itself has heft to it, is substantial, and feels really good in the hand. Then again, I’ve never wielded a high-end lightsaber, and am comparing this (no joke) to the industrial design of my DSLR camera lenses. For all I know, this could be on the low end of replica-caliber lightsabers. I do know that it’s significantly nicer than anything I’ve ever seen in Walt Disney World or Disneyland.
For me, the question about whether this is “worth it” comes down to the hand-built lightsaber itself plus the overarching experience at Savi’s Workshop. As you’ll read in the review that follows, we were absolutely blown away by the show component of Savi’s Workshop and have zero regrets that we did it. The workshop itself along with having a nighttime lightsaber battle below the Millennium Falcon rank highly among the things we did in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
However, value is in the eye of the beholder and it’s very much a your mileage may vary type of thing. Ultimately, you’re looking at a 25 minute experience plus a lightsaber for $250, plus the effort of snagging a reservation or waiting in line to do Savi’s Workshop.
This brings us to the capacity of Savi’s Workshop, which is abysmal. There’s a lot to be said for the intimate environment of the workshop, which definitely enhances the show. Nevertheless, the decision to make this a single room (rather than modeling it after multi-room meet & greets) is a puzzling one. The result is a shop with an hourly capacity of under 50 lightsabers.
Scarcity is the other reason why the question of value is nearly irrelevant. With such a low number of daily time slots for Savi’s and such a high number of Star Wars fans with surplus disposable income (or willing to save and splurge for something special), Savi’s could charge double its current prices and never have a problem filling up. (Not to give Disney any ideas…)
When we did Savi’s Workshop, it did not offer reservations. This mean that a line formed each morning and you had to wait to sign up, then return and have your group called to enter Savi’s Workshop took a lot of time. (Sort of like how Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance works now.) Consequently, we had nearly 2 hours of “lost time” as a result of the system.
The good news is that Savi’s Workshop now offers advance reservations online and via both the My Disney Experience and Disneyland apps. At both Walt Disney World and Disneyland, reservations are available 60 days in advance. For both, we highly recommend making reservations ASAP before your travel dates.
This system streamlines the whole process, but the downside to that is it means you can get shut out entirely if you don’t think to make reservations well in advance of your vacation. Typically, reservations typically fill up faster at Walt Disney World than at Disneyland. If you aren’t able to score your desired slot early, keep checking the system–especially the day before, as cancellations do occur.
If you’ve already decided you want to do Savi’s Workshop and are only not going to do it in the event that something discourages you, stop reading now. This is not going to be that “something.” We loved the experience, would do it again if money were no issue, and would highly recommend going in without having anything about it spoiled for you…
Again, to avoid spoilers, stop reading/scrolling now.
Seriously. Don’t ruin this for yourself if you plan or want to do it.
For now, Savi’s Workshop truly is a ‘covert’ location: there’s no discernible signage, and save for the long line, crowds, and cash registers outside, it doesn’t even appear to be a storefront in keeping with the design-style of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Prior to paying, you’ll select one of the four themes. These are Peace and Justice (with salvaged scraps from fallen Jedi temples and starships in Republic-era designs), Power and Control (forged by dark side warriors, using remnants from the Sith homeworld), Elemental Nature (embodying the Force and comprised of living things, like Brylark trees, Cartusion whale bones, Rancor teeth, etc.) and Protection & Defense (mysterious materials that reconnect users with the ancient wellspring of the Force).
These are a starting point, with the exact pieces chosen and assembled within the workshop. Pictured below is a full set from Elemental Nature:
After paying, you will be given your pin and a credential that will serve as your group number. The pin is your key to enter the secretive workshop and it also identifies which of the 4 lightsaber designs you’ve chosen.
Naturally, we chose Elemental Nature because one of the options for that is a Rancor tooth. We felt that’d give us the most street cred in intimidating the neighbor’s dog. (As we know from firsthand exposure, dachshunds are ferocious.)
