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Last month Disney chairman of the parks, Josh D'Amaro, teased a "real" lightsaber during the "A Special Look Inside Disney Park" virtual conference. Just in time for May 4 - Star Wars day - Disney released an official first look of the retractable lightsaber.
The toy lightsaber doesn't require any plastic prop blades. Instead, there is a retractable light-up blade that extends out from the hilt. You can watch a demonstration of the lightsaber that will soon be part of Disney's upcoming Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser immersive hotel.
The hotel experience promises to take the initial premise of its Galaxy's Edge park and expand it to an interactive two-night Star Wars adventure. Guest will be immersed in lightsaber training, learn the navigation and defense systems of the spaceship, and enjoy fine dining. If you think this sounds like a Westworld type of experience, you're on the right path of thinking. The hotel is expected to be open in 2022.
As reported by CNN, Walt Disney's Imagineering Research and Development are currently working on the new lightsabers. Lightsabers already cost $199.99 apiece at Galaxy's Edge, so expect the upgraded versions to cost somewhere close to that, if not more.
Although the footage released by Disney doesn't show enough detail to explain how the saber works, VR developer Ben Ridout created a thread on Twitter detailing Disney's patent concept with animations a few weeks ago around the time news broke regarding the teased saber by D'Amaro.
Did #Disney invent a real working #lightsaber? Yes they did. It won't melt through metal blast doors, or cut off your hand, but it does feature an illuminated blade that will extend and retract at the push of a button. This animation shows the concept behind the tech. pic.twitter.com/e7fwP06CxFApril 12, 2021
While you wait to get your hands on the new saber, check out our picks for the best Star Wars movies.
