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!
My friend bought one of these $250 lightsabers at Disney and it broke by the time he got home. I bought my first lightsaber from a company called “SaberZone” and it works just fine. Only draw back is that I found the exact same thing on Aliexpress for half the price of what I spent on Saberzone.
Unboxing video here: https://youtu.be/HLWiHop2a1k
We are planning to reserve after reading this piece. Thanks for sharing this article!
I am considering purchasing one online for my son. Are these lightsabers durable enough for duels or are they more for display? The last time we were at Disney we got the expandable plastic ones but these seem different.
A tip for anyone reading this comment. If you ship directly from Disney World, visit your hotel, or ask for a souvenir shop that ships, there is a well worth it option of full replacement should the object not arrive.
With all of the current restrictions, is one non-paying guest allowed to accompany the light saber builder?
I would like to know about building a drone. We really want to do that but noit sure what it is like
My husband and two sons did the drone workshop while my mother in law and I spectated right after Star Wars Land opening in Sept 2019. It was awesome and totally worth the price tag. A little gimmicky, but gimmicky done well as Disney always seems to excel at.
Well after a year, the batteries on my saber went dead. Easy to replace, three AAA’s. Disassembling is easy enough and have done that several times to swap out the different colored crystals I picked up along the way. Also bought a stand for it on one of our trips. I got mine last August during the AP preview of Galaxy’s edge.
This experience was totally worth the price that we paid. My wife and I both grew up on the Star Wars movies and we are humongous Star Wars geek’s. We also bought quite a few of the legacy light sabers, and when we go back again we plan on finishing out the set. If you are a Star Wars nerd or Star Wars gig this is a total must do.
The world of jedi. I want to try to forge my own saber, choose the color of it. And also to explore other shops for starwars i’m a big fan of luke skywalker.
Hi Tom,
Thanks again for a balanced and informative review. I still have a few questions though!
Could you please explain the “audience” aspect of the workshop. Does each paying participant get one guest to accompany them or could you have more? Is photo taking allowed?
A very moot post for me seeing as I’m in Australia and unlikely to get back to any Disney in the next year or two due to travel restrictions.
Cheers!
I did Savi’s in February and you were allowed one guest per paying customer. Photos and video are allowed, it worked really well for us to have the “audience” member take the pictures. Hopefully in a couple of years all travel restrictions will be lifted and you can experience it for yourself!
Thanks, Jared. We went in 2017 and had such an unexpectedly amazing time that we’d love to go back. Especially as the Star Wars part wasn’t finished. Unfortunately all our travel plans have been pushed back indefinitely. We had Nepal and Thailand planned for this year and the UK and Paris (with Disneyland!) for next year, so who knows when we’ll be able to do those trips now, let alone a US trip again.
Maybe they’ll build a Disneyland here in Australia! Hmm. Unlikely.
Thanks so much for the review Tom! We are taking our two grandkids in November (hopefully) and we’re worried that they would see such a different Disney for their first experience. This sounds like an experience of a lifetime, and I have just texted our AMAZING Disney planner(Genevieve) to book this for our 7 and 9 year olds. Fingers crossed!!!)
$200 for a replica LS made of cheap plastic, wonderful. My wife was shocked I didn’t want to get one while there. I spent $250 for a deluxe Luke replica LS back in the day and it was all metal and has a glass blade with light effects and sounds while moving. It amazes me how much Disney milks this franchise with such terrible movies in tow and a generic new land largely there to make you wait and spend a ton of money. And btw, this LS costs way more than $200 when you prorate the lost money via the two hours of time it takes to get one of these cheap plastic replicas.
The whole housing is metal and it’s pretty heavy. Only the core that contains the electronics, batteries, etc is plastic. The blade also has light effects and makes sounds while moving.
Well, I’m certainly not in a position to try and convince someone to go for this. $200 isn’t chump change (though it can be at Disney these days, lol) and the interest levels people have in something like this are all over the map.
For me, I could afford it and, having read about the offering I decided it was definitely something I wanted to experience. Your mileage may vary.
And speaking of the experience, that was half the point, almost. I grew up with SW (first film released when I was 13 or 14) and while I’m certainly not some kind of massive SciFi “geek” I did and still do quite love the franchise. And crap … that ceremony moved me to tears. Yes, I was quite aware how “cheesy” things were on one level, I threw those thoughts out of my head and I was incredibly moved. They have set that park up – and especially the experiences such as this one up – to really be immersive and the entire light saber thing felt very much like a high school or college graduation or something. Only with this it was more meaningful, as I’m no kid anymore and some stuff hits me more than such things did at 17 or 22.
So yeah, make up your own mind – definitely. The end product is pretty damned good, but it was the experience of building and obtaining that light saber that truly made the difference for me.
