Building a Lightsaber at Savi’s Workshop

This year for my birthday, my mom and some friends and I spent a day at Disneyland. Ever since my first visit to Black Spire Outpost, I’ve wanted to build a light saber. But at $200 (at the time; they’re $220 now), I just couldn’t justify it. Until my mom insisted on gifting me the experience.

(Note: I was under the impression, maybe from what I’d seen at Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities, that there were wildly different types and styles of light sabers that could be built, and that the starting price was about $200. No. At Savi’s you’re building a single blade light saber from one of four sets of pieces, and they’re all priced the same.)

Apparently, when Savi’s Workshop first came online, the process involved an hour or more waiting in line, getting strict return times, etc. Now (January 2022), it’s all done through a reservation system, and it’s quite painless. (Also, though apparently for a time the lightsabers weren’t coming with the padded carrying case, as of late January, that’s no longer the case.)

I made a reservation through the Disneyland app on my phone a few days before my birthday. We were going on a “Tier 2” day and, unsurprisingly, there were plenty of available time slots. I picked 6:50 p.m., figuring that would give us enough time to get it built and maneuver through the park to easily make our 8 p.m. Napa Rose dinner reservation. I didn’t want to get it any earlier, as there’s nowhere to put it without walking all the way back to the car (it’s too big for the lockers), and many rides won’t allow it on (e.g., Space Mountain).

We finished Indiana Jones about 6:30 p.m. and headed over to Galaxy’s Edge by way of Critter Country, as we wanted to stop at the bathrooms there and also swap for fresh FuelRods. There we hit a snag: Security had closed the footpath for some reason, and were directing everyone to go around to the Frontierland entrance, all the way around the River of the Americas (probably another 1/5th of a mile, and a lot more congested). Long story short, we got to Savi’s seconds after the 6:50 group was let in. Fortunately, we were able to get into the next group.

After checking in with a cast member who found my name on her tablet, I was shown the chest of drawers that contain the pieces (hilt, sleeves, emitters, pommel caps, activation plates and switches) from which you can build your lightsaber. There are four drawers, each with a different logo, representing the different themes. From top to bottom: Elemental Nature, Peace and Justice, Protection and Defense, and Power and Control.

The lightsaber theme drawers.

(Not the best picture, sorry! I felt kind of rushed, and I was most concerned with getting the icons for the two I was trying to decide between: Peace and Justice, and Power and Control, before realizing Power and Control was the Sith theme.)

I was trying to get as close to Luke Skywalker’s Return of the Jedi lightsaber as possible, so I went with Peace and Justice. (Another note: I thought - again, probably from seeing such things at Dok-Ondar’s, that you could build basically exact replicas of the lightsabers seen in the films. Nope. These are unique creations, although some elements clearly echo our heros’ weapons.)

Once I’d reviewed the drawer contents and made my choice, it was time to pay. You inform the cashier which theme you’re building and which of the limited number of accessories you want (I got the desk stand, $29.99). Your Magic Key doesn’t get you any discount on the lightsaber itself, but it took a few bucks off the stand. Once paid, you’re given a pin with your theme’s logo on it, and a group card (I was obviously in Group K (sorry about the upside down group card); I have no idea why there’s some funny non-Aurebesh language at the bottom?):

savi’s workshop group k

The pin you put on your clothing, high up, so that the cast members working behind the counter inside the workshop can see it. From there, you grab a seat in a small area behind a low gate and wait to be brought inside. Everyone’s excited, and I ended up in a conversation with a fellow traveler about the different colors of lightsabers (Luke’s green blade came about, at least partially, because blue wouldn’t show up against the sky in the outdoor Tatooine scenes... But also to differentiate between his father’s old lightsaber, and the one Luke, as his own man, made for himself).

When our time came, we handed off our “pink” group cards and shuffled into the workshop. (I’ve read that before there was an antechamber and then a secret entrance to the workshop proper; if that’s still part of it, I didn’t notice on the way in.) Everyone takes a spot at the work table:

Our individual workspaces

 

Then we’re introduced to the different color of Kyber crystals. As the colors are explained, the lighting changes to match. Really cool. The options are blue, green, violet, and red.

Discussing the history of red Kyber crystals

 

Then, gatherers (cast members) come around with storage containers full of individual Kyber crystals; the crystals are illuminated in the carrier. I chose green:

A green Kyber crystal

 

Everyone gets a visit from the master of the ceremonies, who discusses the crystal they’ve chosen and the significance.

 

You insert the crystal into a space in the hilt, the base of the lightsaber, where it’s secured by a spring-loaded inset. Once inserted, lights internal to the base change to reflect the color of the crystal, which is really cool to see. You then pick one of the two sets of activation plates and switches and attach them to the hilt over the Kyber crystal. (They have colored markings on the inside that match markings on the base, that show you how everything lines up and attaches.) If you try to activate the lightsaber now, you’ll get a misfire effect, which is tells you you’ve done everything right so far, and is a really cool way of communicating that. Once that’s done, you pick two sleeves (from four in the kit), one emitter (from the two in the kit), and one pommel cap (from two), and screw everything together.

Completed hilt

 

Once your hilt is completed, everyone takes a step back while the gatherers prep them to receive blades, which are waiting in the cylindrical bays to the right of each workstation:

 

Hilts receiving blades.

The cylindrical compartments rotate open revealing the activated lightsabers, and there’s a brief ceremony where each builder becomes one with their lightsaber:

 

Lightsabers activated

 

On your way out of the workshop, you pick up your padded carrying case, but of course everyone fires up their lightsabers as soon as they emerge – might as well light a beacon and send the First Order an email with the exact coordinates of the workshop, y’all!

The Disney photographers at Sleeping Beauty’s Castle have a set of poses they’ll run you through with your new elegant weapon, and even the security folks recognize it and have a process for checking the bag without exposing it to unnecessary risk (pull the lightsaber out a couple of inches so they can feel the bottom). The whole experience is really well thought out and integrated.

Overall?

OMG, such a cool experience. And the lightsaber looks and feels like it’s worth every penny of the purchase price (which also includes the incredible immersion of building it). If you’re on the fence? Do it!

And if you ever get a chance to attend John Williams conducting Maestro of the Movies at the Hollywood Bowl... 

But wait, there’s more!

Kyber crystals. The crystal contains an RFID chip. You can get, from Dok-Ondar’s and probably elsewhere, other colors, including yellow, white, and black (red blade) (black isn’t sold individually but 1 in 100 red crystal containers will contain a black crystal, apparently). Two so far unreleased colors, orange and teal, are also possible (though the blade will be yellow or blue, respectively; apparently the blade doesn’t support these unsupported colors), if you want to hack around a bit with an RFID reader/writer.

Other pieces. Want to try out different appearances? You can pick up additional pieces of “scrap metal” directly from Savi’s (but you’re limited to stock on hand), or Etsy, or eBay, or ...

Legacy Lightsabers. You can get a replica of Luke’s Return of the Jedi lightsaber, or Darth Vader’s, or the reforged Skywalker lightsaber, at Dok-Ondar’s or on Amazon or eBay or ... The hilts and blades (26" and 36") are sold separately. These don’t have replaceable Kyber crystals and are single color.

Batteries. No one tells you this, but the lightsabers are powered by 3 AAA batteries; replacing them is possible.