''Guardians of the Galaxy'': Cosmic Rewind is an enclosed

roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

Epcot Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...

, manufactured by Dutch company

Vekoma Vekoma Rides Manufacturing is a Dutch amusement ride manufacturer. Vekoma is syllabic abbreviation of Veld Koning Machinefabriek (Veld Koning Machine Factory) which was established in 1926 by Hendrik op het Veld. History The company originally ...

. Based on the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

Guardians of the Galaxy The Guardians of the Galaxy is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It may more specifically refer to: Comic book teams * Guardians of the Galaxy (1969 team), the original 31st-century team fr ...

'' films, the attraction is the first at Walt Disney World to feature characters from the

Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of ...

. Opened on May 27, 2022, it is Epcot's first roller coaster and Disney's first backwards-launched roller coaster. It replaced the

Universe of Energy The Universe of Energy was a pavilion on the eastern side of Future World at Epcot, a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. One of Epcot's opening day attractions in 1982, it explored the world of energy through four ...

pavilion, which closed on August 13, 2017. Originally set to open in 2021, the attraction was delayed to summer 2022 as part of Epcot's 40th anniversary celebration, which is part of Walt Disney World's 50th Anniversary celebration. The opening was postponed when Walt Disney World closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

History

The attraction was announced as part of an overhaul of

at the 2017

D23 Expo D23: The Official Disney Fan Club is the official fan club for The Walt Disney Company. Founded in 2009, the organization is known mainly for its biennial exposition event, the D23 Expo. The name ''D23'' refers to ''D'' for ''Disney'' and ''23' ...

. Ellen's Energy Adventure closed on August 13, 2017 and construction of the roller coaster began later in the same month. The

show building Show building is the name often given to various enclosed structures at theme parks that contain attractions such as rides and entertainment shows. The exteriors of such buildings may be themed on some or all sides, but their hidden "backstage" a ...

that housed

was reused and retrofitted for the new attraction. The roller coaster itself is housed in a new, massive show building situated backstage behind the Universe of Energy building and the PLAY! pavilion, which utilized 960 truckloads of concrete for its foundation. The first track piece of the ride was installed November 2018. At D23 Japan in 2018, it was confirmed that the ride would be one of the world's longest enclosed roller coasters, set to open during the 50th anniversary celebration of Walt Disney World, late 2021. The name of the ride, ''Guardians of the Galaxy'': Cosmic Rewind, was announced on August 25, 2019, at the D23 Expo 2019. Filming for the ride commenced in October 2021. ''

'' film series cast members

Chris Pratt Christopher Michael Pratt (born June 21, 1979) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for playing Andy Dwyer in the NBC sitcom '' Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015). He also appeared in The WB drama series ''Everwood'' (2002–2006) an ...

Zoe Saldaña Zoë Yadira Saldaña-Perego (née Saldaña Nazario; born June 19, 1978) is an American actress widely known for her work in science fiction franchises, she has appeared in three of the five highest-grossing films of all time (''Avatar'', '' Av ...

Dave Bautista David Michael Bautista Jr. (born January 18, 1969) is an American actor and retired professional wrestler. He had several stints in WWE between 2002 and 2019. In his acting career, he is most widely known for his portrayal of Drax the Destro ...

, and

Glenn Close Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, Close has garnered numerous accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards ...

reprised their roles from the

(MCU) as Peter Quill / Star-Lord,

Gamora Gamora is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/artist Jim Starlin, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #180 (June 1975). Gamora is the adopted daughter of Thanos, and ...

, Drax, and Nova Prime Irani Rael, respectively. The first footage from the ride was released in March 2022. Disney Parks, through social media, also revealed on April 25, 2022, that actor

Terry Crews Terry Alan Crews (born July 30, 1968) is an American actor, television host, and former American footballer. He played Julius Rock in the UPN/ CW sitcom ''Everybody Hates Chris'', which aired from 2005 to 2009, and portrayed Terry Jeffords in ...

would be part of the pre-show experience, playing Centurion Tal Marik, a new character created specifically for the attraction. Cast Member previews for the attraction began on April 17, 2022, while Walt Disney World Annual Passholders received an early look at the ride beginning on May 8, 2022. The attraction eventually held its grand opening ceremony on May 27, 2022, opening to the public on the same day. Similar to the attractions within

Avengers Campus Avengers Campus is a Marvel Cinematic Universe–themed area located at Disney California Adventure and Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Paris, and being developed for Hong Kong Disneyland. The Marvel-themed areas or "lands" are being dev ...

