Beep bloop: Now Disneyland visitors can run into R2-D2 at new Star Wars land

Visitors to Black Spire Outpost in Disneyland can now run into another friendly face. Faceplate. Whatever.

A free-roaming R2-D2 droid has joined the First Order stormtroopers and other characters interacting with guests at the newly opened Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land at the Anaheim, California, theme park, Disney announced Tuesday.

The rolling astromech droid, also known as Artoo, appeared in all nine films of the Star Wars’ Skywalker saga, including the recently released “Rise of Skywalker,” keeping Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing space-worthy and trading sarcastic beeps and bloops with fussy pal C-3PO, according to Wookieepedia.

British actor Kenny Baker, who died in 2016, climbed into the tubby droid to bring R2-D2 to life in the films, IMDB reports.

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened at Disneyland on May 31 and at Walt Disney World in Florida on Aug. 29, McClatchy News reported.

The themed lands, set on the remote world of Batuu, include rides based around flying the Millennium Falcon in “Smugglers Run” and battling the First Order in “Rise of the Resistance”, which opens at Disneyland on Jan. 17, the official Disney Parks blog reports.

Along with rides and shops, the lands feature costumed characters from the films, such as Chewbacca, Kylo Ren and Rey, along with various stormtroopers and resistance fighters, reports The Orange County Register.

The droid interacts with guests and sometimes stops to pose for photos or videos, according to the publication.

Before R2-D2’s debut, the only droids at the 14-acre land in Disneyland were anchored outside the Droid Depot shop, as well as inside, where visitors can assemble remote-controlled mini-droids or even buy their own Artoo unit for $25,000, The Orange County Register reported.

This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Beep bloop: Now Disneyland visitors can run into R2-D2 at new Star Wars land."