I had no intention of paying $200 to let my eight-year-old daughter build her own custom lightsaber at Disneyland, no matter how much she loves Star Wars . That’s just… a lot of money, even by "we’re-already-bankrupting-our-savings-account-by-coming-here" Disney standards. Little did I know that when I finally gave in, my daughter wouldn’t even be allowed to play with her pricey Star Wars souvenir...

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Full Park and Ride Photos 113 IMAGES

“ But then a cast member approached me and said something about keeping my scrap metal out of sight.

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“ Seems backwards to get ignored by the “evil” troops and reprimanded by the “good” people of the Black Spire Outpost!

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Building the lightsaber is, I have to say, genuinely an experience – one of the most impressive ways Galaxy’s Edge successfully brings Star Wars to life. And my daughter ate it up. As a dad, was I buying a memory? Yeah, I was. But after she had watched the original trilogy of films and listened to the audiobooks countless times, designing her own personal Jedi weapon in Savi’s Workshop made for a fun and unique Star Wars moment for both of us to enjoy together.No dice, though; the Stormtroopers just strolled on by. But then a cast member approached me, my daughter’s lightsaber still aglow in my hand and said something about keeping my scrap metal out of sight. I wasn’t really sure what he meant – the employees in Galaxy’s Edge all try to stay in-universe, you see, meaning purchases are made in “credits,” Coca-Cola comes in a thermal detonator-shaped container marked with a logo redesigned in the Star Wars alphabet of Aurebesh, etc. But as we roamed Star Wars Land, still seeking out Stormtroopers to get joshed by, day had turned to dusk and the bright-blue lightsaber now really stood out. And soon another cast member came over and, in slightly plainer terms, told us the blades were “illegal” here in the Black Spire Outpost, and hammered home his point by helping me secure the lightsaber in its case as I finally grasped his point.But we didn’t let that stop us from enjoying the expensive new toy. We walked around Galaxy’s Edge and started taking photos with the lightsaber proudly wielded in the area’s many photo spots, like the main street lined with strange alien shops and the landing overlooking the Millenium Falcon. Normally my daughter isn’t one to smile for the camera but the lightsaber clearly made her happy, turning her into an enthusiastic, grinning photo subject – which made our evening memorable. And there were plenty of other rogue blue, green, red, and purple blades jutting into the sky for photo opps as well, not just hers. Perhaps those people got chastised too, but it would seem that the cast members are willing to look the other way for photographs but otherwise won’t hesitate to scold you in Star Wars-ese. Sigh…Though I was annoyed at the apparent anti-lightsaber policy in, of all places, STAR WARS LAND, I still found the investment worthwhile. My daughter had a ball designing her saber, we had fun wandering the park interacting with the roaming character actors, and her face lit up – figuratively and literally – during our impromptu night time photoshoot, even if we had to annoyingly put the saber away between photo spots so as not to risk getting yelled at again. I also later learned that the lightsaber experience can continue by purchasing different colored Kyber crystals or even a Holocron that interacts with the various colored crystals. So now we have a good reason to go back, lightsaber in hand. And if we’re lucky, maybe Disney will have wised up by then and offered some kind of outlet – a lightsaber training class, perhaps? – for people to enjoy Disneyland’s priciest souvenirs.IGN has more coverage of Galaxy's Edge, like our review of the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride , a list of the coolest Star Wars Easter eggs throughout the park, and an in-depth guide on everything Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge has to offer.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan , catch him on Unlocked , and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.