, the attraction is inspired by, but not canonical to, the MCU. On June 23, 2022, Disney announced that Cosmic Rewind would receive a Christmas overlay with a holiday mixtape soundtrack, featuring "a mash-up of seasonal jams". The limited offering began on November 25, 2022, coinciding with the release of ''

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special ''The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special'' is an American television special written and directed by James Gunn for the streaming service Disney+, based on Marvel Comics featuring the superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy. It is the secon ...

'' on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

the same day, running until December 30, 2022.

Attraction

Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT

The attraction is presented as the Wonders of Xandar Pavilion, the first Other-world Pavilion at Epcot. Much like the pavilions at the World Showcase, it features exhibits and models of the history and culture of the capital of the Nova Empire,

Xandar Xandar () is a fictional planet appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The planet is depicted as being in the Tranta system in the Andromeda Galaxy. It is best known as the home world of the Nova Corps, an intergalactic poli ...

, presented by the

Nova Corps The Nova Corps is a fictional intergalactic military/police force appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Marv Wolfman, the Corps first appeared in ''Fantastic Four'' #205 (April 1979). They have since appe ...

as a cultural exchange from them to the people of Terra (the name by which they refer to Earth). At the entrance of the attraction sits a Starblaster ship of the Xandarian Nova Corps on a perch.

Queue

The queue begins in the "Galaxarium", a galaxy-equivalent to a

planetarium A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetarium ...

, where a Xandarian super computer named World Mind, explains how they are learning about the culture of Terrans (as the Xandarians refer to the inhabitants of Earth). The queue continues up a ramp into the gallery that features a

projection mapping Projection mapping, similar to video mapping and spatial augmented reality, is a projection technique used to turn objects, often irregularly shaped, into display surfaces for video projection. The objects may be complex industrial landscapes, s ...

model of Xandar, along with screens showcasing their culture, noting the similarities of the capital of the Nova Empire with

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

's EPCOT concept. Along the gallery, models of Xandarian ships are also displayed, as well as uniforms of the Nova Corps high-ranking officers and interviews with each member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, especially Peter Quill / Star-Lord, who exclaims his excitement to go back and experience the attractions he visited as a child at EPCOT, unaware that the ones he mentions no longer exist.

Pre-show

At the end of the gallery, Terrans are ushered to the final stop of the Wonders of Xandar Pavilion, hosted by Nova Prime Irani Rael (portrayed by

) of the Nova Corps. She welcomes the guests and begins by explaining how both Xandar and Terra were born of the same moment - the

Big Bang The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...

. She then details how the Xandarians travelled through the galaxy to reach Terra to showcase their culture: by utilizing a Cosmic Generator, a piece of Xandarian technology that creates " jumpholes" that allowed them to create shortcuts to reach their destination much quicker. As a culmination of the Wonders of Xandar Pavilion, Terrans will be

teleported Teleportation is the hypothetical transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. It is a common subject in science fiction literature and in other popular culture. Teleportation is oft ...

to a Nova ship in space to demonstrate the Cosmic Generator. After Nova Prime's presentation, Centurion Tal Marik (portrayed by

) of the Nova Corps, welcomes Terrans and advises the prohibition of communication devices with recording capabilities (i.e. cellphones and smartphones), after which Terrans are ushered into the teleportation chamber. After Terrans have been teleported to the Nova ship, the Cosmic Generator is stolen and the ship loses its power before a demonstration could be presented, prompting Nova Prime to urgently call the Guardians of the Galaxy for help. Peter Quill / Star-Lord (portrayed by

