Star Wars: Battle in a Lightsaber Dojo Pop-up in Huntington Beach

Image courtesy of ILMxLAB
Image courtesy of ILMxLAB
12/22/19 - By Li Starr

If you're parent to a Star Wars fan (or are one yourself) and are looking for a way to burn off some sugar-fueled energy—without a pricey trip to Galaxy's Edge in Disneyland—the Lightsaber Dojo virtual reality experience might be the answer. Either as an add-on to seeing Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker or just as a great activity for a rainy day, your young jedis will get excited about a trip to Huntington Beach for some weapons-free lightsaber slashing.

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The Lightsaber Dojo is an arcade-style virtual reality experience that lets kids train with a lightsaber (virtually and, yes, safely) against fearsome waves of training droids and Star Wars creatures from the films. Brave warriors walk into a "training arena," put on an Oculus Quest VR headset, and are (virtually) whisked away to Mustafar, the home planet of Star Wars O.G. bad guy Darth Vader. Players then choose from an assortment of lightsabers used by characters ranging from Obi-Wan Kenobi to Mace Windu (and even better, you don't have to buy them), and are urged to use the Force to grab their enemies, trigger traps, and throw their lightsabers across the room (you may want to make it clear that none of this is to be tried at home later). Once the fun is over, players can compare their scores on a national leaderboard. 

If it sounds like a dream come true for your Star Wars-loving kid (or, let's face it, you), the price isn't bad, either — $9.99 per person. The pop-up is at the Century Huntington Beach and XD, making a great option for seeing the movie with an add-on experience at least as special as seeing it at Hollywood's El Capitan. Other Lightsaber Dojos are scheduled to pop up soon at Ontario Mills in Ontario and the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance as well.

Since this is a pop-up it won't last forever, but consider adding it to your to-do list when seeing Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, to get fully in tune with the Force. The Huntington Beach location is scheduled to disappear after February 2, 2020.

Places featured in this article:


Century Huntington Beach and XD