Is Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind the Best Ride at Epcot?

The short answer is yes. The long answer is absolutely; it’s the best ride in Walt Disney World.

On May 15th, 2022, I had my Annual Passholder preview for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and my life was changed. My wife was with me, and she had never seen the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, but she was equally excited. I am still on cloud nine, and all I want is to ride this attraction repeatedly.

Wonders of Xandar

The Queue

I wasn’t sure what to expect because I tried to avoid any spoilers online, and I’m glad I did. The queue was a lot of fun, and it felt like I was in a pavilion in World Showcase, learning about a place I’d never been to. The line was moving fast, so I didn’t get to explore the first section of the queue that resembles a planetarium, but I did love it. The next part of the queue feels like a museum and is filled with different facts about Xandar. This part was also very rushed, so we didn’t get to see any of the fun Epcot jokes, which I was looking forward to the most. When we got to the pre-show, it got cut off because the ride went down for about 20 minutes, and they moved us to the next section of the line to wait for the ride to operate again.

The Queue

The Ride

Once the ride came back to life, the line moved forward, and we were in the loading dock. I was blown away by the loading dock; I felt completely immersed. The seats on the ride vehicle are comfortable, and the lap bar is very secure. I am 4’11 and a half, so I always worry about the lap bar not being secure. I felt very safe in this lap bar, and throughout the attraction, I didn’t feel like I was being thrown around. The backward launch is one of the first things to happen, and I know many people are concerned about this launch. This launch is the smoothest and most controlled launch I’ve ever witnessed. Even though it’s smooth, that doesn’t mean it’s not thrilling. It was exhilarating. The rest of the roller-coaster was so fun, and the ride vehicle was constantly moving to point you where you needed to look. As many of you might know, 80s music is essential for Guardians, so this attraction has six different songs, and hopefully, you’ll hear a different one each time you ride. We got “Conga” by Gloria Estefan, making the attraction ten times better. I do want to say that if you have any level of motion sickness, you should probably skip the ride or take Dramamine. I struggle slightly with motion sickness, depending on the ride, but I kept my head facing forward where the ride vehicle wanted me to look as it was moving. Don’t try to look next to you or behind you; focus on where the ride vehicle wants you to look.

The Loading Dock

The Aftermath

The minute I got off the attraction, I looked at my wife and my best friend and said, “I need to ride this again,” and they agreed. My wife said, “I’ve never seen the movies, and I feel like you don’t need to see the movies to have a good time; if anything, this made me want to watch the movies.” My best friend’s favorite ride of all time is Flight of Passage, and no ride has been able to beat that number one slot until now. When we got out of the ride building, he said, “that’s the best ride I’ve ever been on at any theme park.” We all stood there in shock, staring at each other, trying to find all the words to express our feelings. We walked over to Connections Eatery, grabbed food, sat down, and repeatedly said, “That was amazing.” I hope to see more roller-coasters using this ride system because it is spectacular and innovative. This is definitely the Space Mountain for the up-and-coming generations.

Will, you be riding Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind? Let us know in the comments.