Update 9/3: Since the original publication of this story, the TSA changed its tune and will now allow the bottles to count as an “oversized liquid,” meaning they “should be put in checked baggage or emptied to be brought on as a carry-on item.”
Batuu travelers, be wary. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has banned the custom Coca-Cola bottles sold at Disney’s new Star Wars-themed attraction, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, from all U.S. flights.
The TSA says the beverage containers, which vaguely resemble Star Wars’ hand grenade-like thermal detonators, are considered fake explosives. As an official TSA Twitter account explained, “Replica and inert explosives aren’t allowed in either carry-on or checked bags.”
A TSA representative contacted by The Orange County Register elaborated, explaining that the bottle’s unique shape could confuse TSA agents running security checks, who might mistake the Coke bottles for “the real thing.”
Everything at Galaxy’s Edge is designed to look like it could be part of the Star Wars Universe. That includes all of the food and beverage offerings, the costumes worn by park staffers, and every piece of merchandise sold in the park, including soda bottles.
The one-of-a-kind soda bottles were created by Coca-Cola in conjunction with Lucasfilm. In addition to their distinct shape, the bottles also replace the standard Coke, Diet Coke, and Sprite logos with Star Wars-themed equivalents spelled in Aurebesh, the Star Wars Universe’s fictional alphabet.
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is a 14-acre installation set at the Black Spire trading outpost on Batuu, a planet on the far edge of the known Star Wars galaxy. The park opened at Southern California’s Disneyland in May, and makes its debut at Florida’s Walt Disney World Resort on Thursday, August 29. The park is considered part of Disney’s Star Wars canon, and is set between Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi and this December’s Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker.
While Galaxy’s Edge’s main attraction is Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, an interactive ride that puts guests in the cockpit of Han Solo’s iconic YT-1300 Corellian light freighter, visitors can also engage in a number of classic Star Wars experiences, including building their own droids, shopping for old Jedi antiquities, and grabbing a glass of blue milk (or, for adults, an alcoholic beverage) at the local cantina. A second ride, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, opens at the Florida park this December, and at Disneyland in January 2020.
For $150, Galaxy’s Edge residents can also build their own lightsabers as part of an elaborate 45-minute ceremony. For now, the TSA seems to think the replica laser swords are safe. We’ll let you know if that changes.
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