Yesterday evening, a virtual event called "A Special Look Inside Disney Parks" was held by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D'Amaro. There were a few bits of noteworthy news (including the announcement that Avengers Campus finally opens in Disneyland on June 4th, 2021), but it was how the presentation ended which really grabbed people's attention.
The footage hasn't been shared online, but D'Amaro pulled a lightsaber hilt out of a small box, ignited it, and concluded by saying, "You never know what we're going to come up with next...it's real."
In 2017, Disney filed a patent for a sword device with a retractable, internally illuminated blade. It was noted at the time this could be used "as a theatrical prop, toy, or collector's item that effectively simulates fictional energy swords including the lightsabers found in many popular films."
Essentially, this "lightsaber" contains a plastic blade that has been cut down the middle lengthwise and unfurls in similar fashion to a tape measure. It then lights up, creating the effect of a real lightsaber. Needless to say, this is a game-changer, and vastly different to having to stick a plastic tube into the end of a hilt.
Scott Trowbridge, the Portfolio Creative Executive for Walt Disney Imagineering, later took to Twitter to confirm that, yes, what D'Amaro revealed was indeed a real Star Wars lightsaber.
Don't be surprised if these are sold in Disney Parks at some point in the next few years...