If you have ever dreamed of building your own Star Wars droid, this is the place for you! The Droid Depot is located in Galaxy’s Edge in Hollywood Studios and is kind of like Build A Bear workshop meets Ride Makerz. This place is a Star Wars droid fans dream! It is decorated with droid parts and retired droid units and it is just cool! Our boys have been asking to do this since we moved here and we have always said no because it is expensive. BUT…a couple of weeks ago we surprised them with a reservation to each make their own droid and it was a lot of fun! So I thought I would share the experience with you all and give you all the details, may the force be with us!
Reservations
You will want to make a reservation for this experience in the My Disney Experience app in advance. I believe this window open up just like your dining reservations, 180 days before your check in date if you are staying in a Disney resort and 60 days if you are not. You can just search Droid Depot in the app and it will come up for you. If you don’t find a reservation for your desired date, don’t worry! Keep checking back and one might open up, there are also walk up appointments OCCASIONALLY so you can always check once you are in the park as well. We got our reservation the week before since it was a last minute surprise. You will also want to make sure you have a park reservation for Hollywood Studios if that is required for your ticket type.
Where To Find The Droids You Are Looking For
You will find the Droid Depot in Galaxy’s Edge near Ronto Roasters and the big Tie Fighter. Everything in Galaxy’s Edge is a little inconspicuous so it can be easily missed if you are not sure what you are looking for. You will enter right across from a drink cart that has a pad set up for you to test drive your droids when you come out and if you look inside the doorway you will know you’re in the right place!
Pricing & Whats Included
As I said before, these are a little pricey! Each Astromech Droid is $119.99 plus tax and is not eligible for any discounts of any kind. This includes all the parts and pieces needed to assemble your droid, instructions on how to use your droid and a carrying box. There are of course lots of add ons you can get for your droid. Things like personality chips, attachable accessories and a really cool backpack to carry your droid inside. There is a more expensive, all inclusive package you can pay for up front as well that includes the backpack and a personality chip, it is over $200.
The Process
This really is a fun experience! Keep in mind that only one person can accompany the builder for the experience, so if you have one kiddo making a droid only one parent can come in with them. When you check in for your reservation you get to choose which series of droid you would like to build. You can pick an R-Series like R2D2, a BB-Series like BB-8 and now they have a C-Series as well like Chopper!
Each series has a slightly different shape and accessories that go with it. Once you have chosen your droid type you pay in advance at the register. After that each builder is given a basket to collect the parts they need to build their droid. This is the start of the cool part! There is a big conveyor system moving through the whole store with all different colors and shapes of droid parts. You take your basket to your spot and start grabbing what you need for your droid. They have a list with pictures on the wall to remind you of what pieces you need to collect so you don’t forget anything.
Once you have collected all your parts and pieces a Cast Member escorts you to a work station where you will assemble your droid. There is another Cast Member there that will walk you through the whole process and help you bring your droid to life. They have power tools for you to use and some smaller parts that you can color coordinate with your chosen droids colors. Once you are done assembling your droid they have you place it in a little station to activate and bring to life. They give you a quick tutorial on how to use the remote and let you practice before they send you out into the galaxy!
While they don’t necessarily want you to be driving your droid around the park everywhere, they do have a pad. set up outside the depot where you can drive them around with other droids. I thought this was nice since, of course, you want to drive them around as soon as you get them.
On Your Home Planet
These are bluetooth droids so with us having two of them, the Cast Member warned us that if we didn’t turn them off at night they would stay up all night talking to each other. This happened even through walls!! The boys have left theirs on and you can hear the beep beep boop boops back and forth from one room to the other. Hahaha! They drive pretty well on any surface too, we have wood and carpet and they will drive on both and on the bumpy sidewalk. My only complaint is that they are not rechargeable, they take batteries, a lot of batteries!
Conclusion
We absolutely loved this experience and although it was pricey, we felt like it was worth it. The boys had a good time doing it and it was definitely a core memory after waiting so long to do it. It was cool to see all the different parts and ways you could put your droid together and I have no doubt we will be back for backpacks and personality chips. If you have a big Star Wars fan in your family, I would say this is a must do, especially if they love droids! Although you do not have to be a Star Wars fan to enjoy this. I had a woman tell me her daughter built one with her dad even though she had never watched Star Wars and ended up bringing her roommate back to build one too and now they have droid races in the hallway of their dorm every weekend! Hahaha!!
I had a good time just watching the boys do this and the Cast Members really make it a great experience. You do not feel rushed and they were totally into it all! I hope this gave you a little glimpse into building a droid and helps you decide if this is something you and your family might want to do. As always, thank you so much for reading along and have a magical day!
