Jedi Training Academy was an interactive outdoor stage show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios that gave children the opportunity to become Jedi trainees and face Darth Vader in a lightsaber duel. Presented beside Star Tours in the Echo Lake area, the attraction was considerably smaller than the park’s traditional theater productions, but it became one of its most memorable experiences for young Star Wars fans. Rather than merely watching a battle unfold, selected children stepped directly into the action, wearing brown Jedi robes and wielding training lightsabers in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
The experience began with a Jedi Master selecting a group of children, generally between the ages of 4 and 12, and teaching them a carefully choreographed sequence of moves: activate the lightsaber, block, duck, and strike at specific targets. Once the trainees had rehearsed the routine, stormtroopers interrupted the lesson and Darth Vader emerged through the stage doors in a cloud of smoke. He attempted to lure the younglings to the dark side before challenging them one by one. Each child then used the newly learned combination against Vader while family members gathered nearby to take photographs and cheer. Later variations of the original production also incorporated Darth Maul as an additional opponent.
Jedi Training Academy began as an offering during the park’s popular Star Wars Weekends events. After the concept proved successful, Disney constructed a permanent stage near Star Tours and made the show a regular part of what was then Disney-MGM Studios in October 2007. Its enduring appeal came from its simplicity. The lightsabers were toys and the fight choreography was deliberately easy to follow, but a child standing face-to-face with Darth Vader could still feel as though they had briefly entered the Star Wars universe.
The original Jedi Training Academy ended in October 2015. On December 1 of that year, the location reopened with a more elaborate successor titled Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple. The updated version introduced a temple-style setting, characters from Star Wars Rebels, and later appearances by Kylo Ren.
Trials of the Temple did not return after Walt Disney World temporarily closed in March 2020. As of 2026, the former stage has been used for an outdoor Darth Vader character encounter near Star Tours. Jedi Training Academy remains fondly remembered because it offered something increasingly rare: a free, participatory experience that allowed children to become the heroes of their own Star Wars story.
