A Jedi’s One True Ally

by Disney Magic Diva and Matt

If you’ve read any of my articles about my life and adventures at Disney Parks, you know my family is a Star Wars family.  Especially my son, Matt. We enjoyed Star Wars Weekends back when they were held at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we’ve been to every Star Wars runDisney event at Walt Disney World Resort and the inaugural event at Disneyland Park, and we are booked for Opening Day at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

While we know there will be countless things to explore when we first land on Batuu, I know Matt will be especially eager to get his hands on a particular souvenir.  Today, he tells you about it.

 

 

 

One of the things I am most excited about in the upcoming Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland Resort and Disney’s Hollywood Studios is the opportunity to build my own unique lightsaber. Sure, for years you’ve been able to build a lightsaber at Tatoonie Traders outside of Star Tours as well as other places around Disney Parks.

But just as Batuu promises to take the Star Wars experience to an entirely new immersive level, you can be assured building a lightsaber at Savi’s Workshop in Black Spire Outpost will be unlike anything we’ve seen before. So, unless you’re a Guardian of the Whills, it may be helpful to understand a little of the backstory of how Jedi acquire lightsabers according to Star Warslore.

Building a lightsaber is a rite of passage for Jedi younglings (the rank before Padawan). It begins with The Gathering – a process where younglings go to the arctic planet Ilum and search the Crystal Caves for the single kyber crystal that spoke to them. This search led younglings to face fears or acknowledge personal failings, and they need to overcome these obstacles to reach their kyber crystal. Once they found their crystal, younglings returned to the Crucible, a Jedi starship where they would construct their lightsabers under the guidance of a millennia-old droid, Professor Huyang.

Tip: If Professor Huyang is at Savi’s Workshop, ask him about the time he helped Master Yoda or Master Windu build their lightsabers.

During its reign, the Empire strip-mined Ilum so deeply chunks of the planet are visibly missing. Given this, it is lucky that galactic merchant Savi has collected so many kyber crystals. What we know so far is that Savi’s Workshop will play host to Gatherers, a group who dedicated their lives to restoring balance to the galaxy by searching for and passing on knowledge of Jedi lore and the Force. These Gatherers will help guests visiting Savi’s Workshop customize and build their own unique lightsabers.

Tip: The Gatherers may be looking to restore balance, but I’m guessing Savi is looking to make a profit. Be prepared to shell out a large quantity of credits for these Jedi artifacts.

At Star Wars Celebration Chicago last month, Disney Parks showed off a lot of the merchandise we can expect to see in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, including kyber crystals and hand-built lightsabers. The hand-built lightsabers available to purchase will include a kyber crystal, a hilt that you put together under the guidance of Savi’s Workshop Masters, a blade to attach to your lightsaber, and a sheath to store your blade when you aren’t using the lightsaber.

We know that the process starts by getting a small metal pin (similar in size to a trading pin, but definitely not something to give away). This pin serves as the key to enter the lightsaber building experience and the pin’s shape and coloration indicate what type of lightsaber kit you’ll receive inside the experience (and the kit is the look of your lightsaber). Pins and kits come in four categories: Peace and Justice (think Old Republic Jedi), Power and Control (Sith elements), Elemental Nature (rock, wood, stone, perhaps even animal bone or rancor tooth), and Protection and Defense (ancient and aged metals with mysterious writing on the hilts).

Once inside the experience, guests will choose their kyber crystal. Crystals come in four colors: blue, green, purple, and red. The color of your kyber crystal will reflect the color of your blade, but it also will hint towards what information may be stored on your kyber crystal.

Tip: Want to enhance your experience? Buy a holocron! Kyber crystals store wisdom from past Force users and interact with Jedi and Sith holocrons (which will also be available for separate purchase from Savi). Holocrons on their own are storage devices for Force users to pass along their wisdom to future generations, but when you input a kyber crystal more or different information can be revealed. Sith holocrons are typically pyramids, and Jedi holocrons cubes. If you remove your kyber crystal from the lightsaber, you can put it in a holocron and hear the information stored on your kyber crystal.

Once you have your crystal you will be handed the construction kit that aligns with the pin you were given earlier. Guests will assemble the lightsaber, with guidance or help from the Workshop Masters. Once completed, the cast members will review the lightsaber construction to ensure it is complete and correct, and then present the guest with their own blade. Guests can attach the blade to the hilt and light up their saber for the first time.

Tip: Blades are said to be battle ready. This means they can be used for dueling and will  make sound/flashes when in contact with other sabers. Expect the quality to be much higher than that of the plastic retractable lightsabers built at Tatooine Traders and other shops on Disney property.

Finally, you get your shopping bag. All hilts are wearable via a belt clip, but the lightsaber blades come with a sheath you can wear across your back while continuing to explore Batuu. Legacy hilts, based on character’s hilts that have been seen in movies and animation, will also be available for purchase and come in smaller boxes without the blade. For those interested in Legacy hilts, the blades can be purchased separately or the same blade from a hand-built lightsaber can be removed and work with a legacy blade.

Tip: Can’t decide between the hand-built and Legacy hilts? Be sure to factor in the price of a blade when comparing the cost. The hand-built lightsaber includes the blade, but with the Legacy hilt you don’t get a blade.

I’m not sure how customizable these hilts are given the limited number of parts in the kit, but I can’t wait to find out!  It’s also not yet clear how you’ll acquire those pins to gain access to the process.  But whatever the process, it’s sure to be an experience every aspiring Jedi will look forward to undertaking.

I hope you enjoy making your own lightsaber as much as I will. Soon we will all be Jedi Padawans, except for you Sith Apprentices out there! See you on Batuu!

Need help planning your visit to Batuu?  Patricia at All for Dreams Travel can make all your transport arrangements.  Contact her today for a free quote!

***Disclaimer – We at Tips from the Disney Divas and Devos hope you enjoy reading our articles and encourage you to share any you feel may be of interest to someone else.  We do ask, however, if you choose to share the photographs attached to our articles, you give credit to the photographer. Thank you for your cooperation and sharing our love of Disney!