Epcot’s newest attraction, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, just opened, and I’ve had the pleasure of riding it two times now. Now that I’ve had some time to collect my thoughts about the new ride, I’d thought I’d share my Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Review! Without further ado, let’s go!
Spoilers Ahead – Read at Your Own Risk!
Ride Basics
Location
Epcot, World Discovery near Mission Space & Test Track
Height Requirement
42″ – Rider Switch is available! Inquire with a Cast Member at the front of the queue entry. All guests who are riding must join a boarding group or have purchased an Individual Lightning Lane.
Accessibility Information
All riders must transfer into a ride vehicle, but the entire queue is wheelchair accessible. Guests using DAS must have a Lightning Lane or boarding group at this time. The queue & ride experience contains flashing lights, for those who have a sensitivity.
Queue Information
There is no standby queue at this time. The queue is only accessible by purchasing an individual lightning lane or through joining a boarding group at 7am or 1pm. Guests must have valid park entry & a park pass reservation to Epcot. At 7am, guests may join from anywhere. For the second drop, at 1pm, guests must have entered Epcot. If Epcot is participating in Extra Magic Hours, eligible guests may join the third drop at 6pm, and may join from anywhere. Guests eligible for the 6pm drop may be parkhoppers.
The other option is to purchase an individual lightning lane admission.
Ride Experience
After the queue, guests board a traditional rollercoaster train. Each train car has 2 rows of seats, with 2 seats in each row. The seats have lap bar restraints, and there is a small pouch for personal items. My backpack sat at my feet and I looped the straps through my feet.
The ride is entirely enclosed, and there are no loops or inversions. After going up a short hill, riders are launched backwards into the fast portion of the ride where you fly through star fields and set pieces, including planets, projection screens, and more! It’s set to a soundtrack featuring a randomized song selection, and has dialogue from some of the Guardians of the Galaxy characters. As the coaster moves along the track, the ride vehicles rotate. They don’t spin, per se, but rotate, similar to how Haunted Mansion Doombuggies rotate to show you specific show scenes. However, as the coaster moves pretty fast, the rotational pull causes some serious G forces and can cause motion sickness. The two times I rode the attraction, I found that sitting near the front, I walked off feeling less sick than I did in row 5. Those prone to motion sickness may want to take some Dramamine before experiencing this one!
My Initial Reaction
The first time I rode Cosmic Rewind (thanks to a Cast Member friend of mine who asked me during one of his preview days), I was overwhelmed. There was a lot going on between the motion of the coaster (and to be honest I was nervous about getting sick), the sound, the visuals… it was a lot. But I did walk away wowed by the experience! The next time, on opening day, since I knew what to expect in terms of the motion, I focused on the visuals, trying to pay a little closer attention to that. It is visually a very cool ride, but I still feel like I didn’t get to see everything I wanted to see, and the music stuck with me this time. The first time, I couldn’t tell you what song I got! Next time, I plan to pay more attention to the audio and how it complements the visuals of the attraction, because I think by that point the motion won’t be a factor for me at all.
What Makes a Good Disney Ride? Does Cosmic Rewind Fit the Bill?
After my mom and I rode Cosmic Rewind on opening day, we did a couple other rides and sat down for lunch. We chatted here and there about the ride, but over lunch we really had some time to share our thoughts about Cosmic Rewind and its place in Walt Disney World and how it ranks among other Disney coasters. It got us thinking, what makes a good Disney ride? And why did Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind seem so overwhelming compared to other new Disney rides that have premiered in the last 10-20 years?
Qualities of a Good Disney Ride
We came up with a list of what makes a Good Disney Ride:
Storyline, music, dialogue, high energy.
Most Good Disney Rides feature 3 of these 4 qualities. Take a ride like Haunted Mansion, for instance. It has a storyline, it’s got music, and it has dialogue. It’s lacking high energy, but it makes up for that by having a strong storyline, strong music to support the mood, and dialogue at appropriate times that supports the storyline.
Another example is Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster at Hollywood Studios. It has storyline, music, and high energy. It’s lacking dialogue, although there is the countdown at the beginning and a brief bit of dialogue.
Two final examples: Na’vi River Journey and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. These are considered the weaker of the two attractions in their respective lands. Na’vi River Journey has a storyline (albeit a little weak by most guests’ standards), music, and dialogue (in the form of a made-up language that guests don’t understand, in a song sung by the main character on the attraction). At Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, it’s got storyline, music, dialogue, and high energy, but the music complements the dialogue, and serves as a nice backdrop to the action of the ride.
And this is where I think Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind suffers.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is not a Traditionally Good Disney Ride.
If we take the idea that Good Disney Rides typically have 3 out of the 4 following qualities: storyline, music, dialogue, high energy, this is where Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind goes too hard. It has all four of those things going on at once.
It has a storyline, set up by the queue, pre-show, and continues on through the ride itself. It has music – and not just background music, it has actual songs with lyrics. Popular songs, non-Disney songs, from pop culture. It has dialogue that takes place during the ride, on top of the pop soundtrack. And, being a coaster, it’s a high energy attraction.
There is simply too much going on. Is it a good ride? Absolutely. Is it fun? Sure. But did I walk away thinking it was on par with Rise of the Resistance or Pirates of the Caribbean? No. There was too much competing for my attention and I was left with glimpses of bits and pieces of “wow that was fun” without really thinking about why I liked it, after the first time I rode it. In fact, a few minutes after my first ride, I couldn’t tell you what song was playing in the background, even when given a track list for the ride.
What about Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout?
Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout at Disney California Adventure is interesting, because it has all four components. It has a storyline, dialogue, music (with lyrics), and it’s high energy (drop ride like Tower of Terror). However the big difference is, the dialogue that takes place happens between the drops, as there are momentary pauses to show guests specific show scenes with some of the characters from the movies. Even though there is a lot going on, it’s not as bombarding on the senses as its east coast counterpart.
How Could Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Improve?
By removing one of the elements, I think the bombarding of the senses would be reduced enough to make the ride more memorable. Not that the ride isn’t memorable, because it is, but I’m only recalling bits and pieces of it instead of the overall experience. We can’t exactly remove a storyline or the high energy from the coaster. So that leaves us with removing the dialogue or the music. Because I’ve googled things about the dialogue, I know the dialogue contains references to Epcot and helps support the storyline, so I don’t think that should be removed. I think the best solution is to remove the pop music and replace it with music that complements the rest of the experience. Most Disney rides have music, but the main problem with Cosmic Rewind is that by using pop music with lyrics, it’s competing with the dialogue, and when those two compete, the storyline suffers. Create a fun 80s-themed track, and play that instead. It won’t take away from the overall experience, and it would highlight the dialogue so your brain won’t have to choose which one to focus on.
Final Thoughts
This isn’t a bad ride, by any means, and I don’t mean to imply that at all. I was left feeling very overwhelmed by the experience, in both good and bad ways. I liked the motion and visuals of the attraction but the competing audio of the dialogue and the pop music convoluted the experience for me. I’ll definitely go on it again, and as far as coasters at Walt Disney World, this falls somewhere in the middle of the pack for me. Have you been on it? What are your thoughts?
