Do You Want to Build A Custom Droid?
Bright suns! Welcome to my post about building your own Astromech Unit on Batuu!
Guests who visit the Droid Depot are in for a really fun time. It’s loud. It’s busy. And it’s not very big. But you get to fully customize and assemble your own BB-Series or R-Series droid!
While walk-in’s may be accommodated, reservations are highly recommended and can be booked 60 days in advance. The cost to assemble your own droid is $99.99 plus tax. However, if you wish to purchase the droid bundle, which includes your droid and carrying bag, that will cost $165.97 plus tax. If you do not wish to purchase the bag, no worries, you will be given a box to transport your new little friend home.
The day my family visited this amazing workshop was an absolute blast. I stood back and was the observer/official photographer while my husband and daughter each created a droid. After choosing and paying for our droids, we were led to the parts line. A mechanical belt was running and littered with all sorts of parts in various colors. My daughter, building a BB, was instructed to chose a dome, dome connection plate, body sphere and motivator. My husband who chose to build an R-series needed a dome, body, center leg and side legs. There are very cryptic diagrams showing what parts you need but don’t worry, cast members are there to help you out if (and when) you get confused. So, moving along, I don’t know exactly how long this belt was but we stood there for a very long time choosing parts because every time they looked around they saw something new. They would find one part then say, oh, I like this color better and grab it. But then a better color would come along and they’d pick that one instead. You have complete control over what colors you wish to make your droid which is a good thing and possibly a bad thing if you have trouble making up your mind.
Once you have all the parts and a cast member has checked your basket for completeness, you are instructed to wait by the assembly area until a stall opens up. We waited just a few minutes for the folks in front of us to finish up and then it was our turn. Cast members are there to instruct you on exactly how to put your droid together. They go one step at a time but do not assemble the droid for you. If you have littles, be sure a parent or older sibling not making a droid is available to help. The cast members are assisting many guests at once and after explaining the step they move to a different person. Therefore, I suggest you have an extra pair of eyes, ears and hands if available. The assembly process takes about 15 minutes and this includes a tutorial on how to control your droid. Once your droid is in good working order it will be boxed up (or bagged if you upgraded) and you’ll be on your way. Guests are instructed to carry their droids in boxes and bags and to not remove them while in the park. It is prohibited to use the remote controlled device to operate the droid while in the park. The droids will still interact with Galaxy’s Edge from their boxes. We loved seeing them light up and make all the beep and boop noises while we were at Oga’s Cantina.
The last part of building a droid are the optional accessories. If you are planning to just purchase accessories no reservation is necessary since the store is separate from the droid building area. I think the coolest accessory I found were the personality chips. These will take your droid to the next level. For $14.99 plus tax (or 3 for $30.00 plus tax) you can get a chip that easily inserts into an open slot in your droid. These chips can make your droid part of the First Order, the Resistance or a Scoundrel. There are 6 different chips to choose from and you can play with it right in the store to see what it can do. In addition to the personality chips I found you can further personalize your droid with decals. And while it won’t fit your new friend, I certainly had my eye on the gorgeous Loungefly Mini Backpack!
My family had so much fun building droids and definitely plan to grab some personality chips next time we are in Hollywood Studios. Oooh, maybe I’ll sneak the Loungefly Bag in too!
