Galaxy’s Edge is full of unique shops and immersive experiences. There are two custom building experiences at Galaxy’s Edge: Droid Depot and Savi’s Workshop. On our first trip to Galaxy’s Edge we built a custom droid at Droid Depot and immediately fell in love. After visiting Droid Depot dozens of times, building two more astromechs, researching all the personality chips, and testing a Droid Depot backpack we’re here to help you plan your own experience.

Droid Depot Location 

Like much of Galaxy’s Edge, the signage is subtle or non-existent. It is best to use a map or the My Disney Experience App to find your way around Galaxy’s Edge. An easy way to spot Droid Depot is to find four droids outside a large building with doors on either side.

Do I Need A Reservation For Droid Depot?

Reservations are not required, but a Droid Depot reservation is highly recommended. Walk-up building opportunities are limited and are often unavailable during busy seasons. Click here for Disneyland Droid Depot reservations or here for Galaxy’s Edge at Disney World.

Droid Depot Astromech Options

There are three different styles of Droid Depot astromechs. Made famous by BB-8 in the newest Star Wars trilogy, adorable BB units are a popular pick at Droid Depot.

R series droids, reminiscent of R2-D2, are another Droid Depot astromech option. The C series, a new droid style, is going to be popular with fans of Star Wars Rebels. The C series droids resemble Chopper and with the special personality chip sounds like the argumentative droid we love from the show.

Galaxy’s Edge Droid Depot Building Experience

Building a droid is broken into four parts: purchasing the droid, picking out parts, building your custom droid, and finally activating your droid.

Step 1: Buy The Droid

It seems a little counter-intuitive, but the first thing you do is purchase your droid. There are custom BB, C, and R series units in a multitude of colors and some varying styles. Sample pieces for both R and BB units are inside a cage along the queue for the register. We also found a personality chip for our droid and brought that with us to avoid having to wait in line twice. 

On our first trip Elizabeth knew she wanted a BB unit and was hoping for one in purple. There are occasional part shortages, so before paying for our astromech we surveyed the parts conveyor belt. We saw plenty of purple BB parts gliding by and completed our purchase.

After paying for your droid a cast member provides you a parts basket. This basket has an insert indicating what parts are needed for your specific droid type. The C series droids are so new they don’t currently have a basket insert, but there is signage along the conveyor belt.

Step 2: Pick Out Your Droid Parts

Take your droid parts basket to the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt slides past with everything you need to make your custom droid. Paired items are taped together, for example the two half spheres for a BB unit or legs for R and C series, so you only need to grab one. 

Although the Droid Depot is incredibly busy I don’t feel that cast members ever rush us through the droid part choosing process. Grab each of the parts needed off of the conveyor belt and place them in the basket. We usually watch the belt for a full rotation or two before moving on to the building process to make sure we had the parts we liked best.

Step 3: Build Your Custom Droid

After you have collected all of your droid parts in the basket, a cast member will direct you to a building station. The building station has Ikea-type step-by-step instructions for putting your droid together. At first the instructions seemed daunting, but as we started the process we discovered it was pretty easy.

If you get stuck in the building process you can push a button to alert a technician who can help you. We were able to put our BB, R and C series astromechs together with very little assistance from the technician. Most pieces either click together or twist closed, but a handful of pieces must be screwed together using an electric screwdriver located at each droid building station. 

Pro tip: If you have purchased a personality chip for your BB style droid it is best to install it while the droid is not fully assembled. BB personality chips are installed on the motivator inside the ball casing. Personality chip access is easier on R units and C series droids with an access panel on the front.

Step 4: Activate Your Custom Droid

After building your droid it is finally time to activate it, and a technician assists in this process. The tech places your droid in an activation pod where a basic controller is paired to your droid. Push a button to activate the droid and indicator lights on the board light up to show the activation process. 

After a few seconds your custom built droid comes to life, and it is time to box it up. Galaxy’s Edge Droid Depot provides a cardboard carrying box as part of your purchase price. The cardboard box has openings where you can see your droid interact all around Galaxy’s Edge.

