Walt Disney World Epcot Discussion Thread

[A.J.]

Disney has announced that Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind will open on May 27!

disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2022/04/guardians-of-the-galaxy-cosmic-rewind-opens-may-27-at-epcot/

Well plant me in the ground and call me Groot, cause Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is set to officially debut May 27 at EPCOT!

What do we already know about this awesome new family-thrill coaster attraction at Walt Disney World Resort? Well, we know people from the planet Xandar are coming to Earth and creating the first “other-world” showcase at EPCOT – the Wonders of Xandar pavilion. We know we’ll learn more about their technology and culture as we move through the pavilion, and discover how our two worlds are similar in so many ways.

--

The Guardians of the Galaxy are on their way to EPCOT, and we better be ready for an intergalactic chase through time and space. It all begins May 27 when Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind releases its awesome mixtape of an attraction to the world. This is another big, magical moment in the transformation of EPCOT and the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary celebration currently underway, which we’ve been covering here on the Disney Parks Blog. Be sure to keep following along as we prep to save the galaxy with the Guardians. Until then … I am Groot.

[KBrylczyk]

[CaptainUnknown]

Here's hoping for a late April soft opening. And if not, I'm likely going back in November/December anyways.

[Haymaker]

10 hours ago, CaptainUnknown said:

Here's hoping for a late April soft opening. And if not, I'm likely going back in November/December anyways.

There's confirmed Passholder and DVC previews if youre one of those

[Hilltopper39]

This attraction looks awesome, I'm sure it won't be as good of a "coaster" as Velocicoater or Iron Gwazi but I have a feeling this thing is going to take the fully immersive themed coaster experience to another level simply based on the sheer size and scope of the attraction. I mean with Guardians of the Galaxy there's no way it isn't atleast going to be really fun.

 

Can't wait to check this thing out, probably sometime in like 2024, but still can't wait.

[Garet]

Interesting to see fully grown Groot in the advert since that will place it somewhere around before the climax of the first movie. I assumed it would  have been set around the same time frame as Mission: Breakout to keep Gamora in it and so they could include Baby Groot and sell a ton of merchandise with him on it.

[KBrylczyk]

^ James Gunn confirmed months ago on his Twitter that this ride takes place in a different universe than the main MCU timeline.

[cfc]

I'm looking forward to this ride.  I liked the Guardians version of Tower at DCA, too (nice change of pace).

[KBrylczyk]

^ Oh, holy crap, so I finally got to ride Guardians this past November.  I was blown away by how fantastic it was!  I was thinking it would be a lame re-skin with more screens but WOW that ride kicks all kinds of ass!

[Nrthwnd]

In the Multi-Universe (Multi-Verse?) .... All is Possible.

[tuxedomask5432]

I’m really excited about cast-member previews! This will be the first roller coaster I’ve had a chance to ride before the general public! The queue, the vehicles, and the theming all look amazing. It will be nice to have another unique attraction to WDW, not found in the other Disney parks. I am stoked for Tron too, but this is an original creation.

[Nrthwnd]

Future EPCOT Showcase "Country RUMOR": Columbia ~ with an ENCANTO attraction "at the end" of it's layout.....

Hmmm? Works for me!

[KBrylczyk]

Has anyone heard if there's going to be a "Boarding Group" style situation with Guardians this summer?  I only ask because I can get an absolutely killer price for a 5-day trip at the end of the month, opening weekend, and I'm extremely tempted to book it.  If I have to fight with everyone for a lottery to get the privilege to ride, though, I'll just wait a while until the demand dies down.

Edit - I should note that I will certainly add Genie to the tickets, but I've heard horror stories about attractions losing timeslots faster than RotR when it was doing the boarding groups.

[SharkTums]

^It has been announced that it will do boarding groups like how Rise used to.  And with Resort Guests getting priority unless you're staying on site I wouldn't count on riding it. 

[Hilltopper39]

1 hour ago, SharkTums said:

^It has been announced that it will do boarding groups like how Rise used to.  And with Resort Guests getting priority unless you're staying on site I wouldn't count on riding it. 

Yeah I get this move for a new ride but it's still frustrating. Although it does feel like the previews for Guardians is much more extensive than anything I can remember Disney doing in the past so maybe that will help with the crowds early on after opening. 

[coasterbill]

4 hours ago, KBrylczyk said:

Has anyone heard if there's going to be a "Boarding Group" style situation with Guardians this summer?  I only ask because I can get an absolutely killer price for a 5-day trip at the end of the month, opening weekend, and I'm extremely tempted to book it.  If I have to fight with everyone for a lottery to get the privilege to ride, though, I'll just wait a while until the demand dies down.

Edit - I should note that I will certainly add Genie to the tickets, but I've heard horror stories about attractions losing timeslots faster than RotR when it was doing the boarding groups.

Yeah, there's absolutely no chance of this thing being readily available on Genie+ by park opening. If you refresh it enough I'd imagine you can get it but it's far from a sure thing.

[thrillseeker4552]

It's a little surprising to see no posts in this thread since Guardians opened almost 2 months ago. I'm looking for some advice from the Disney experts out there (which I am most definitely *not*).

