How do you know when we are having a good time on a roller coaster? When you hear us laughing our heads off and that is what we have been doing every time we have gotten to ride Guardians Of The Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, the newest attraction in Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort.
But this attraction is not just a roller coaster, it is a full-blown Pavilion. As the people of Xandar, home of the Nova Corps, have opened the Wonders of Xandar Pavilion at Epcot so you and your fellow “Terrans” can get a glimpse of what life is like on Xandar.
The theming in the queue is amazing, everything about it screams old-school Epcot. From the moment you walk in you enter a massive room called the Galaxarium, featuring a dome style projection screen on the ceiling where it can take you on a journey from Earth to Xandar. Pictures simply do not do it justice!
You then head up a ramp around the Galaxarium into the main “Wonders of Xandar” exhibit. This really feels like Epcot as it takes you on a journey about the places and people of Xandar and the Nova Corps. Using everything from models, video projection, displays, projection mapping, and more, it gives you a brief look at Xandar and it is the first time you will encounter the Guardians. If you are able to see some of the different segments there are some funny jokes and other easter eggs you will see during this portion of the queue.
Next, is the first of two preshows, where you will be welcomed by Nova Prime(Glenn Close, yes, multi-award-winning acting legend Glenn Close) before you are given special permission to be transported onto a Nova Corp ship orbiting Earth. We don’t want to give it away but all we will say is that some Disney “Magic” is used to transport you from Epcot to the ship and it is pretty cool the first time you experience it.
After meeting the Guardians, and being interrupted by a Celestial, you have to take an emergency transport ship, and you are enlisted by the Guardians to help them stop the Celestial and save the galaxy, again, heading into the transport bay and board your ship, aka the coaster train, and off you go.
After you leave the station, you head up to the launch ramp as the Guardians prep you for what is next and as you head into “space” the giant Celestial and the Guardians in their ship are there. There is a reason the show building for this ride is massive, and that is thanks to the screens used in the attraction. Something goes wrong and you are launched backward and back in time and the ride truly begins.
It is hard to describe the sensation of the ride vehicles spinning as you drop and turn and spin through this attraction. While the spinning is never dramatic and it always moves with the flow of the ride if you are prone to motion sickness you might have some issues with it. I have some problems with motion sickness but in my case, I have found as long as a face forward the whole time and don’t look around I don’t have as many issues but your mileage may vary.
As you fly along with the track past set pieces and giant projections and through tunnels, it really gives you the sensation that you are flying through space to a soundtrack, and let’s not forget about the music. There 6 tracks you can get and it is totally random. Out of the 6, my favorites were Blondie’s “One Way or Another” and surprisingly to me Tears For Fear’s “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”.
This is all on top of the dialogue you will hear is you and the Guardians save the galaxy and you even get a little message from the Guardians at the end. All of this and you are back on Earth in the Wonders of Xandar Pavillion having saved the day.
Guardians Of The Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind feels like a modern-day Space Mountain. There are no inversions but it’s not needed in this fun and exciting trip through space using the latest in coaster, projections, and special effects technology. It is easily now one of the best attractions at Walt Disney World Resort. We are really lucky here in Orlando because in the last few years we have had some of the best attractions in the world debut and Cosmic Rewind is one of them.
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Barry joined Thrillgeek in 2016. He has been a journalist for over 20 years. He is one of the co-hosts of the Thrillgeek Podcast, Editor and Digital Content Coordinator here at Thrillgeek. When he is not going to the theme parks, traveling with his wife, Cyn or playing with their dogs. He is playing drums, going to concerts, trying some of the amazing food or enjoying many of the amazing performing arts we have in Orlando.