Droid Depot Custom Built Droid Cost

At time of publishing BB, R, and C series droid units are the same price and currently sell for $119.99 each. Additional accessories vary in price.

Galaxy’s Edge Droid Depot Personality Chips

I heard lots of talk about Droid Depot personality chips but could not find any specific information until I actually went to Galaxy’s Edge to research the Droid Depot. Personality chips come in a variety of colors, but the colors are not the only defining characteristic.

Famous Astromech Droid Depot Personality Chips

There are now nine possible Droid Depot personality chips. Three new ones mimic classic astromech characters: Chopper’s sassy chirps, BB-8’s beeps, and R-2’s excited noises. The remaining 6 droid depot personality chips are unique to Galaxy’s Edge.

Galaxy’s Edge Scoundrel, First Order, and Resistance Personality Chips

There are three types of Galaxy’s Edge droid personality chips: First Order, Resistance, or Scoundrel. Each type of personality chip comes in two colors.

We have all six personality chips, and they each change the droid’s sound to a unique “voice”. The chips in each type react similarly, but have different chirps and tones because of the slight variation between the different color scoundrel, First Order, or Resistance chips.

Identify which kind of chip it is by looking at a symbol on the back of the personality chip box. First Order personality chips have a First Order symbol, make your droid speak in lower tones, and your droid is more likely to interact with other First Order droids or areas.

The Resistance personality chips have a Resistance symbol on the back of the box. Droids with this kind of chip are more likely to avoid anything to do with First Order and interact in areas that seem friendlier to the Resistance. 

Elizabeth originally opted for Scoundrel personality chips, which have a unique symbol on the back of the box. Scoundrels look out for their own interests, showing no particular allegiance to either the First Order or the Resistance.

Our scoundrel droids get incredibly nervous in the First Order areas. They even make a kind of whimpering beep when we visit First Order Cargo. Our Scoundrel droids seem most comfortable and chatty in the main marketplace but are not huge fans of the Resistance base either.

Droid Depot Personality Chip Price

Droid Depot personality chips cost $14.99 for each chip. Custom built droids come with a basic personality even without the purchase of an additional chip, but the chip is always an added layer of fun for us.

Using Your Custom Droid In Galaxy’s Edge

Keep Your Droid Contained 

Droid Depot custom droids cannot roll through Galaxy’s Edge. Droids must be inside the carrying box provided, the special Droid Depot backpack available for purchase, or otherwise secured. 

The Droid Depot carrying box is an okay way to transport a BB unit, especially if the specialty backpacks are sold out. The openings make it easy to see when our droid is talking or moving in response to something in Galaxy’s Edge. 

The handle of the cardboard box is uncomfortable. The cardboard feels sharp after carrying it for a while. Part way into our day at Galaxy’s Edge I found a low tech way to make the handle more comfortable. I simply wrapped a couple of napkins around the handle to cushion the rough edge. Although kind of ugly, it worked really well. 

We also tried using a traditional backpack to walk BB through Galaxy’s Edge. The regular backpack was decidedly worse than using the provided carrying box from Droid Depot for BB. The BB unit head kept getting knocked off inside the Jansport backpack, and you could not tell when it was interacting with prompts inside Galaxy’s Edge.

The Droid Interactions Are Random

We always enjoy how our droids seem to chirp and move as we explore Galaxy’s Edge. At first we thought we knew when and where our droids would interact, but the longer we spend in Galaxy’s Edge the more we discover the interactions are not completely reproducible. 

Sometimes we would bring BB-5 to a place where she would become very animated, but the next time we walked past nothing happened. At first I was a little disappointed by this lack of consistency, but then I began to appreciate that this randomness made the experience feel more authentic. 

