Savi’s Workshop is the build-your-own lightsaber experience at Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort. As of October 5, 2026, the updated Protection and Defense hilt theme and new lightsaber effects are available.
The updated design pairs white finishes with gold detailing and ancient Jedi iconography. Its inspiration comes from the High Republic, when the Jedi Order stood for peace and hope across the galaxy.
- Purchase: Required to participate in the experience.
- Reservations: Disney highly encourages advance reservations at both Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort.
What changed at Savi’s Workshop?
The lightsaber chassis and blade upgrades apply across every hilt theme, not only Protection and Defense.
Builders get a thermal cutting effect, a spinning effect, and deflection effects. Disney also upgraded the audio quality and made blade activation smoother.
Special “cracked” Kyber crystals unlock another feature: a color-change effect triggered by a quick wrist flick. Disney connects that changing color to the inner battle between the light and dark sides of the Force.
Protection and Defense’s visual update draws on a different part of Jedi history. The design honors those who dedicated themselves to protecting others, carrying the High Republic’s legacy into a new era.
The workshop’s story treats these components as scattered, reclaimed parts that builders transform into their own lightsabers. The updated theme’s backstory centers on designs preserved in Jedi archives and safeguarded for generations.
How do Savi’s Workshop hilt themes work?
Guests begin by meeting one of Savi’s Gatherers outside the workshop and choosing an available hilt theme. That choice determines the parts they’ll use inside. An identifiable cloisonné pin accompanies their selection.
Disney’s April 25, 2025 update introduced Reclaimed and Reforged as a limited-time theme. Its story follows scraps scavenged from the galaxy’s outer rim and brought to Batuu.
The pieces come from ancient battles, crashed ships, and other abandoned scrap. Together, they form a lightsaber connected to that past. Disney identified four other themes as year-round choices in that update:
- Peace and Justice
- Power and Control
- Elemental Nature
- Protection and Defense
For Reclaimed and Reforged, Disney detailed a parts box with these building choices:
- One hilt.
- Four sleeves, with builders choosing two.
- Two emitters, with builders choosing one.
- Two pommel caps, with builders choosing one.
- Two sets of activation plates and switches, with builders choosing one set.
After assembly, builders return unused parts to Savi’s inventory before connecting the completed hilt to a lightsaber blade. The earlier experience description offered red, blue, green, or violet through the chosen Kyber crystal.
Source: Disney Parks Blog
See Disneyland wait times for park planning.
Discover more from Theme Park Shark
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