It’s not “cheap plastic.” Have you ever held one in your hand? It’s heavy. Also has the features that your “deluxe Luke replica LS” has, other than having a plastic blade so that you can actually use it to play fight with other people (I view this as a positive over glass, but ymmv on that I suppose).
It’s also unclear to me what Charles’s basis is for saying it takes you 2 hours to get one. You make an appointment on the MDE app/website before you go. You show up for the appointment at the specified time. You go inside and build your lightsaber, which takes about 20 minutes (maybe less, I didn’t use a stopwatch). Then you leave.
Virtually everything Charles has to say about this experience and the Savi’s lightsabers is, at best, based on his own (poor) assumptions that aren’t even remotely true…
As for my personal opinion, I took my 5yo daughter with me when we flew down for the AP preview last August and she got to help me build it. We both loved the experience and thought that the lightsaber was really cool (and well-built).
My husband did this for his Christmas present last December and I got to be his guest. He is the big fan but even I found the whole ceremony incredible and definitely worth the money and the saber itself is really cool and well-made. Without the ceremony we would not find it nearly so special though. Here’s hoping it is safe to do it again sooner than later!
Only the core is plastic, due to housing the electronics. The parts you put on are all metal, it gives it a really good heft. The led blades are bright, and the fact that you can change both the color and sound effects by changing out the crystal is fantastic.
“I can only imagine how moving it would be for someone who grew up on Star Wars, and has a strong nostalgic bond.” So true. Literally brought tears to my eyes. And noticabaly to other participants. I’ve been a Star Wars fan since the first movie premiered. Later introducing my son to Stars Wars. Now in his 30’s, he is a super fan & collector. Yes, this experience is definitely worth it. Yes, the light saber is worth the money. Spending the day at Galaxy’s Edge with my son & his wife was an experience I will never forget & hold dear to my heart. Oh & by the way… I have a LIGHT SABER!!!! The Force Is With Me now! How cool is that?!
Hi, Asking for a friend,,, Any thoughts of what to do to fix it if it does not light up after being shipped?
Thanks,
First thing to try is always new batteries. These things eat batteries, even when idle, and the cheapos they come with are just sad.
To the writer of the blog, I appreciated your piece and found it to be accurate compared to my experience at Savi’s. However, you didn’t mention that during the ceremony, particularly at the wow moment, they play John William’s “Jedi theme” from the movie score, that is why this moment is so special and emotional. I’ve always said no one would have ever heard of Star Wars if it wasn’t for his score… Lucas himself has pretty said this. Just my hopes to make more people aware of why their emotional connection to these movies is so strong, it’s the music!
You are way off Charles!!
What is the blade made of? Does it collapse? I’m really debating doing this but I don’t want to get something that has a reasonable chance of breaking on the flight home.
it’s a pretty sturdy plastic tube full of leds…
they give you a protective travel sleeve with the experience…
as long as nobody tries to break it in two over their knee it should survive the flight (I removed the hilt and packed it in my personal carry-on to make the length less intimidating to TSA)
My son’s lightsaber is no longer working. Is there somewhere I can send it to get fixed? Or are there any good videos to help me trouble shoot?
The Star Wars park is free with general admission to Disneyland. The Saber will set you back just under $240 after tax.
Hello! My family and i are going to Disneyland next week and this is something that i’ve been looking at. i only have around $230.00 to spend while there and the $200.00 price point is really discouraging me. Being completely honest, should i buy one?
Given your budget, the Light Saber would be a definite pass. The full cost with tax is something like $230-240 anyway, which would eat up your entire reported budget. Save that cash for food and drink (you’ll need it!) and perhaps a small souvenier item for the kids or whatever. Disney is a pretty expensive place, quite frankly, and the Star Wars park is no exception. Most gift stores are outrageously overpriced to begin with, so you’ll want to skip a lot of that stuff. The good news is that there is a decent amount to do in the Star Wars portion of the park… the two rides are beyond awesome and the entire park is something to behold, indeed! Plus, you have the whole rest of the Disneyland park to enjoy (one assumes this is of interest too). Put most bluntly: depending on the size of your family, you are going to eat up most/all of your cash on food & drink so plan on enjoying the rides and all there is to see there, such as the parades and such! https://www.disneytouristblog.com/best-disneyland-dining-tips/
is 200 dollars only for the workshop or the entire star wars land
Just the lightsaber experience, admission to the land is covered in your disneyland/world ticket. The two rides are free.
We flew on United out of LAX and the baggage clerk did not blink twice at my carry case from Savi’s which only had the blade in it. TSA didn’t care about it either at security – I am guessing it’s a pretty regular thing for them now. It fit in the overhead bin on the plane no problem.
Did you have a carry on or just a personal item? We are flying United but we are only allowed a personal item. So we were wondering if we would be able to take the light saber and droid on as a personal item.