(portrayed by

), Drax (portrayed by

Rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

and

Groot Groot () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in ''Tales to Astonish'' #13 (Nov. 1960). An extraterrestrial, sentien ...

all appear on screen answering the distress call, only to discover that a

Celestial Celestial may refer to: Science * Objects or events seen in the sky and the following astronomical terms: ** Astronomical object, a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists in the observable universe ** Celes ...

named Eson, seen outside the Nova ship, has stolen the Cosmic Generator. Unhappy with the Terrans, the Celestial uses the Cosmic Generator to send Terra through a jumppoint to the dawn of time, with the intention of erasing its existence, before entering the jumppoint itself. Quill urges Centurion Tal Marik to follow Eson while the Guardians rendezvous with the Nova ship to stop the Celestial but is unable to do so due to the lack of power in the ship and needing to send Terrans to evacuation shuttles. However, Rocket suggests he can control the shuttles to have the Terrans follow Eson via jumpholes and rendezvous with them instead, as they are their only way of tracking the Celestial in order to recover the Cosmic Generator. Terrans are then led to the corridors of the loading platforms to board their evacuation shuttles.

Ride experience

As the shuttles depart, Terrans begin making their way out of the Nova ship to enter the jumppoint in their evacuation shuttles. Peter Quill / Star-Lord and Gamora assure them that they're tracking the shuttles to meet them, while Drax and Rocket instead make pessimistic remarks about the situation. The Guardians wish the Terrans luck as they set off, and after crossing the jumppoint the Terrans arrive at Eson's location, where it holds the Cosmic Generator. Shortly after, the Guardians of the Galaxy arrive in their ship as Eson prepares to throw the Cosmic Generator towards Terra, who disregards Quill's music from the Guardians' ship as "noise". The Guardians then blast the Cosmic Generator from the Celestial's hands, opening another jumppoint which proceeds to suck everything in, taking them all the way back in time to the Big Bang and eventually fading into complete darkness. Suddenly, the evacuation shuttles are launched backwards in an

explosion An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known ...

, and it is at this point that the vehicles begin their spinning profiles on their axis to achieve a sensation of "space travel" while the story develops around them with a randomized song selection out of six. As the evacuation shuttles travel through multiple jumpholes along the way, the Guardians of the Galaxy engage in combat with Eson around the Terrans as they also cross multiple jumppoints. The Guardians finally lead a fleet of Nova Corp Starblasters to Eson, who manage to contain the Celestial and recover the Cosmic Generator. As the Guardians of the Galaxy travel far from the scene, they lead the Terrans to a final series of jumpholes that takes them to the Milky Way, then around the Moon before locking the coordinates for

EPCOT Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...

and sending them back to Terra. As they arrive, Peter Quill welcomes the Terrans to the Guardians of the Galaxy, the rest of the team remarking amongst themselves as they disembark.

Cast

Actors from the ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' films reprised their roles for the attraction. However,

Bradley Cooper Bradley Charles Cooper (born January 5, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and two Grammy Awards, in addition to nominations for nine Academy Awards, si ...

and

Vin Diesel Mark Sinclair (born July 18, 1967), known professionally as Vin Diesel, is an American actor. One of the world's highest-grossing actors, he is best known for playing Dominic Toretto in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. Diesel began audition ...

, who voice

and

, respectively in the films, were not involved in the project.

plays a new character created specifically for the attraction. *

as Peter Quill / Star-Lord *

Zoe Saldana Zoe (also ZOE, Zoë, Zoé, etc.) can refer to: *ζωή (''zōḗ''), the Ancient Greek word for "life" People * Zoe (name), including list of persons and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Zoe'' (film) * ZOE Broadcast ...

Drax the Destroyer Drax the Destroyer (Arthur Douglas) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Jim Starlin, the character first appeared in ''Iron Man (comic book), The Invincible Iron Man'' #55 (February 19 ...

as Nova Prime Irani Rael *

as Centurion Tal Marik

Music

Like in the ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' films, music plays a key role in the attraction. Over a hundred songs were considered by

Walt Disney Imagineering Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc., commonly referred to as Imagineering, is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construction of Disney theme parks and attra ...

for the ride experience, narrowing it down to six randomly-selected featured songs, each fitting the same motion profile of the ride vehicles: * "

September September is the ninth month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the third of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the fourth of five months to have a length of fewer than 31 days. September in the Northern H ...

