REVIEW: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind – Go Dancing on EPCOT’s Grave

Tom Corless

REVIEW: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind – Go Dancing on EPCOT’s Grave

The death of the original vision of EPCOT has been proclaimed many times: the closure of Horizons and the first Journey Into Imagination, the introduction of attractions based on intellectual properties, and the moment I personally consider the end, the conclusion of IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth. Either way, no matter when you think it happened, EPCOT Center, Epcot, and all that it has ever been are long buried now, survived by a few museum pieces in Spaceship Earth, Living with the Land, The American Adventure, and Impressions de France. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is the greatest leap away from the park that was, purely into the realm of fantasy.

The Wonders of Xandar pavilion is supposed to be a legitimate World Showcase pavilion, in this case, an Other-world Showcase one, where the people of this far away planet are presenting their incredible technologies to the population of Earth, here called EPCOT Terrans (or EPCOTians jokingly at one point). Mission: Space does send guests into a vision of tomorrow once you step inside, but entering this pavilion blends our world with that of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The queue takes itself seriously, presenting “educational” narration over the exhibits guests pass.

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In fairness, many attempts were made to tie some actual facts about our solar system to the imaginary one presented inside, but it is unlikely a guest will take away any factoids from this. It’s clear that edutainment aspects about the solar system and city planning are an attempted tie to EPCOT of old, both the Universe of Energy and Walt’s vision of a city of the future. It’s nice that it is referenced, but to long time fans, it will feel forced. The most forced fan service comes from some dialogue Star-Lord delivers about wanting to see Horizons, the Energy dinosaurs, and “the Veggie Veggie Fruit Fruit.” It is horribly delivered and will make anyone who actually visited EPCOT in the 1980s wince.

EPCOT Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind queue 1 1

The acting is horrendous in some places, with theories claiming that Imagineers had very little time to film with the stars of the movies. The pre-show has some groan-worthy jokes in it, while the main ride provides some actual laughs from the Guardians gang. There are also some tremendous inside jokes, should there be a slight delay on the ride. At one point, Rocket even made light of the fact that we were in a dark tunnel waiting to launch.

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The queue looks an awful lot like Space 220 and the 2012 Test Track in places. The Galaxarium is meant to be this “wow” moment, but it is little more than a projection on the ceiling. The room is cold and lifeless beyond this, a cavernous empty space. The following room, the Xandar Gallery, on the other hand, is fantastic. A beautiful model of a Xandarian city, a Nova Corps Starblaster, and the Milano are photo-worthy props, while interesting forms of “illusioneering” with projections really place you in another world.

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The pre-shows are well produced. The dual-projection surface in the first room has some neat effects that the more eagle-eyed guests will notice and enjoy, while the second pre-show provides a big “wow moment” no one can miss. The narrative of a race from space coming to Earth to show off a interplanetary teleportation system is shockingly similar to the premise of the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter, but honestly, I am here for it.

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WDI figuring they could just decide on the villain and some plot points later since they would just be media played on flat surfaces. This worked out in the end, but a few audio-animatronics would’ve really put this over the top. There is something lost when every character encounter in the entire experience is through a screen or projection. It doesn’t allow guests to connect with the character and feel much emotion in my opinion.

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As for the ride itself: it is very, very fun. The ride system is a game changer and I can’t wait to see them do something more grandiose with it. The ability to freely spin to face scenes is a fun element that could be utilized to deliver the world’s next immortal E-Ticket rich in storytelling, like Pirates of the Caribbean or The Haunted Mansion. Here, it accomplishes something I would equate to a modern version of Space Mountain, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a version of this is what Tokyo Disneyland has ordered from Imagineering to replace their nearly-40-year-old coaster.

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I am not a huge fan of the overuse of projection technology, but it is clear at this point that they can achieve nearly anything with it. Projection scenes go on seemingly forever, following the cars around the gravity building that houses the ride. I would say the first attempt at something like this was Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy and Hyperspace Mountain at Disneyland, where a space creature or TIE Fighters appear to follow you, as best could be achieved with the technology of the time in an existing ride. TRON Lightcycle Power Run in Shanghai took this to the next level, having another lightcycle race against you almost seamlessly. Cosmic Rewind perfects this technology, thoughtfully spreading scenes out before your eyes, while the rotating cars ensure everyone in the train sees everything that is going on. As poorly as Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway shows every guest what is happening in the story is as good as Cosmic Rewind is at making sure everyone gets the full show. I do worry that the TRON ride at Magic Kingdom will look a little out of date with this down the road, while also having a WAY shorter ride time, but the Lightcycle vehicle may be novel enough to win guests over.

The entire Cosmic Rewind roller coaster ride is wildly fun, and how could it not be as it presents the world’s most expensive roller disco. The smoothness of the cars spinning and speeding down the track combined with groovy musical hits does create this roller rink party vibe that will leave anyone smiling, even a supposed curmudgeon like me. If you don’t know what a roller rink is, well, that’s what Wikipedia is for.

