Building a lightsaber at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge just received one of its most significant upgrades since Savi’s Workshop opened at Walt Disney World.
Disney has introduced a new generation of lightsaber technology at Savi’s Workshop – Handbuilt Lightsabers at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, adding several new visual and audio effects to the custom weapons guests assemble during the experience.
The upgrades are not limited to one particular lightsaber style.
Disney says every newly built lightsaber chassis and blade can now produce new thermal cutting, spinning and deflection effects regardless of which hilt theme the guest selects. The updated system also features improved audio quality and smoother blade activation.
That substantially expands what guests can do with the finished lightsaber after leaving the workshop.
Savi’s Workshop has always been designed as more than a conventional merchandise purchase. Guests enter the workshop as prospective “builders” recruited by the Gatherers, a group secretly collecting lightsaber components on Batuu while attempting to avoid the attention of the First Order.
Each builder chooses a lightsaber theme before selecting individual components and a kyber crystal. The finished hilt is then paired with a removable illuminated blade.
The newly introduced effects make the completed lightsabers more interactive.
Disney says the thermal cutting effect recreates the appearance of a lightsaber cutting through metal. A new spinning effect adds another visual response when guests move the weapon, while deflection effects simulate one of the lightsaber’s most recognizable functions from the Star Wars films.
Disney has also improved the underlying sound and activation sequence, giving newly constructed lightsabers smoother ignition and upgraded audio.
Perhaps the most interesting addition involves Disney’s newer “cracked” kyber crystals.
When one of the compatible special crystals is installed in an upgraded Savi’s Workshop lightsaber, guests can activate a color-changing effect with a flick of the wrist.
Disney describes the effect as representing the struggle between the light and dark sides of the Force.
Kyber crystals have always played an important role in the Savi’s Workshop experience.
During the building ceremony, guests choose the crystal that becomes the heart of their lightsaber, determining the blade’s color. Additional crystals can be purchased separately, allowing builders to change the appearance and personality of their lightsaber later.
Disney has expanded that collectible system considerably over the years with additional crystal designs, character connections and rare variants.
The cracked crystals take the concept a step further by interacting directly with the newly upgraded lightsaber hardware to produce an additional visual effect rather than simply determining a static blade color.
The technology upgrade arrives alongside another physical change to the building experience.
Disney has refreshed the Protection and Defense hilt theme, one of the four primary design paths available at Savi’s Workshop.
The new Protection and Defense components feature white finishes, gold detailing and ancient Jedi-inspired iconography. Disney says the design draws inspiration from the High Republic, an era when the Jedi Order was widely viewed as a symbol of peace and hope throughout the galaxy.
That gives builders another distinct aesthetic option alongside Savi’s other lightsaber families.
The four themes traditionally allow guests to choose a design philosophy before assembling their weapon from interchangeable emitters, switches, sleeves and endcaps.
Protection and Defense has historically leaned toward ancient Jedi imagery, while Peace and Justice evokes more traditional Republic-era Jedi weapons. Elemental Nature incorporates natural materials and motifs, and Power and Control draws heavily from the dark side and Sith-inspired design language.
Disney has periodically refreshed those component collections rather than leaving the original 2019 parts in place indefinitely.
Power and Control, for example, received new components earlier in 2026.
The new technology is more significant because it changes the functionality of the finished lightsaber itself.
Savi’s Workshop originally opened with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on August 29, 2019. The experience quickly became one of the land’s signature premium offerings, combining theatrical storytelling with the opportunity to leave with a customized piece of Star Wars merchandise.
The experience is currently priced at $274.99 per lightsaber at Walt Disney World, before tax.
Advance reservations are strongly recommended. Disney may offer a limited number of same-day reservations, but availability is not guaranteed, particularly during busier periods.
Each reservation accommodates the builder and up to two guests, although only the registered builder assembles a lightsaber.
For anyone who has been debating whether to build one, the latest changes make the experience notably different from the version offered during the first several years of Galaxy’s Edge.
The basic concept remains the same: choose a path, select components, install a kyber crystal and assemble a personalized lightsaber inside Savi’s hidden workshop.
What guests take home afterward, however, can now do considerably more.
With upgraded sound, smoother activation, multiple new blade effects and special interactions with cracked kyber crystals, Disney has given Savi’s Workshop’s signature souvenir a meaningful technological refresh rather than simply introducing another set of decorative parts.