You may find yourself sharing the pathway with a few new friends at Disney World if you’re there between now and August 30, 2025. Guests and Disney fan sites have begun reporting sightings of knee-high robots within the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge area of the Florida park.
The Star Wars BDX Droids were created especially for Disneyland’s (the California location) Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. They began appearing in late 2023 in a very limited capacity, and again in 2024. Until now, they haven’t made the jump to lightspeed across the US from California’s Disneyland to Florida’s Disney World.
Like so many of their human brethren who’ve made the journey before them, Disney’s droids are learning that just because you can stand the California sun, it doesn’t mean you can weather the Florida rain and heat.
little ducklings
The BDX Droids picked up the nickname Duckling Droids early on, no doubt thanks to their stance and adorably clumsy, exaggerated two-legged walking. Coupled with their lack of arms and wheels, it was an obvious sobriquet.
Disney brings out the Duckling Droids each day from Tuesday through Saturday. There are seven daily showings at 10:30AM, 11:30AM, 12:30PM, 3PM, 4PM, 5PM, and 6PM, as reported by TechRadar.
“They’re the first of a new generation of expressive, free-roaming robots we’ve developed at Disney that can learn to move and balance like living beings,” said Kyle Laughlin, senior vice president of Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, back in April.
“Thanks to reinforcement learning, they train in simulation before ever taking a real step. But beyond the tech, what really sets them apart is that spark of personality—they’re full of life, and they make people smile. That’s what we’re really after: emotional connection through technology.”
Videos began popping up of staff members rushing out with plastic bags to cover the BDX Droids as soon as the slightest mists began, so it seems the BDX Droids aren’t all that water-resistant and will only walk around when it’s dry.
Disney’s engineers also had to swap out some 3D-printed parts for milled components to better withstand Florida’s famously crushing heat, according to TechRadar. You know your state is too hot when even robots are struggling to cope with the heat.
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