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The few times the train circles physical props are magnificent, a taste of what could be with a larger budget and more elaborate scenes. Sitting at Connections Eatery after my four rides, I overheard some kids talking about the spin around the moon being their favorite part. I was happy to hear this from younger guests as I think it reaffirms that physical props elicit the strongest emotional reactions. I fully understand that some of the scenes in the ride are too big to be presented physically, and projections have their place in this art form, but less reliance on media can be a good thing.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is what many would call a “gate-buster attraction”. It will draw huge crowds to EPCOT, they will leave it clapping and smiling, and they will ride over-and-over to hear all of the different musical tracks. When it starts to feel dated, the projections can be changed to display anything, whether it’s a different Guardians of the Galaxy tale or even something completely different with another intellectual property. In short, what has been a sleepy corner of EPCOT for decades is now going to be the most trafficked.

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I want to hate Cosmic Rewind as I know it is another step away from a park that was so special, probably amongst the three best Disney has ever built including Disneyland Paris and Tokyo DisneySea, but it is clear this is a new park. It is time to simply accept that this is a different place built in the spot where EPCOT Center was, not the park we have visited for years. What happened to Disney’s Hollywood Studios has happened to this park: it was rebuilt to purely exploit the latest Disney properties and nothing more. Luckily, Walt Disney Imagineering is still full of talented people who can execute fun and engaging experiences despite this creative stifling.

If you miss original storytelling, I’d recommend you expand your theme park horizons and save up for that trip to the more traditional Disney theme parks elsewhere that boast their own unique versions of classic attractions, as well has some IP-free masterpieces we likely won’t see again stateside. If you’re visiting EPCOT, don’t expect to learn, just expect to eat, drink, and have fun.

18 thoughts on “REVIEW: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind – Go Dancing on EPCOT’s Grave”

  1. The original map of EPCOT (in the picture with Walt Disney) is printed on the floor at the new counter service Connections Cafe. Guests can step on Walt’s dream while standing in line to buy a slice of pizza. Kinda sad.

  2. I’m just so tired of Disney “purists” boo hooing everything being done any more. EPCOT in 1982 wasn’t close to Walt’s vision. In 1982 he was dead 17 years already so who knows what EPCOT would have actually been. For the love of God when he was alive there was an Aunt Jemima Cafe in Disneyland which was deemed appropriate for the the time. 1966 Walt probably have had a different vision than 2000 Walt would have so stop harping on a legacy that truly never was.

  3. You’re a miserable human being, Tom. You’ve proven that time after time. Your vindictiveness when you don’t get media invites is an embarrassing character flaw, although I suppose it gets lost among your countless others. “You want to hate Cosmic Rewind,” yet that didn’t stop you from trying to ride it over and over again today until management blocked your path toward yet another consecutive re-ride. Funny how that works out given how much venom you have to spew about how “terrible” this incredible new attraction is. You’re a joke. And your blatant insecurity has you verging on “petulant child” level. Why don’t you put half this effort into actually accomplishing something with your life rather than spending every waking second complaining from a website you run like the world somehow should revolve around you. What have you accomplished? What have you created? What have you contributed to the industry? You’re just a cancer on it, and all you do is take up space in it.

    • “Trying to ride it over and over”? Everyone was lol. Management didn’t speak to anyone, you were free to keep riding. Most attendees rode at least twice.

      I don’t know what WDWNT did to you but maybe you should just remove us from the sites you read if you hate me so much. Obsessing over it and making up stories isn’t healthy.

        • You’re creating a character that you want someone to be. At this point, I’m afraid to even ask cast members a question because I feel like they’ll just make up a story or be rude because they think I do these types of things. You’ve gotta move on, this isn’t healthy and it’s not fair to me, a fellow human. Think about how you would feel if someone made something up about you.

    • I’m sorry, did I read a different review than you and everyone else who is complaining? Seemed like the author liked it even though he was expecting to hate it. He doesn’t think it’s the greatest thing ever but he clearly still enjoyed it. How is the author the miserable human being while you’re throwing a fit about him being toxic hateful monster for saying the queue is a little bland and the acting isn’t great? If anything I think he was being too nice about this attraction. It’s basically 20 minutes of walking around nearly empty rooms and then a 3 minute ride.

  4. Can’t wait to ride! New Epcot is so amazing! When I visited in the 80s I felt like I was at a museum. Boring!!!

  5. Time to move along. You hate disney so much and you are so young yet so troubled by new attractions. Sea world might be a better fit for you Tom.

  6. “The ride system is a game changer and I can’t wait to see them do something more grandiose with it. The ability to freely spin to face scenes is a fun element that could be utilized to deliver the world’s next immortal E-Ticket ”

    Isn’t this the same effect used by Universal with Gringotts? 8 years ago?
    Exaggerate too much you do!

  7. The ride itself seems great but the Wonders of Xandar aspect seems clumsy. It might have been a better homage if the Energy theme remained. The ride could have been the same, but the preshow could have featured the Guardians presenting various forms of energy (real and fictional, maybe including anulax batteries to tie into the movies), and then prepare to show you a limitless cosmic energy generator. Eson shows up and decides it disrupts the law of conservation of energy and attempts to reboot the universe.

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