Once your group is among the next to enter the shop, you’ll be allowed to enter a courtyard where you’ll wait to be allowed entrance by one of the Gatherers.
Here’s a brief video offering a snippet of the opening act inside Savi’s Workshop for Handbuilt Lightsabers:
As you can see, inside Savi’s Workshop, introductions are made and a solemn tone is established for the ceremony of crafting a lightsaber.
The Gatherers go over Jedi history, lightsaber lore, and the power of the Force. It’s a good preface, and effectively sets the mood.
Following that, you choose a kyber crystal, which will give your lightsaber its color. The options are red, blue, green, or (for the Samuel L. Jackson fans out there) purple.
At “only” $13 each, kyber crystals are probably one of the best pieces of merchandise in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge; each one changes the color of your lightsaber blade.
You’ll also receive a hilt kit with the necessary parts to choose from to assemble your hilt. Each box of parts includes 1 hilt, 4 sleeves (pick 2), 2 emitters (pick 1), 2 pommel caps (pick 1), 2 sets of activation plates, and switches (pick 1 set).
Gatherers circulate to assist in this process, which takes several minutes.
We’d recommend finishing quickly to give yourself a few minutes to appreciate the themed design of the workshop.
As with everything in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the design of Savi’s Workshop is brilliant and moody. Savor it, because you’ll probably only ever be in here once.
Once everyone is finished assembling their hilts, Gatherers help attach the hilts into assembly pods at each building bay. This is when the bonding ceremony begins, which is the highlight and wow moment of the whole experience at Savi’s Workshop.
At the conclusion of this, the blade of the lightsaber is ‘magically’ attached and everyone raises and activates their lightsabers in unison as the voice of Yoda enters the chamber.
I had the Yoda portion of this spoiled for me prior to this (as I never thought I’d do it), and my initial reaction was disappointment that it wasn’t a hologram of Yoda making an appearance.
While that would’ve undoubtedly been cooler, it’s impossible to put into words just how cool the culmination of this ceremony is.
Savi’s Workshop hits all of the right emotional notes; there’s a sense of urgency, solemnity, and pride upon completion. Yeah, you’re just assembling a glorified toy lightsaber, but it feels like so much more.
We both agreed that this was a really powerful experience, and we say this as people who are not heavily invested in Star Wars. I can only imagine how moving it would be for someone who grew up on Star Wars, and has a strong nostalgic bond.
Ultimately, we have zero regrets dropping $200+ to do Savi’s Workshop. I’m actually glad we didn’t go with the original plan of only me entering (for free) to watch our friend build his lightsaber, because my reaction to Sarah upon exiting would’ve been, “you have to see that.” In fact, Sarah’s reaction upon exiting Savi’s Workshop was, “we have to do that again and get another lightsaber so we each have one.”
To be clear, we definitely are not going to do that–it was simply Sarah’s reaction in the heat of the moment. The point here is that our first impressions–even as frugal people who aren’t hardcore Star Wars fans–were so satisfying and the end result so cool that we were fine having dropped over $200 on it.
However, Savi’s Workshop now costs $50 more than when we did it. While I’m glad we got the chance to do it once and found the experience to be incredibly memorable, it’s tough to say the already-high price we paid would be worth $250 to us. It’s a close call, but I’d probably do it for the first time even at $250. Again, value is in the eye of the beholder–and what you’re getting here is not just a fancy lightsaber.
Even at the $250 price-point, Savi’s Workshop is truly something special–an experience to be savored and remembered long after the lightsaber breaks or dies. This is one of the most popular Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge offerings at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland, and for good reason. It’s not going to be something that everyone can afford to do in terms of time or money, but it’s something we recommend as a splurge for those who can do it. You won’t regret it.
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 early to arrive to beat the crowds. It’s a good primer for this huge addition.
Your Thoughts
Have you stepped inside Savi’s Workshop for Handbuilt Lightsabers? Is it something you’d like to do, or is the $250 price tag a non-starter for you? If you’ve done it, do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Think it was (or will be) worth the money and time commitment? 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!