I do not have an annual pass, however I am looking at purchasing a single day (possibly park hopper) for EPCOT so I can experience Guardians (I am looking at going on a Saturday or Sunday in mid-September). Does anyone know how difficult/easy it has been lately to get a boarding group for the ride? And they are still doing the boarding groups, correct? I would be going to the park alone, so I don't know if being a single rider has any benefits when trying to get on the attraction.

Any advice would be appreciated, or any info regarding the current operations of the coaster. It looks awesome. I am just hesitant to purchase a ticket for a day at the park and have a very low chance of actually getting on the ride. Thanks in advance!

[jimmiemac02]

5 hours ago, thrillseeker4552 said:

It's a little surprising to see no posts in this thread since Guardians opened almost 2 months ago. I'm looking for some advice from the Disney experts out there (which I am most definitely *not*).

I do not have an annual pass, however I am looking at purchasing a single day (possibly park hopper) for EPCOT so I can experience Guardians (I am looking at going on a Saturday or Sunday in mid-September). Does anyone know how difficult/easy it has been lately to get a boarding group for the ride? And they are still doing the boarding groups, correct? I would be going to the park alone, so I don't know if being a single rider has any benefits when trying to get on the attraction.

Any advice would be appreciated, or any info regarding the current operations of the coaster. It looks awesome. I am just hesitant to purchase a ticket for a day at the park and have a very low chance of actually getting on the ride. Thanks in advance!

Guardians is such an awesome ride! This website may be of interest to you as far as boarding groups and lightning lane are concerned: https://www.thrill-data.com/waits/attraction/epcot/guardiansofthegalaxycosmicrewind/

Boarding groups (at least in the afternoon) have been lasting several hours, so it's certainly not hard to get a boarding group. The ride has also been very reliable.

On another note, mid-September is a couple months away and the virtual queue may be gone by then, but seeing as the indoor queue only holds 30 minutes or so of people, it may still be in effect.

[SharkTums]

I wouldn't worry about getting on it.  That's one of the reasons there aren't pages of info.  It's not like Rise of hte Resistance, most people can get on it with minimal hassle. 

[jarmor]

So about this coaster. . .

I am trying to avoid POV's but like it was mention a post up, no one is talking about it.  Is it because it's basically RNRC2.0?  Is there anything special about it?

[SharkTums]

^It's a good solid Disney coaster, but we all know Disney isn't going to build the type of roller coasters that are going to get enthusiasts talking. It's a wonderful addition to Epcot and I like it a little more every time I ride it.  Much better than Rock n Roller Coaster...it's a lot like Space Fantasy at Universal Japan. 

[michaellynn4]

My brother rode it a few weeks ago. He's a big MCU fan (and I mean BIG), and he loved it so much that he was fighting back tears at the end of it. So yea, I imagine it depends on what you're looking to get out of it. 

[Midgetman82]

Was at the resort last week and got to experience Cosmic Rewind finally. There's a ton I could unpack about it, but overall yeah, I can see this being a lot of people's favorite roller coaster in all of Walt Disney World! Quite thrilling, and surprisingly longer than I expected! Loved it! Not my favorite overall attraction at Disney (RotR is still king), and personally not my #1 coaster at Disney (I'm a sucker for Everest), but dang is it a top contender!

I rode it twice, first time with virtual queue, and also had a Lightning Lane callback to get back in line later in the evening, and boy am I glad I did. I could ride that almost all day! I can't wait until they drop Virtual Queue, because it's very, very efficient with capacity too.

I'm gonna try to still not spoil anything for anyone who's avoiding those (you should probably stop reading now if you're that person), but...

There's one one thing I think I could critique with it, and it's that the story pacing during the actual coaster section itself is so fast that you miss a ton of what's actually happening. Now, no one needs to know what's happening, it's still just suuuuper fun to sit back and enjoy the ride! But if you're trying to follow along the full story as well, you'll miss a LOT on that first ride-thru. With regards to spinning: My dad is NOT into spinning rides and was worried it would make him too sick for the rest of the day. He was assured by many others he might like it and to give it a try anyway. Him and I rode together for our first ride. He said he did enjoy it, but it was very borderline for his limits and still made him a lil disoriented for a good portion of the day after, but he felt fine by the evening. I rode alone on my second lap . (Maybe spoiler for ride layout ahead) The coaster doesn't free-spin like a wild mouse, but there's a ton of sudden fast helixes throughout the ride that might still throw off those with weaker stomachs.

[Nrthwnd]

^ About that last paragraph....

Disney was quoted (some time long ago, I remember) that the Original Pirates ride was an "action attraction", and as such, the public would make repeat visits to it, because there was "so much going on at once", one ride through was not enough. And after his passing, the original Haunted Mansion was essentially the same in design, with lots to see, again and again. I still can't remember all of what happens in that graveyard, heh.

And .... they did make tons of repeat visits to both attractions, lol. And I expect that this will happen with Rewind. People will miss stuff and want to ride it all again.

[Haymaker]

Rode Cosmic Rewind twice this trip... very smooth and a lot of fun. I get motion sick on Ratatouille and a little less so on Flight of Passage and had no problem with this ride. The "spins" are gradual and tend to flow along with the elements. Great addition and a must do at Epcot!