Epcot Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind opening

There's no universe where you'll ever be "power riding" this since it will likely be the most popular ride in the park. And the crowds are no joke. We were parked in the last row when we got there at 4, and the other side was already parked to the last row. I don't imagine they had to go to the far Explore and Imagine, but it was nuts.

Weird, I didn’t think it was crowded today, other then Rat (60 min) and Guardians (40 min) I didn’t wait more then 15 min for anything, including Soarin and festival booths. Got a prime spot for Harmonious 20 min before the show too. I did not however try to do TT or Frozen.

Maybe it learned local for the previews today, and on-property was lower. The width of the exit even at 7 suggested a large crowd though.

So what's the ride experience like?

I wasn't able to snag a preview, but I do have an Epcot reservation for Friday, May 27. Given the fact that there are park reservations and only virtual queue in place, my plan is to set my alarm and see if I can join the VQ. If I can, great. If not, at least I don't have to drive out there for nothing.

My hope is the hourly capacity seems high enough where it will be easier to snag a VQ than it was for Rise.

The ride experience is unlike anything else because of the car rotation. They mention the backward launch, and I was thinking there was a switch and all of that, but no, the train never changes direction, you just change the direction that you face. And it's totally contextual to the story, too. There are not any big drops, but banked turns where you back is to the outside of the turn. Coming out of the rear-facing launch is just the first of a number of completely weird sensations I've never had on any ride. The control of the rotation is extraordinary and precise. The visuals are partly dark with some practical set pieces and projections. I'm sure after more rides I could get the layout, but some of the rotation goes from a side to backward to the other side, making it a lot harder to know which way is "forward."

I don't think that coaster enthusiasts will really "get" the ride, because it's not the usual things that they like. It feels fast, but I don't know if it really is.

Also, the pre-show is pretty great. The story is straight-forward and includes the cast, including Glenn Close as Nova Prime. Pretty sure it's not Bradley Cooper as Rocket though. The "teleport" trick is familiar but effective.

I loved everything about it, and I wish I knew when I would get to ride it again.

I seem to recall WEB Slingers coming off VQ fairly quickly as well.

Jeff said:

I loved everything about it, and I wish I knew when I would get to ride it again.

Without beating a dead horse, this is exactly why I don't like the park reservations and virtual queue only options at WDW. I feel the same way about Velocicoaster, but I also know I'm able to access the park and the ride any day I want with my the Annual Pass I paid for.

I've yet to an encounter a time where I couldn't get an Epcot reservation the day before. But the virtual queue thing is pretty annoying. That said, I've been able to ride Rise of the Resistance and Remy plenty of times now, so my assumption is we'll get there with this ride as well.

For locals it's probably not a huge issue. For people that travel there every five years it could be a huge hassle.

Is it though? You're never not going to have reservations planning that far in advance, and you can probably still buy your way in. The return time may be ridiculous, but you're probably going O-C anyway because you wanna get the most of your admission.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. Reservations aren't a concern for travelers to Disney. Snagging a VQ is the hassle I was referring to. We have two days scheduled for Epcot in early June. If I don't snag a VQ on either of those two days I won't be riding it for quite awhile. But I realize the Earth will continue to spin with or without getting on the ride.

But you'll get to see it spin if you do ride. 🙂 If there's a standby option, you should do it, preferably later in the day.

That’s the problem there won’t be.

Jeff said:

Is it though? You're never not going to have reservations planning that far in advance, and you can probably still buy your way in.

One of the things I used to like about spending time in Orlando was being able to choose what park to do on the fly depending on my mood.

Disney feels like too much hassle now.

You can go to Universal and spend all day in line, which isn't a hassle, but it isn't all that fun. I did six attractions open to close my last time there. The parks are crowded, they just respond to it differently.

It seems like Disney is intent on adding small barriers for out of towners and very large barriers for "drop-in-after-work" locals. All the reservation, G+ booking, G+ pricing, VQ stuff enormously favors those who are planning months ahead and making a full day/week of it. I don't know if that's a business decision or something, but it's struck me since they reopened.

Anecdotally, whatever the ceiling is for their reservation counts is pretty high. I mean, if a "sold out" day looks like it often does, I can't imagine how bad it would be if they didn't have that ceiling.

I've always questioned whether or not the drop-in locals have much of an impact on the bottom line. I definitely hear plenty of anecdotal evidence of big spending locals, but I suspect that for every local that drops $200 once a month on festival food and drinks at Epcot, there's also a guy that plans ahead to hit Magic Kingdom or Studios a couple of times a week, doesn't spend a dime, and then does nothing but bitch and moan on fanboy message boards the rest of the week.

I would say the report about the increase in spending over pre-COVID numbers shows that they're finding a mix that works.

Edit: During my visit a couple of weeks ago, MK, AK, and Studios were fully booked on all 3 days and none felt like they were that crowded. I was pleasantly surprised at how light the crowds were in Galaxy's Edge in the afternoon on a Sunday.

Jeff said:

I did six attractions open to close my last time there. The parks are crowded, they just respond to it differently.

I can go to IoA at 9am or an hour before close and get 3-4 Velocicoaster rides in an hour. And even midday with the singles line "at capacity" it's still typically less than an hour (unless it's a weekend or holiday week)

I used to be able to do that at a WDW park.