Dear Allison castor if your taking drugs you should stop……and if your not taking drugs you need to get some from your doctor. Good luck
Reminds me of the dinner scene in Jurassic Park where the lawyer is commenting on how much money they are going make only to backtrack slightly with the idea of a “coupon day” when John explains that he wants everyone to experience it; sadly The Disney Parks have no such plans.
That said, I have no problem with the cost of the item; $200 for a custom collectible is not unheard of (Tom, that saber does look totally bad-ass), especially for Star Wars. What I take issue with is Disney’s continued willingness to cater to elitism by creating yet another experience that many people are simply unable to participate in. It would almost be like if there was a cost to participate in the Jedi Training Academy. I suppose time will tell if this is sustainable, or if the hype will die down, but for now I’m good with the video and reviews.
“I suppose time will tell if this is sustainable, or if the hype will die down, but for now I’m good with the video and reviews.”
I think over time, the hype will die down for some experiences in Galaxy’s Edge. More importantly, the economy will ‘die down’ at some point. Elite or not, people are spending right now with reckless abandon, which is a big reason why Disney has added so many up-charges and offerings like this. At some point, they’ll have to pull back on all of this.
(Well, Savi’s might be one exception, since its capacity is so limited. But the other stuff will have to change at some point…)
I appreciate the ‘defense’ from everyone, but at this point it feels like piling on.
There is a larger, valid point here that the extreme scarcity of slots for Savi’s is going to leave many diehard fans–even those who do everything in their power to secure a reservation–left out. That’s going to be even more true once Galaxy’s Edge is greeting full-capacity crowds.
Think of how difficult it can be to book Be Our Guest ADRs–now imagine reducing the restaurant’s capacity to 5% of what it currently is, and INCREASING demand.
Very well said Tom. I think those that are angry should direct their anger to Disney who are the ones that built this way too low capacity but high demand experience. No idea what they were thinking. There are going to continue to be a lot of upset guests.
We’ve had reservations for the Poly booked since last year. When our window to make dining reservations opened, I couldn’t get a reservation at Ohana. Now I know it’s an extremely popular restaurant, but I didn’t even have a chance at booking a reservation due to the system they have in place. I do feel like it borders on being unfair. I really hope that we will have a better “chance” with our experiences in Galaxy’s Edge…providing we get a chance at entering it.
Awesome article and pictures. The high cost did put me off in the beginning but now I am considering.
Proprietary blade, lots of plastic, and it looks cheap. Look up UltraSabers or Wonderco. Avoid Saber Forge. Much better quality, and lower price.
Having no knowledge of any of these brands, I’ll defer to you on build quality. If what people want is the best lightsaber, those are probably better options for them.
From my perspective, the critical difference is that you can’t build any of those in an experience inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. For me, this was about the whole package, and I’m guessing that’s what will keep demand high.
Hi all! My husband and I built our sabers with UltraSabers. They range from $75 for a random “grab bag” saber to $700 for fully customizable sound, light, base, charging port …. These are “battle ready” sabers. Being super geeks, we went full out and got the super reinforced blades with which we have fought each other multiple times. I may or may not have knocked a hole in the drywall of our home with mine. Because we got two of the premium sabers, we also got a training saber and a random saber for, ehum, free. They have withstood battle against out premium sabers with no problems. If you do go with UltraSaber, get a sound package. It really kicks the experience up rather dramatically. BUT, as Tom said, you don’t get the Disney experience (which I’m sure we don’t need to do (plus another lightsaber – battle ready?)) but I’m sure we will do it for the experience (and someone will be getting a nice Christmas gift).
Can you give some details about when and where we should line up/enter the land to make sure we get to do this?
Is there a specific entry that’s best to enter? Or does everyone go in one way? My 9-year-old nephew and I have a reservation at 4pm on Friday and I would love to have him experience this! Thanks!
