Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is going to be an epic, first of its kind, roller coaster in many ways when it debuts at Walt Disney World. Most importantly to fans, it will be the first Marvel-themed attraction to debut at Disney World, but beyond that, the attraction itself will be groundbreaking as it will be the first "storytelling roller coaster" in a Disney park. Disney has teased the unique ride vehicles that the attraction will use, and now we have our first look at them in action.
This week is the IAAPA conference, the trade show for the theme park industry, and as part of his keynote address, Disney Parks Chairman Josh D'Amaro gave the world a look at the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind roller coaster. Disney Parks later dropped the video of the ride vehicles moving along the coaster track, showing just how they'll move about in order to tell guests the story of Cosmic Rewind. Check it out.
While this video shows the Milano-styled carriage moving around outdoors, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind will be an entirely enclosed roller coaster, which is where the unique design comes in. While we've seen roller coaster carriages that have the ability to spin, most coasters do that to increase the out of control feeling of the ride. There's no way to know when and how the vehicle will spin around. However, in this case, the car is not out of control. When and where the car spins is part of the attraction as it's all designed to direct the rider's attention to something they need to see as the car goes flying by.
This will allow the story of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind to be told to guests and to make sure that, even while moving through at high speed, they won't miss something important. Of course, what the story is or exactly how it will be told is anybody's guess. It will likely be told through projected video segments but could also include the use of animatronics or other ways of getting the story across.
We are generally seeing the actors of the MCU reprise their roles for Disney attractions, and the Guardians of the Galaxy actors did just that for their first theme park ride, Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout at Disney California Adventure. It seems likely that they'll do the same for Cosmic Rewind, but that has yet to be confirmed. Having said that, officially, the Marvel attractions are not part of the MCU, but are in fact, they're own, separate Marvel universe. It's possible, even likely, that the two Guardians attractions will connect to each other in some way, but how that will work, or what this story will be, we don't know yet.
The other thing we don't know for certain is when this ride will be complete. Previously, the attraction was promised to open in 2021, in time for Walt Disney World's 50tyh anniversary. However, with the pandemic shutdown and the changes that have needed to take place in the parks since reopening, it's not entirely clear that's still the case. No official delay has been announced, but don't be surprised if Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is held back until 2022, which would get it open in time for Epcot's 40th anniversary.
