Galaxy’s Edge continues to go through a season of change. From waddling BDX droids and hologram projection shows to an original trilogy era refresh, the park has continued to be a laboratory for Disney to bring new technology and experiences to guests. This week, Bloomberg went behind the scenes at Disney Imagineering to review their latest innovations in robotics and explore how this new tech will be integrated into Disney Parks across the globe, and in a galaxy far, far away.
While Bloomberg did not include any photos (saving the reveal for D23 this August), they did describe a new type of droid that will service a new, stationary “food truck,” which will appear on Batuu sometime this year. These new droids will appear to float above the truck’s counter and will actually react to the purchases of the person placing an order while operating autonomously, without the aid of a staff member with a controller hidden away.
And the droid is apparently quite a salesman. Bloomberg describes the floating droid as appearing “lonely” if the customer only buys one drink, while reacting differently to other orders. The goal behind the new droid vendor is a bit of a show and an immersive experience, rather than just buying a soda or snack from a staff member.
BDX Droids at Disneyland
The “food truck” itself was developed in part by Disney Imagineering and Jon Favreau’s production team. Bloomberg says the truck is a replica of the one from the film, presumably, the shop operated by Martin Scorsese’s Ardennian character, Hugo, on Shakari.
The report states that guests will be able to order sodas on their phones for pickup, though it’s unclear whether that means guests cannot order in person at all, if soda is the only product sold, or if this shop is actually fully unmanned.
Disney Imagineering VP of Technology and R&D, Kyle Laughlin, with Disney Stuntronics Robots.
Photographer: Ethan Noah Roy/Bloomberg
Disney Imagineering’s Senior VP for Technology and R&D, Kyle Laughlin, explained that the tech they are developing now is key to expanding the possibilities of Disney Parks, which he hopes will pay off big for Disney’s most technologically-advanced park, the upcoming Disneyland Abu Dhabi. Star Wars-themed BDX Droids and the newer floating models are building blocks toward that vision.
“I think that what we’re going to learn is how to show and sell products, and if it works, we’ll continue to look at new ways. It doesn’t even have to be a drink. You could have a little Elsa doll or something like that… We can be on the bleeding edge from a robotics perspective, but we can also look for novel ways to use old technologies too, like marionettes and puppets in brand new ways as well. The goal is to be comprehensive in terms of both the franchises and the types of formats that we work with.”
Galaxy’s Edge has long been Imagineering’s testbed for new tech and experiences. From the incredibly ambitious ride, Rise of the Resistance, to more complex animatronics for characters like Hondo Ohnaka, and the Batuu Bounty Hunting game played using Disney’s wearable MagicBand+, it seems that Galaxy’s Edge will continue to serve in that role and give Star Wars fans the first taste of whatever innovations come from their team.
To read more about the new robotics coming to Disney Parks past and future, including images of new water-based robots made to resemble manta rays, and realistic face projection mapping for Pirates of the Caribbean, and more, read Bloomberg’s full article.
Colin is a lifelong Star Wars fan and researcher who enjoys diving deep into every corner of this weird and wonderful galaxy far, far away.