I don’t know if it has or will change, but the only option for lining up when we did this was over by Hungry Bear. I’d recommend lining up by 3:30 p.m. at the latest, and racing directly to Savi’s.
You should memorize its location on a park map and look at exterior photos, as it’s really easy to miss. Good luck!
Hi Marc!
I hope I can provide some helpful information.
The first thing you will need to do is go to the Star Wars launch bay in Tomorrowland to get and activate your wristband. Do this as early as they will let you.
After you have your wristband you will want to head over to the Hungry Bear restaurant in Critter Country. The holding pen is between the restaurant and the Rivers of America. Disney says not to arrive until 15 minutes before, but people will be crowding it over and hour before. when I went on Saturday, I arrived 30 minutes before my reservation start time and I was too late.
Once you are let in to the holding pen, hustle your way as far to the front of the line. If you can see cast members with big sticks, you are doing well.
Once they let you into the land, don’t slow for photos or sightseeing. Hustle to get as close as possible to the cast members with the stick leading the pack.
They will takealong a path to the right, but keep on the left hand side of the group.
try and find out what the shop front looks like ahead of time so that you will recognize it because there are no signs. They will cut off the line within minutes of the start of your reservation.
If you’re going with another adult, I would recommend that one of you stay with your nephew and let him experience the walk into the land while the other adult rush to the workshop. Only one person per lightsaber will need to be in line.
Thank you both so much! Just got the e-mail to add people to the reservation so my wife can now hold a place in line while we walk around.
I like the very low capacity of Savi’s, and even though $200 is (very) overpriced for most families, the scarcity / apparent build quality makes it reasonable from the collector’s standpoint or commemorative gift, the demo I think Disney was trying to target with the workshop.
Given that some easily breakable Disney Starbucks mugs are re-selling for $75-100, nothing surprises me when it comes to price points among the various franchises.
That being said, it wouldn’t surprise me to see a plastic lightsaber build at a much lower price point, with higher capacity, in a future expansion.
Hmmm…that ‘s a shame about the one guest. We are a family of three and would have gone ahead and paid the $200 to experience this together, but definitely cannot justify buying two–or leaving someone behind. Guess we will need to be content with our shoulder Porgs! I’ve got a trip planned to WDW in September and am starting to worry that we will feel some disappointment–that Galaxy’s Edge is mostly a highly-themed shopping mall at this point. I don’t want to feel this way…..
“I’ve got a trip planned to WDW in September and am starting to worry that we will feel some disappointment—that Galaxy’s Edge is mostly a highly-themed shopping mall at this point.”
There’s definitely a lot of retail, but each space is intimate, meticulously-themed, and has at least one memorable highlight. There isn’t a single large and bland gift shop. If you appreciate elaborate queues, think of the shops that way (or, if you’ve been to Wizarding World of Harry Potter, they’re almost exactly like those, except with Star Wars).
The biggest “downside” to that is you will absolutely feel the compulsion to buy a bunch of weird stuff that you don’t really need. We largely resisted this after dropping so much on the lightsaber, but it was tough…
Thanks for the response Tom! Now that I’ve had time to think about it, I will probably send my husband and daughter to Savi’s while I soak up the atmosphere of the land. Going to start loading up a Disney gift card so the sticker shock is less painful.
Thank you for the review. Our entire family is huge Star Wars fans, but my boys are on the younger side (4 and 6 for our visit). They love Star Wars, know the characters and stories so I can see them engaging in the story with a good amount of prep from us ahead of time. I’m just not sure if this experience is geared toward an older crowd. Do you think this experience would be lost on them (too slow or too much urgency)? I expect that my husband and I would enjoy the experience/show, and the kids would ultimately appreciate the end product. I can’t see paying $800 for our entire family, so we would plan to just have 2 slots so we could help the boys build and listen to the story. Thanks for all your great info throughout the site.
I wouldn’t say the experience is geared towards a young or old crowd. It should have appeal across the spectrum. We saw a good mix of ages building the lightsabers, skewing slightly adult.
