3. “Custom Astromech Unit” Droid
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.
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!
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
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.
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
PRICE: $79.99 (plus accessories)
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.
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, (intriguing) Spider-Man LED goggles, web-shooting gauntlets, and more. And among its collection of buyables? Yep… Spider-Bots. After stopping the little eight-legged multipliers in their tracks, 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 are limited to base models with color schemes echoing heroes like Black Panther and Iron Man (above). Their remotes indeed control their eight articulating arms, allowing them to move.
But predictably – in the new “add-on-and-upgrade” model – the fun doesn’t end there… Instead, personalizing takes place via add-on “tactical devices,” plug-in chips, and exoskeleton pieces that 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 “blast attack” clashes until a losing bot’s exoskeleton pops off, signalling defeat.
Each Spider-Bot also comes with a surprisingly hefty controller with two keypads (left-right movement and forward-backward movement), buttons to “crouch” and project the SHIELD logo, and two “attacks” to be used in battle mode (both indicated merely by sound and light), with each bot’s remaining attacks indicated by controller lights.
VALUE: Right now, it’s difficult to say what the cumulative Spider-Bot experience will be, or how “worth it” they are. After all, COVID-19 quickly killed any hopes of the Avengers Campus’ planned July 2020 opening. In fact, the two theme parks of the Disneyland Resort look likely to remain closed well into 2021… a once-unthinkable notion. However, with scores of Spider-Bots sitting on warehouse shelves, Disney made the unorthodox decision to sell them a la carte at the California resort’s single point of sale – Downtown Disney – beginning in December 2020.
Given what we’ve seen of these bots out of their Avengers Campus context, it’s fair that they’re priced lower than Batuu’s Droids. It’s not just that WEB Suppliers is currently unavailable; it’s that even once the shop is open, Spider-Bots will be… well… toys. That come in a box. That kind of leaves them looking and feeling like high-cost Christmas gifts from the Target toy aisle rather than breathtaking, must-have souvenirs that’ll be played with long after vacation. So if you ask us, Droid Depot is probably worth the $20 more. Of course, Disney’s marketing team might ask, “Why not both?!”