Rocket: What have we done?
Gamora: I think we jumped back... all the way.
Rocket: Oh crud...
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is an indoor roller coaster located at Walt Disney World‘s Epcot, opened to the public on May 27, 2022. Located in the space formerly occupied by Universe of Energy and its successor Ellen's Energy Adventure, it is the second attraction based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Guardians of the Galaxy film series following California Adventure’s Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!, and the first attraction based on a Marvel property to open at the Florida Disney parks. note
The ride starts out at the Wonders of Xandar pavilion, the park’s first "Other-World Showcase". Wanting to establish a link with other worlds, the Nova Corps have set up shop at World Discovery (at the suggestion of one Peter Quill/Star-Lord, a fan of the original EPCOT Center prior to his abduction) with this showcase of Xandar and its culture. However, your visit is soon interrupted by the arrival of the Celestial threat of Eson the Searcher, who has stolen an advanced Xandarian device known as the Cosmic Generator, and seeks to use it to travel back to the dawn of time and Make Wrong What Once Went Right by remaking the world devoid of Terrans. It’s up to the visiting Guardians of the Galaxy to save the day once again and get the generator back from Eson, with riders tagging along on their wild chase through time and space in Xandarian evacuation shuttles.
The ride itself is similar in nature to the classic Space Mountain, simulating a high-speed ride through space, but with several unique features of its own, including the first-ever reverse launch on a Disney coaster, a revolving "Awesome Mix" of classic music hits (similar to Mission: BREAKOUT!), and ride cars capable of rotating 360 degrees, always keeping focus on the action.
Like Mission: BREAKOUT!, the ride has the involvement of James Gunn, who filmed 75 minutes of original material with the Disney Imagineers on the set of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, as well as the composer of the movies, Tyler Bates, recording two hours of original music for the ride, and Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista and Glenn Close reprising their roles as Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax and Nova Prime respectively. Terry Crews also makes an appearance as a character created for this ride, Tal Marik.
Provides examples of:
- Ascended Extra: After being seen in a flashback in the first movie, Eson is the main villain of this ride.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Eson is the main villain of the ride and, being a Celestial, towers over the heroes.
- Big "WHAT?!": Two in rapid succession. The first comes from Star-Lord, Gamora, and Marik when Rocket reveals his plans to send the guests through the jump-point Eson went through. The second comes from Drax—but only because Rocket mentioned "cake" (as in "piece of cake") and thought that there was cake nearby.
- Brick Joke: During the pre-show, the mention of cake and toast (in a metaphorical sense) makes Drax hungry for them. When the ride begins to launch, Drax can be seen munching on a snack bag. In one of the ride's two endings, Drax asks, "Now where's that cake-toast?"
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Despite Tal Marik being a comedic character, he's nevertheless a Centurion of the Nova Corps—the second highest ranking in the hierarchy, behind Nova Prime.
- Developer's Foresight:
- If the coasters are stalled on the first lift hill, guests are greeted with additional video footage of Tal Marik saying the airlock needs to be opened manually.
- Likewise, if the coasters stall just before the backwards launch, the Guardians will have additional dialogue to pad out the wait.
- Does Not Like Spam: As the guests pass by the Milky Way during the ride, Drax immediately remarks that he hates milk, with an additional remark saying that it gives him gas.
- Easter Egg: Plenty of signs throughout the queue are written in the Xandarian alphabet. The various messages are broken down here
. - Fish out of Temporal Water: After being away from Earth for around 40 years, Quill is excited to ride Horizons, "see the [Universe of] Energy dinosaurs", and hear "Veggie, Veggie, Fruit, Fruit", all of which are references to attractions that have since closed down.
- Fun with Acronyms: As the ride nears its end, one set of dialogue has Quill confidently claim what Epcot stands for. His guess? Every Person Comes Out Tired. Drax doesn't get it. note
- Literal-Minded: Drax, as usual. During the second pre-show, when he hears the words "cake" and "toast" (used in figurative senses both times), Drax immediately assumes that those foods are being served.
- Mocking Sing-Song: Rocket taunts Eson this way after the Guardians steal the Cosmic Generator from him, singing, "We've got the generator!".
- My God, What Have I Done?: Just before the launch, the Guardians slam into the Cosmic Generator, sending them and Eson to the dawn of time. When Eson asks what the Guardians have done, all Rocket can say is "What have we done...?"
- Mythology Gag:
- Right after the launch, Drax says, "Was that the Ding Dang?". The Ding Dang is a nod to one of Ellen's names for the Big Bang in Ellen's Energy Adventure.
- Star-Lord mentions the Universe of Energy dinosaurs on the queue.
- A rock Instrumental version of the Universe of Energy song can be heard when the crew are called in the pre-show and in the first scene.
- In the loading area you can see some text written in Xandarian that once translated says Ellen, Alex, E=MC and Dino; all of these names are references to Ellen's Energy Adventure.
- A Universe of Energy logo can be seen on the queue in the Starjumpers pad.
- Nothing but Hits: During each ride starting from the reverse launch, a different song from a six-song "Awesome Mix" plays, consisting of "Disco Inferno", "Conga", "One Way or Another", "I Ran (So Far Away)", "September", and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World".
- "Not So Different" Remark: During the queue, a narrator describes how Xandar is a self-sufficient city with energy generation, food production, medical care, and transportation, similar to Walt Disney's original vision for EPCOT.
- Oh, Crap!:
- The Nova Corps get this when the Cosmic Generator suddenly goes missing during the presentation. Likewise both them and the Guardians when Eson makes his presence known and reveals he has the generator and intends to use it to rewrite time.
- When the Big Bang kicks off the main portion of the ride, Rocket grumbles out "Oh, crud..." due to the Guardians' new predicament.
- Some dialogue that was cut as the ride starts had the Guardians expressing worry after they had slammed into the Cosmic Generator with Rocket explaining that the generator has taken them into the Big Bang and that they're now in a tunnel of sort at the dawn of time and will start moving forward through it at a rapid rate. No sooner than he finishes the Big Bang occurs and starts the journey.
- Read the Freaking Manual: While trying to use the Cosmic Generator, Rocket laments about needing an instruction manual to help him.
- Seen It All: When Drax learns that they're witnessing the Big Bang, he just comments that he saw things bigger than that.
- Shout-Out:
- Stern Chase: Eson give chase after the Guardians once they manage to snag the generator, following them through the temporal worm holes they and the guests jump through. Least until the Nova Corps finally arrives to hold him down and prevent him from pursuing any further.
- Villainous Breakdown: Eson becomes more frustrated to catch the Guardians as the ride goes on. Once the Nova Corp arrive to hold him down and keep him from chasing the Guardians further, he grouses how his world would've been perfect.
- "We're Live" Realization: Tal Marik tries to figure out how to address the people of Epcot before being told he's already live.