It sounds like you’re willing to drop $400, but not $800? If so, I’d recommend letting the kids build the lightsabers while you soak up the environment; they will appreciate the interactivity while you’re more likely to appreciate the level of detail.
$200 lol hahahaha omfg ……There’s a sucker born every minute indeed .
Savi’s was the must-do item of my trip to Galaxy’s Edge. I was dumb but got lucky and made it into the reservation line 15 minutes after entering the land (only 10 people behind me made it). It did cost me about the same amount of time (45-minutes to pay, 10-minutes and my spot in Oga’s Cantina line when I was told to come back at 10:30 but then they said come back at 11:15, and 45-minutes as we waited and did the build until park closed at midnight).
I am a massive Star Wars fan, and these are pretty quality lightsabers (a friend compared them to Saberforge). You are correct, I felt overwhelmed when activating my saber for the first time. I hope in the future I can go with friends or family willing to spend $200 on their own blade so I can experience that feeling again. This is the centerpiece of my Star Wars memorabilia, and the hilt (and if I can figure out safe airline transport the blade too) will be accompanying me on every trip to Galaxy’s Edge in the future. I cannot wait to see how cast members, and especially First Order troopers, interact with people carrying lightsabers.
I was one of the lucky few to get into Savi’s last week. I am a diehard Star Wars fan. This was more important to me than anything else in Galaxy’s Edge. Definitely cool!
I know you make a living for your blog, but I’m not sure why you thought it was acceptable to take away one of those few slots from a diehard fan to buy something/experience something you weren’t even interested in.
I also would add that you might want to redact the guest star’s name of the voice at the end of the ceremony from your article. That was definitely a highlight I would not have wanted would for me.
“I know you make a living for your blog, but I’m not sure why you thought it was acceptable to take away one of those few slots from a diehard fan to buy something/experience something you weren’t even interested in.”
My 6 year old son is a die hard Jack Skellington fan. By your logic, I guess I’ll get to shame all the adults wanting to get a shot for Instagram that cause a 2+ wait at MMVCP so he doesn’t get the chance to meet him. Liking something more than someone else doesn’t entitle you.
Tom clearly warned any reader of spoliers:
“Again, to avoid spoilers, stop reading/scrolling now…”
If anyone did not want to get any spoilers, then that person should not have heeded his warning and not read ahead.
Yes, I know he warned there were spoilers. I had already gotten my blade. I was giving him some advice that his decision to release the name was one step too far for even a spoiler warning.
Also, your analogy to Jack Skellington and IG has no relationship to my comment. I made mine in regards to the fact Tom saw diehard fans walking away brokenhearted because he took a spot (and if he did, how many other “quasi-media” did the same?)
Some of these people don’t have the budget to return to Disneyland multiple times a year. This was a one-shot experience for them, spoiled by greedy people who did not place the same value on it.
I am going to unsubscribe to this blog, but I hope my thoughts will resonate with Tom in the future. I would have much rather read that they decided not to be builders because they realized people were being turned away.
I don’t think it’s fair to say only diehard SW fans deserve a spot in there. They waited with everyone else and had an awesome experience! SWGE isn’t just for the SW fans-I entered with my friends uncles who weren’t big SW fans. They left with a monkey lizard, a lightsaber, and a plan to rewatch the movies and start watching the TV series!
Those diehard Star Wars fans should have beat them there then. There’s no requirement of level of adoration for Star Wars. Anyone willing to pay up the $200 gets a spot.
Haha, perhaps they thought it was acceptable because they got in the queue in time and were willing to pay the money.
Life is not a meritocracy, and not everything can be judged on “who’s the biggest diehard fan”, or who is “most worthy” – how or who would you even judge that?
There will be plenty of guests out there who do this experience even though they’re not mega fans – some because they think it’s something they must-do, and some, like in Sara’s case, who just don’t want to hang around in the park waiting for people for ages.
