Before the pandemic, Disney Parkgoers got to enjoy some major expansions and additions to the Walt Disney World theme parks beyond the Magic Kingdom. Over in Animal Kingdom, Pandora — The World of Avatar opened in 2017, with its Flight of Passage attraction opening in 2018. At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Toy Story Land opened in 2018, with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opening in 2019. These were welcome upgrades to what many Disney World regulars have always thought of as “half-day” parks. But many of those same fans started wondering: When will EPCOT get some love?
Disney was listening. Today, EPCOT, a theme park that exudes a spirit of curiosity and optimism, is in the midst of a radical and wondrous transformation.
Where once was concrete, guests arrive in EPCOT via a verdant new entrance plaza, with new greenery and pathways, all leading towards the geodesic sphere of Spaceship Earth. The sphere itself looks brighter and sexier at night, and is fronted by a new fountain, standing in the footprint of a fountain that was present on the park’s opening day in 1982.
Later this year, “Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana” will be the first Disney Parks experience tied to the Walt Disney Animation Studios film. Guests will follow a “lush exploration trail” that evokes the natural water cycle.
For this writer, though, the most exciting element of the EPCOT transformation is the opening of its first “Other-World” pavilion. Like the international pavilions of the World Showcase, the Xandar pavilion immerses guests in the history and culture of the capital of the Nova Empire…
Of course, there’s some Disney mischief at work here. In fact, the Xandar pavilion is actually the entry to Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, which opened in 2022. Voted best new attraction at the 2023 Theme Park Insider Awards, Cosmic Rewind is EPCOT’s first roller coaster and, with 5,577.4 feet of track, the longest fully enclosed coaster in any Disney theme park. It’s also been described as the world’s first “storytelling coaster.”
It turns out to be one of the most ingenious, joyful and winning theme park attractions in the known universe.
Yes, Cosmic Rewind may be a roller coaster, but it is quite unlike any other roller coaster you’ve experienced. For starters, there’s the backwards launch, the only such coaster launch in a Disney theme park, perfectly capturing a sense of rewinding back in time to the Big Bang.
Using a new ride system that spins guests around 360 degrees, it also moves like no other ride. It swivels, swings, and sways, like Space Mountain crossed with the Haunted Mansion, whose ride technology inspired the technology here. All this in the midst of a Marvel-movie space battle, with the Guardians facing off against a planet-sized foe named Celestial Eson.
Then there’s the music. Uniquely in the MCU, the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies feature classic tunes on their soundtracks, from Blue Suede’s “Hooked On A Feeling” to 10cc’s “Not in Love.” Similarly, Cosmic Rewind has a butt-kicking soundtrack: one track picked randomly out of a selection of six possible songs.
On my ride, I was treated to the disco beat, swirling brass and doo-wop harmonies of “September,” the million-selling Earth, Wind and Fire track from 1978. Other guests will get “Disco Inferno” by the Trammps, “I Ran (So Far Away)” by A Flock of Seagulls, “Conga” by Miami Sound Machine, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears, or “One Way or Another” by Blondie. Around Christmastime, a version of “Run Rudolph Run” accompanies the ride. (Imagineers ride-tested around 100 songs as part of their selection process. Tough gig.)
The effect on the mood and feeling of the ride is total. Suddenly, the movements of the coaster vehicle feel like nothing more than a boogie on the dance floor — like a three-minute-and-ten-second rollicking disco version of the Stargate sequence from “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
And, much like the effect of music in the “Guardians” movies — think of Chris Pratt, Walkman on, kicking space rats to the strains of Redbones “Come and Get Your Love” — there’s something goofily ironic about all this. Here’s a coaster that evokes a party instead of peril.
My involuntary response, evidently shared by many others on the coaster, was amazed and uncontrollable laughter; I exited the ride feeling as high as a satellite. I also left with a real awe for what the Imagineers have done here. Around 2,000 people an hour are funneled through the gigantic Cosmic Rewind show building, ending up with similarly gigantic smiles on their faces. What a spectacular achievement that is.
And no, you don’t have to be an MCU geek to appreciate all this. It may be that, in the theme park attraction, the superhero story has found its perfect artistic medium.