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3. "Custom Astromech Unit" Droid

Image: Disney

PRICE: $99.99 (plus accessories)

BACKSTORY: Fans were quick to criticize Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge for leaning a little too heavily into the Wizarding World model, placing not just one but several sought-after experiences behind “paywalls.” While there's still plenty to enjoy along the streets of Black Spire Outpost, it's true that three of the land's "must-see" moments require a reservation and purchase...! 

To that end, “Custom Astromech Units” are definitely one of those add-on, upcharge costs that can really put a damper on the plans of a thrifty family expecting to have an all-inclusive day for the cost of admission alone. Still, this Star Wars build-a-bot experience is the least expensive of the land’s two “signature” custom souvenir experiences… and probably produces a more useful and playful product on the other end.

Image: Disney

EXPERIENCE: As with Olivander’s, what the Droid Depot has going for it is that Disney essentially turned a store into an experience. Inside, guests are given the choice of making an R-unit (think R2-D2) or a BB-unit (picture BB-8) Droid. In either case, they’re given a tray with blueprints of the parts they'll need before saddling up to a conveyor belt littered with passing parts of different colors, shapes, and styles. With their chosen parts in hand, they move to a build station, assembling the pieces with real tools and – with the help of a roving Batuu scrapper – activating the Droid in a heart-warming introduction of beeps and boops. 

The full experience takes less than a half hour, but it’s so much more memorable and spectacular than buying an off-the-shelf souvenir or even picking parts off shelves. And given the nature of Droids, it’s actually fun and surprisingly in-universe to see “what they’re made of” as you screw and snap decorative parts together around a robotic core. What’s more, the Droid isn’t some passive replica or a high-end display piece; it’s a member of the family! Just wait till you chase your cat with it, take it to work, or share it at show-and-tell! 

Image: Disney

VALUE: To our thinking, Droids are fairly priced for the product. After all, when The Force Awakens debuted in theaters, folks raced out to buy licensed BB-8s by tech company Sphero for $150 or more! For Disney’s lower cost, you not only get a larger figure (albeit, a less-technological, remote-control-based model), the 8(!) total batteries needed to power it, and a carrying box, but you also get the experience… The delight of choosing your own pieces and parts, assembling them with tools, and seeing your new Droid brought to life!

The only reasons to downgrade the Droid’s value are Disney’s inevitable (but admittedly clever!) add-on opportunities… Yes, $100 will get you a living, beeping Droid. But if you’re like us, you’re likely to get suckered into add-on fixtures for the R-series (like decals, stickers, and accessories), or a “Custom Astromech Unit” backpack in which to carry your new friend – "just" $49.99. The most “sucker punch” upcharge of all, though, must be personality chips which, for just $12.99, will align your Droid to the Resistance or First Order and change its sounds, attitude, and interactions with the land’s Bluetooth-ready interactives. (Trust us... your Droid will be plenty chatty without one.)

4. Mouse Ears

Image: Disney

PRICE: $16.99 - $24.99

Perhaps the most classic must-have merchandise at any Disney Park, your age-old Mouse Ears are more than just a photo-op; they’re a long-standing historic favorite made famous by the original Mickey Mouse Club (1955 - 1956). Over the decades, thousands of different designs have graced the heads of Disneyland and Walt Disney World visitors, including a sought-after golden set released for Disneyland's 50th anniversary in 2005, and the auspicious debut of Oswald Rabbit Ears alongside the reborn Disney California Adventure in 2012.

Image: Disney

EXPERIENCE: Mouse Ears are mainstays of each park’s “Main Street” equivalent gift shops. Because so many styles are available (from head bands to ball caps to the classic elastic-strapped hat), everyone can find one they love. Whether worn proudly by locals at Disneyland or by first-time families giving into their childlike whims at Walt Disney World, purchasing and donning Ear Hats is a rite of passage.

VALUE: For as low as $16.99 for the classic set, there may be no better “signature souvenir” in Disney Parks. The legendary embroidering of names on the back costs just $3.00 (or $7.00 for a fancy font), making these a personalized souvenir and gift for a relatively low cost.

5. Spider-Bots

Image: Disney

PRICE: TBD (Our expectation: $89.99)

BACKSTORY: While Star Wars and its Droids moved into Galaxy's Edge in Disneyland, a similarly-epic intellectual property was assembling just a few hundred feet away in Disney California Adventure. There, the Marvel hero-themed Avengers Campus was crafted around a mythology all its own, inviting guests into a newly-commissioned Californian hero headquarters repurposing old Stark Automotive warehouses into a training center for the next generation of heroes – us.

The land's family-friendly favorite will be Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure, equipping guests with 3-D web-slinging abilities of their own. Their mission? To capture the rogue (but friendly!) sidekick Spider-Bots who've been accidentally replicated and released throughout the Worldwide Engineering Brigade facility. But as we might've expected from one of the first rides greenlit during Bob Chapek's era as head of Parks, Experiences, and Products, your on-ride introduction to these robotic hero sidekicks is merely meant to whet your whistle... and send you straight into the gift shop.

Image: Disney

EXPERIENCE: Just across from Spider-Man's tech headquarters will be the W.E.B. Suppliers – a one-stop-shop for all manner of hero paraphernalia, stylized weaponry, Spider-Man LED goggles, web-shooting gauntlets, and more. And among its collection of buyables? Yep... Spider-Bots. You can take these delightful arachnoid androids home with you...!

Like Batuu's Droids, some level of customization will be available, but rather than a build-your-own experience, these 'bots appear to be limited to a base model with color schemes echoing heroes like Black Panther and Iron Man (above). Their remotes will indeed control their eight articulating arms, allowing them to move forwards and backwards... but in the new "add-on-and-upgrade" model, the fun doesn't end there...

Image: Disney

Instead, personalizing will take place via add-on "tactical devices," plug-in chips, and exoskeleton pieces that will raise the mini-bot's battle stats – like speed and strength – allowing two Spider-Bots to battle! It's even expected that mini battle stadiums throughout the land will let guests test their interactive arachnids in remote-controlled battles until a losing bot's exoskeleton pops off, signalling defeat. And Disney's taken the idea of that $49.99 Droid-ready Batuu backpack and somehow made it even cuter, making a WEB-ready backpack (likely also $49.99 or more) as much a must-have as the bot itself.

VALUE: Naturally, we can't say until we see Spider-Bots in action... or their official pricing. Maybe we're naive for our estimate ($89.99) being $10 less than Batuu's Droids, but without the customization, exclusivity, or the "show" element from the Droid Depot, it's hard to imagine Disney matching the price of the two interactive robot shops between the two parks. In any case, it's almost certain that the upgrades and add-ons will be the wallet-wringers here, once again establishing that Disney's new souvenir strategy is a high-cost start up with extra cost bells-and-whistles increasing per capita spending to astronomical levels.

 
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Comments

Interesting article. While I'm here Brian I want to thank you for your hard work. I've read many of your articles and they are informative, engaging and entertaining.

Can't tell you how much reading this made my day! Thanks for saying it, Jay.

Very interesting article, thanks for a great read. I was wondering though, apart from droids and light sabers, what is the other high-priced item you can buy at Galaxy's Edge? The Jedi robes?

Hi Melanie! I was thinking of Oga's Cantina as a must-see, sought-after experience that's hidden behind a reservation "pay wall." :) Not expensive, but definitely requires a purchase and pre-planning!

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