We don’t have a right to an experience just because we’re mega fans – it’s up to all of us to determine the time and effort we’re willing to put in, and accept it if the luck is against us.
I follow Tom’s blog regularly and feel the need to jump in here and defend. You can’t rate peoples’ worthiness for an experience on who wants or appreciates it the most. The entire Disney experience is built on the ‘first come first serve’ principle. If someone couldn’t live without going to Savi’s, then they better make sure they do their research and get there well in advance and know where to line up and when. You know where a lot of these diehards might find that information? In this post.
Tom and his wife are serious Disney fans, and they’ve channeled that into a blog that thousands of people read and get a lot of great information from. He secured his spot and paid his money just like a regular guest. To scold him over a lightsaber experience b/c he’s not a die hard Star Wars fan like you are is not fair and frankly childish on your part.
“I know you make a living for your blog, but I’m not sure why you thought it was acceptable to take away one of those few slots from a diehard fan to buy something/experience something you weren’t even interested in.”
I’m not sure what sort of world you live in (though it sounds like an interesting premise for a Black Mirror episode) but that does not even remotely hold as a valid criticism. Should he have done a poll of everyone entering Galaxy’s Edge that day to determine the “diehard fans” and cede the right-of-way for those priviliged few to experience any-and-every attraction they may choose? It should go without saying that all paying customers are treated equally. Furthermore, Disney would quickly fade to irrelevance if they ONLY focused on serving existing fans instead of cultivating new fans and interests.
Also, presumptuous of you to assume that Tom makes a living from the blog and to somehow ignore the large bolded spoiler warnings in the article.
I dislike Star Wars but I wish I purchased the lightsaber thingy reservation whenever Allison was at Disneyland just so I could steal a slot from her.
I find your reasoning deeply flawed. By your logic ONLY diehard fans are allowed to get into Savi’s. No casual fans allowed? Tom clearly was impressed by the experience, and he likely will not be the only one. This is one way for a casual fan to become an even deeper fan, or even a diehard fan. But your logic is even worse than that, think about it for a moment. Because what if a diehard fan gets in, taking the slot of a SUPER diehard fan? Essentially you’re requiring a ranking of the fandom of everyone entering Galaxy’s Edge, with only the top 50 allowed into Savi’s. Which would mean that if there were 50 Star Wars fans more diehard than you when you went into Savi’s you deprived them of their spot because they were more deserving than you.
Which is why I don’t buy your logic, or your ranking nonsense. Anyone who’s interested enough to go to a show and is willing to pay the ticket and is fortunate enough to get in get to go. Otherwise, by your logic, you’d need to hand over your lightsaber to more dedicated fans than yourself. Which is an absurdity.
Nothing personal or insulting is intended by any of my statements, but would Master Yoda have said them?
Does the lightsaber blade detach? I assume when you turn it “on,” it just turns the light on, but the blade is always present. In other words, is there any way to carry one on a belt? If the blade is always there (whether lighted or not), this would not be practical for that purpose, IMHO.
Yes, the blades are detachable from the hilt, and the hilts can be strapped onto a belt on their own.
If you buy one lightsaber how many people can go in with you. Family of 4 buys one…who can go in?
It sounds like you can have one guest. I think that is why Tom could go in with Guy, but Sarah would have had to stay outside. By buying a second one, she could go in, too (and theoretically bring a guest with her, if she wanted).
So you have two kids who both want to experience it; $400 (plus tax) for a 25m show and a stick that lights up? I’m glad you enjoyed it, and others seem to be as well but those costs are unconscionable from my perspective. Disney is expensive, but even when comparing to other overpriced forms of entertainment the $8 per minute price tag is over the top. I guess if the market will bear it, then kudos to Disney for maximizing their profit.
Last year we took the family to Hamilton on Broadway and it was less comparatively less expensive than this light saber building experience would be. I know that might seem like apples to oranges, and granted, we didn’t have a glow up stick at the end…but that was a world class performance whereas no matter how cool this is…just isn’t.