Droid Depot Custom Droid Size And Weight

We were doing a carry-on-only trip thanks to my amazing Chester carry-on luggage. This meant it was important to know how much space I needed to bring our droid home. Unfortunately, I could not find any measurements for the custom droids before our trip to Galaxy’s Edge Droid Depot.

BB Unit Astromech Measurements

Our Droid Depot BB unit has the following rough measurements: 10 inches tall (12 inches tall with antenna) by 7 inches wide by 7 inches deep, or about 25 by 18 by 18 cm. She easily fit inside a standard size backpack with room to spare. Our BB unit weighs about 3.5 pounds (1.6 kg).

R Unit Astromech Measurements

Elizabeth also built a R unit astromech on a different trip. The Droid Depot R unit has different measurements which vary depending on whether the legs are folded together or folded out.

The R astromech dimensions when unfolded are 12 inches tall by 8.5 inches wide by 8 inches deep, or about 30 by 20 by 22 cm. When the legs are folded together the dimensions change to 12.5 inches tall by 8.5 inches wide by 6.5 inches deep, or about 32 by 20 by 17 cm. Our R series droid weighs in around 3.2 pounds (1.4 kg).

C Series Astromech Measurements

As a huge Star Wars Rebels fan, Elizabeth couldn’t wait to build a Chopper-like droid complete with menacing arms and challenging personality. Like Droid Depot R units, C series astromechs have different measurements depending on whether the legs are folded together or folded out.

The C astromech dimensions when unfolded are roughly 11.75 inches tall by 8.25 inches wide by 6.25 inches deep, or about 30 by 20 by 16 cm. Our C series droid head is the medium height option so the tallest one would add on a couple inches in height.

When the legs are folded together the dimensions change to 12 inches tall by 8.25 inches wide by 6 inches deep, or about 30 by 20 by 15 cm. Our C series droid weighs in around 3 pounds (1.4 kg).

Removing the C series antenna takes about an inch or 2.5 cm off the height for both folded and unfolded measurements.

Droid Depot Box Measurements

Included in the price of the droid is a basic cardboard carrying box. This box is a tall hexagon shape. Rough measurements for the Droid Depot box are 10.75 inches wide by 10.75 inches deep by 18 inches tall including handle or 27 by 27 by 46 cm.

Droid Depot Backpack

The best way to transport your custom Galaxy’s Edge astromech is in a Droid Depot backpack. These specially designed backpacks work for R, C, and BB astromechs and have some clever features. 

We previously had an issue with our BB unit. The head kept getting bumped off as we walked around with it in a regular backpack. The Droid Depot backpacks have a special chain that clips to the back of the BB head. This chain keeps the head safe in case the magnets get misaligned.

The bottom of the backpack has thick foam with two different cut outs to cushion the droids. One section perfectly holds the rounded shape of the BB unit while the other supports the legs of the R and C series units. We tested all three of our droids, and the same backpack held them all equally well.

A pocket on the side of the backpack easily holds your droid depot remote. The front of the backpack zippers open, and a magnet keeps the flap open. This design is perfect to let your astromech peek out.

Another great feature of the Droid Depot backpacks are padded, adjustable straps for comfort. My petite daughter was able to carry her droid around Galaxy’s Edge for hours without any complaints.

We’ve taken our astromechs around Galaxy’s Edge in a regular backpack, the Droid Depot backpack, and in the original box. Of all of these options, the Droid Depot backpack is the most functional and comfortable option.

Galaxy’s Edge Droid Depot Final Thoughts

Going into our first Galaxy’s Edge experience I was a little skeptical about building a custom droid at Droid Depot. However, having our own special droid makes our Galaxy’s Edge visits more fun. In fact, we enjoyed our first droid so much that we built all three styles.

The process to build a custom droid is simple and exciting. Elizabeth loves all three of her unique Droid Depot astromechs and has enjoyed bringing them back to Galaxy’s Edge plus playing with them at home.

Are you ready to book your trip to Galaxy’s Edge? Get discounted Disneyland tickets through Get Away Today, our preferred travel partner.

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