A few weeks ago, Bob Chapek announced at the D23 Expo Japan that the Guardians of the Galaxy indoor roller coaster at Epcot would feature revolutionary ride system. Well, now we are getting our first look at the yet-to-be-revealed, first-of-its-kind roller coaster vehicles for the upcoming Epcot attraction…
The following photos were found on Theme Park Review’s forums, posted by MrRC. There were taken at coaster-builder Vekoma’s testing facilities.
Based on what we have seen in a few internal documents, we are fairly certain that these trains being tested are for the Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster coming to Epcot. They pretty closely follow the seating layout and car design that was originally reported in our post a few months ago. The design with the cars elevated above the train makes the roller coaster track less visible to guests during the ride, something that would make sense given Imagineering’s desire to immerse guests in the story of the attraction.
Do keep in mind that these cars will look much different when implemented, featuring a sleeker look and some themed elements, such as rockets on the back of them (just like Space Mountain). They will be some sort of Xandarian vehicles in story, featuring design flourishes that mirror the ship that will sit outside of the Future World pavilion (as seen in the concept art).
There may be a controlled spinning element to the coaster cars, but it can not be confirmed at this time.
Guardians of the Galaxy will open at Epcot by 2021, replacing the Universe of Energy.
Ohhhh, I’m disapointed… There is absolutely not a revolutionary look on this tech. Being raised a bit, and able to spin (probably controlled) is just a variant on hundreds of spin coasters all around the world.
If the title said “Slightly adapted ride system” , I would have been comforted…
But there is more.
Is this overly simplistic version of an ordinary coaster going to be the “Exceptional Star Wars Experience” they use so much capital for ? If I’m in space with Star Wars, I would not even think about stepping inside an obvious spin coaster buggy and then fool myself “it’s a spaceship” ??? My goodness..
I hope the information is completely wrong, and if it’s correct, I see a fatal fail in imagination with the imagineers…
Cheers
Wow, way to use my comment to update your story!
Am I seeing things or is that a gondola in the background of the first photo? Maybe they’re building those too!
Looks like the new Time Traveler roller coaster that just opened at silver dollar city
This was my first thought as well.
Isn’t that almost exactly the same vehicle as Escape From Gringots at Universal?
Not even close
Oh yay …. Another coaster ride…. Yay
I’d rather a roller coaster than another darn screen with moving seats. Ho hum.
Looks like 80s tech. What happened to the vertical load inverted flying coaster?
This roller coaster with a spinning car is not a new idea. I know if one amusement park and a boardwalk that have already done this.. May want to check that out before claiming to be the first
It’s not even close to the same technology. This is a controlled spin.
Ryder is not able to control whether they want to spin or not spin. Then it’s just another spinning roller coaster and like I said I know for a fact that there is a amusement park that has this already
*rider. Controlled spin doesn’t mean the rider, this system points the riders where the designers want. It’s never been done like this.