Yeah, I don’t think there’s any logical way to justify the cost. That’s even more so the case when you’d have multiple kids, each of whom would want to build their own lightsabers.
What an amazing opportunity, with early prep, to give your children the satisfaction of earning the money to purchase their own lightsaber! When my daughter was in middle school we were struggling with her doing house chores. We had a Disney trip coming up and we had already sat the kids down and explained that they would be responsible for any spending money they wanted. She wasn’t much for babysitting and it is hard to find jobs at that age. I secretly called a friend and asked her to “hire” my daughter to clean her house. I ponied up the money for my friend to “pay” her, just happy to have someone that was not me holding my daughter to high standards. The desire for spending money created external motivation and my daughter worked hard for my friend. When I tried to give the cash back to my friend she refused it and said she was very happy with my daughter’s work and would have her come weekly! My daughter developed a great sense of pride to have her own money and to this day is my best house cleaner!!! If the thought of a $200 light saber can propel your children to work….take advantage of it! Be creative to help them reach their goal. I believe it will mean that much more to them if they earn the money themselves!
One person can come in with the paying person, I think.
Oh how I want this. And I would save up $200 for it.
But if you’re only allowed into the land for 4 hours, giving up HALF of it for a 20-minute experience seems crazy. Would you really have done this if it meant not exploring the Rebellion forest area, not interacting with the characters, not building a robot? Maybe just riding the single-rider line?
It sounds really awesome but 200 is a bit steep for me. That’s a whole extra day at disneyworld or a few nice table service dinners. But I have to tell you that I lmao about the ferrous dashound but if a neighbor gets one I’ll know what to do!!!!
My question from that is: I know you were doing something for a media purpose – was that why you were “free”? Because if I want to bring my son into this, do we both have to pay the $200 and each get a saber? Or can nonpaying people accompany someone who is buying/assembling a saber?
This had nothing to do with the media event–we did it as regular guests several days after Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened to the general public.
It would’ve been ‘free’ because each paying lightsaber builder is able to bring one guest into the experience. There are 14 builder slots per 25 minute experience, but a total guest capacity of 28 people.
Thanks, that was my question! I believe my then husband (we are going on our honeymoon) will want to do the experience, but we won’t want to drop $400 for both of us to make one!
Awesome. Thanks Tom. Been reading your articles and advice for three years and two prior WDW trips. We booked for September/start of October on the “free” dining plan, expecting this land to not be open yet (and hoping the September “slowness” would still be happening in early October). Plan on grabbing the older of our sons (age 7) at like 5 am a couple of mornings just to hit the extra extra magic hours before everyone else starts their day. Also. My wife and I (especially me) may geek out if we run into you during the trip. Is that weird? Yeah probably.
Currently, the official stance is if one person is buying a lightsaber, one person may accompany them for a total of two people getting entry for the purchase of one lightsaber.
Have you heard anything about them possibly expanding the capacity of the experience at Disneyland or WDW? I would hope they would expand by adding another small assembly/show room (or two or five) rather than just increasing the size of the current room to keep the feel, but I don’t know if there is any usable space where they could add these rooms.
It seems like Disney would just be throwing away thousands of potential dollars per hour without increased capacity. The same could be said for the cantina but these added rooms seem like a no-brainer if they had the space. Sorry if you covered this in the post – I only read the spoiler free sections.
There is definitely unused space in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge (as well as room for future expansion), but I’m not sure if there’s anything immediately adjacent to Savi’s that could be used for a second ‘show’ room.
The most likely scenario I can envision is about a year or so from now, Disney wanting to squeeze more revenue out of the experience, so they either increase the price, or condense the show (or both).
I can’t decide if Disney decided to ignore the lessons of Ollivanders or decided to lean in to make it more exclusive. Universal figured out people loved the show at Ollivanders and made it more accessible (bigger) when Diagon Alley opened.