" by

Earth, Wind and Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million ...

* "

Disco Inferno "Disco Inferno" is a song by American disco band the Trammps from their 1976 fourth studio album of the same name. With two other cuts by the group, it reached No. 1 on the US '' Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart in early 1977, but had li ...

" by

the Trammps The Trammps are an American disco and soul band, who were based in Philadelphia and were one of the first disco bands. The band's first major success was their 1972 cover version of "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart", while the first disco tr ...

* "

Everybody Wants to Rule the World "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a song by English pop rock band Tears for Fears. It was written by Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, and Chris Hughes and produced by Hughes. The song was first released on 22 March 1985 by Phonogram, Mercury, ...

" by

Tears for Fears Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath, England, in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the new wav ...

* "

One Way or Another "One Way or Another" is a song by American new wave band Blondie from their 1978 album ''Parallel Lines''. Lyrically, the song was inspired by Blondie frontwoman Deborah Harry's experience with a stalker in the early 1970s, an incident which ...

" by Blondie * "

I Ran (So Far Away) "I Ran (So Far Away)", also released as "I Ran", is a song by English new wave band A Flock of Seagulls. It was released in 1982 as their third single and it was the second single from their self-titled debut album. It topped the chart in ...

" by

A Flock of Seagulls A Flock of Seagulls are an English new wave band formed in Liverpool in 1979. The group, whose best-known line-up comprised Mike Score, Ali Score, Frank Maudsley and Paul Reynolds, hit the peak of their chart success in the early 1980s. The ...

* "

Conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

" by

Gloria Estefan Gloria Estefan (; born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García; born 1 September 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is a seven-time Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been ...

Additionally,

Tyler Bates Tyler Bates (born June 5, 1965) is an American musician, producer, and composer for film, television, and video game scores. Much of his work is in the action and horror film genres, with films like '' Dawn of the Dead, 300, Sucker Punch, Ha ...

, composer of ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' and ''Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2'', scored over two hours of original music for the queue. An electric guitar cover of the original Universe of Energy attraction's

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

(written by

Joel Hirschhorn Joel Hirschhorn (December 18, 1937 – September 17, 2005) was an American songwriter. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Song on two occasions. He also wrote songs for a number of musicians, including Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison. Hirsc ...

and

Al Kasha Alfred Kasha (January 22, 1937 – September 14, 2020) was an American songwriter, whose songs include " The Morning After" from '' The Poseidon Adventure''. Life Kasha started songwriting and producing at a young age and was hired as a producer ...

) can also be heard before the attraction's backwards launch.

Christmas overlay

On June 23, 2022, Disney announced that Cosmic Rewind would receive a Christmas overlay with a holiday mixtape soundtrack. On October 7, 2022, at

New York Comic Con The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. History The New York Comic Con is a f ...

, Disney announced the overlay’s title: ''Guardians of the Galaxy'': Cosmic Rewind Holiday Remix. The limited offering began on November 25, 2022, coinciding with the release of ''

'' on

the same day, running until December 30, 2022. The attraction's soundtrack was replaced by "

Run Rudolph Run "Run Rudolph Run" is a Christmas song written by Chuck Berry but credited to Johnny Marks and M. Brodie due to Marks' trademark on the character of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It was published by St. Nicholas Music (ASCAP) and was first record ...

", with the lyrics changed to reflect

, titled "Run Run Rocket".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Amusement rides based on works by James Gunn Roller coasters introduced in 2022 Enclosed roller coasters Launched roller coasters Epcot Guardians of the Galaxy (film series) Marvel Cinematic Universe amusement rides Marvel Comics in amusement parks Roller coasters in Greater Orlando Roller coasters operated by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions World Discovery 2022 establishments in Florida

History

Attraction

Queue

Pre-show

Ride experience

Cast

Music

Christmas overlay

See also

References

External links