Just earlier today, we remarked on the popularity and successful marketing of the ever-popular Coca-Cola products sold at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in both Disneyland and soon, Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
The bottles are designed to look like the thermal detonator grenades used by bounty hunters and stormtroopers across the Star Wars universe, and are great souvenirs for many travelers to Batuu. Just today, we caught a glimpse of an amazing new themed Coca-Cola cart, complete with a themed Coca-Cola R5 series droid at the helm:
Turns out if you’re planning on flying one of those bad boys home, you might run into some issues with the First Order––I mean, the TSA. In a recent piece by the Orange County Register, it appears the Transportation Security Administration has banned the bottles on the grounds of looking like replicas of the real thing:
TSA officials confirmed that the souvenir collectible Coke bottles exclusively available in the new Star Wars lands are prohibited on U.S. flights because they look like replica explosives.
“Replica items are not allowed on aircraft,” said TSA spokesperson Jim Gregory.
In a response to an online inquiry, the official AskTSA Twitter account replied that the Galaxy’s Edge Coke bottles were prohibited on flights because “replica and inert explosives aren’t allowed in either carry-on or checked bags.”
“The Galaxy’s Edge Coke bottles could cause confusion for TSA screeners at airport security checkpoints,” Gregory said. “It could create concern that it’s the real thing.”
Thanks for asking! Replica and inert explosives aren't allowed in either carry-on or checked bags.
— AskTSA (@AskTSA) August 13, 2019
We’ve had luck so far bringing these thermal detonator bottles home, but that was before this official announcement, so do keep that in mind in case you’re trying to transport these via airplane. (They may get confiscated and you might have to answer to General Hux.) Lightsabers and Droids, while clunky, are TSA approved and may be packed in carry-on or checked luggage.
Just put the lid in your carry on and the bottle in your checked luggage.
Not allowed in checked baggage either.
Maybe disassemble them before packing… As in remove the screw top, put it in a separate pocket or bag than the bottle part…
Even empty? They can’t tell the difference between a bomb and a plastic bottle?
Good news is the grey top pops off and then they are just Christmas Bulb Coke Bottles again.
As if the TSA could get any more ridiculous
Ugh, lame! The only reason to buy these is as a souvenir. They are way overpriced to just drink and throw away. Hopefully they make enough of a profit to keep the cool containers.
Best bet is to ship ’em UPS, FedEx, USPS, or your other favorite carrier. Not much more than the cost of the bottle.
What explosives are people using where they have Coke advertising on them, that the TSA could confuse them for the real thing? It looks more like a Christmas ornament than an actual grenade. Not to mention the fact that thermal detonators…spoiler warning…don’t actually exist in real life. If it’s possible for the TSA to get confused by this, then the TSA needs to hire completely new people, and preferably ones with an IQ higher than 1.
If this is true, I can see Disney losing a LOT of money and possibly a fallout with their sponsorship with Coke.
Did you ever consider that these could be used by someone to make an explosive which would allow it to be concealed as a souvenir?
ANYTHING could theoretically be used to invent a makeshift explosive or shiv or other kind of weapon. I could see lightsabers becoming blunt objects of murder. I could see electronic devices, like laptops and Nintendo Switches, being used to hack into airplanes.
Besides, the whole point of contention is the explanation for this, that the TSA would confuse something with obvious Coca-Cola imagery on it, for a real explosive. If they had said that it could be used to invent a makeshift explosive, then that might be different. But as is, it’s no different than bottles of water, which I’m pretty sure they allow in checked bags, or at least empty ones. And just because it’s a checked bag doesn’t mean it doesn’t have to be inspected before it hits the luggage compartment, all it would take is 3 seconds to see that it’s just a souvenir bottle.
That could be said for anything—the TSA is supposed to have the expertise and equipment to allow them to discover a cheap trick like that.
I hate this world everything fun and innovative gets squashed and disapproved. Creatively is being treated as a negative thing.
I got them through on my checked baggage yesterday through MCO
Wow, Disney’s got it made…they have people collecting empty Coke bottles now.
Will I be able to bring 1 home to uk
So a fictitious item, that only exists in the make believe movie world, that now has a beverage container modeled after it, is a security concern for looking like a real explosive that never existed in the first place??? These are the people tasked with keeping us safe???????
this is literally the stupidest thing i have ever heard… we have jumped the shark at this point. They can’t even use basic common sense… the TSA is pathetic.
If I worked at TSA when someone’s bringing one of these through: *Jabba voice* Ho ho ho… Yawee kalla pichu, hooka sminki pinki cokey coley
So thermal detonators really exist, who knew? Either that the quality of the employees protecting our skies is at the level of a 5 year old. There are a few options though. Here are couple. Take the bottles apart and pack separately or have them sent pack via FedEx or ups. Just be careful not to back your bounty hunter costume in the same bags.
This is ridiculous! Does anyone know if Disney hotels can help you ship stuff back home?
Yes they can. I just had a Haunted Mansion Host a Ghost jar shipped to my home because it would not fit in carry on and I am not trusting it to the luggage gorillas handling checked baggage. Just ask when you buy it if they can ship it. My jar came UPS.
Security theatre strikes again
I’m going to nitpicky here, but I always hated how everyone went on about how they looked like thermal detonators. Meanwhile I’m all “they look NOTHING like one! The detonators are spheres with a button recessed in them, no pins or other protruding elements!”
They are just supposed to look like, wait for it, soda bottles if soda bottles were made in the star wars verse.
Does this include UK flights aswell
Concern that it might be the real thing? It’s Coke. It IS the REAL thing! 😉