ANAHEIM, Calif. – When visiting "Star Wars:" Galaxy’s Edge make sure to keep your wallet filled with galactic credits, because inside the land you’ll find all sorts of shops and stands ready to sell you the finest galactic merchandise this side of the Milky Way.
One of the places you'll want to visit during your time on Batuu is the Driod Depot where your very own astromech droid will come to life and enhance your journey through the land.
When you walk inside the Droid Depot you’ll see parts of retired droids hanging from the ceiling. In the middle of the room, a conveyor belt stacked with mountains of spare parts moves through the depot. Behind the counter a BB-series and R-series unit keep watch.
Above the assembly line, you will see more spare domes and canisters giving you inspiration as you construct your own one-of-a-kind droid.
News 6 spoke with Orlando native Tracie Alt, who is a merchandiser at Disney theme parks, and she walked us through the steps in order to take home your very own droid.
“You’re going to have the opportunity to either build an R series or a BB series unit. Within that, you’ll be able to pick your colors and the types of domes.”
As you walk up to the conveyor belt, have your basket ready as you pluck individual pieces from the assembly line.
“The great thing about the basket is that the bottom is kind of like a blue print of the types of parts you’re supposed to pick,” Alt said.
The first thing you will need to start your droid is the canister, aka the main body of the droid. After you choose that, you’ll also get to pick out the dome that will go on top of your unit.
Once you have chosen all of your parts, take your unassembled droid to the building station. Once there you will follow instructions to assemble your droid. Once the build is complete, your droid will be paried and activated.
“You can further customize your droid, and the way you do that is we have First Order or Resistance sound chips,” Alt said. “As you walk around the park, and you go toward the Resistance, your droid is going to give you happy beeps and boops because it’s really happy.”
If you venture toward the First Order, Alt tells us that your droid is going to give you scared beeps and boops because it is scared and doesn’t want to be in the First Order.
“Your interactions in the land change because of what your sound chip is,” she explained.
After assembling your droid and giving it a sound chip, you need to bring it to life.
“The way you bring it to life is you press the red button, and now you’re going to start to see it come to life.”
Each astromech droid will cost $99.99 plus tax and are complete with a carrying box and instructions. You are able to purchase various accessories for your unit for an additional charge. Custom astromech droid units are nonrefundable and a reservation may be required.