We Went INSIDE the New 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Coaster at EPCOT

Disclosure: We were invited by Disney to attend a media preview of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. This did not affect our reporting of the event — our opinions are our own.

We know it’s a SUPER big week in Disney World with the 50th anniversary celebrations kicking off soon! But, the EPCOT Transformation is still in full swing, even if many of the projects in the works won’t be open by October 1st.

EPCOT Entrance

While we will see Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and La Crêperie de Paris debut this week, the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Coaster has been pushing forward in its construction as of late. And, since this week is all about celebrating milestones, we’re taking you with us inside the new attraction for a first look at what Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind will be like!

During our media preview, we were not allowed to have cell phones or cameras out, so we don’t yet have any photos of the ride itself. However, we were able to visit INSIDE the show building and see the track for ourselves.

We’re heading inside!

The first thing that we’d like to stress is just how massive this ride building is. Guests can see the large backstage building from the EPCOT parking lot, but it’s much more impressive once you step inside. We only saw about half of the ride track in total, but were still blown away by how gigantic everything was. According to the Imagineers, it’s one of the longest indoor roller coaster tracks in the world.

See the large blue building in the back? That’s the ride building.

As far as a size comparison goes, our best estimation is that the ride building we saw was about twice the space of the ride building for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios. Cosmic Rewind is similar to Rock ‘n’ Roller in that the ride will be mostly in the dark and you will travel through setpieces at various points. The two setpieces that we spotted were made to look like a galaxy (with pink and purple coloring) and a planet (a large sphere) — both will likely be even more impressive when the lights are out and the ride’s special effects are turned on.

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The Imagineers we spoke with also discussed some of the ride system’s features. Like they’ve shared in the past, the new ride is an “omnicoaster” where the vehicle will turn around to face riders towards the more important parts of the coaster’s storyline.

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And speaking of the storyline, the backstory to the new attraction is that the Xandarians are building the first intergalactic pavilion here at EPCOT. Similar to how we’re able to “visit” the countries in the World Showcase, we’ll now be able to “visit” Xandar. And of course, the Guardians of the Galaxy themselves will be showing up to get involved in the shenanigans.

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From our time inside the ride, it seemed as though the track was mostly, if not entirely complete. We expect that some of the sets will continue to get more complex as the ride construction nears its completion, and we can’t wait to check out the finished product.

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At this time, there’s no given opening date for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, but we’ll make sure to keep you posted with the latest. Stay tuned to AllEars!