Walt Disney Imagineering is sharing more looks from inside Epcot's upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ride.
The new indoor "storycoaster" will be Epcot's first roller coaster and Walt Disney World's first permanent attraction themed to the comic book company it legally cannot name. (But we can - Marvel.) Senior Ride Development Engineer Liz Diaz introduced us to the ride's loading area and showed off the "Starjumpers" (the coaster's rotating ride vehicles) bring dispatched for test runs.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and its Wonders of Xandar pavilion open this summer at Epcot. We don't have an official opening date yet, but it's a badly kept secret within Disney that the resort is looking at a Memorial Day debut for the attraction. Stay tuned for official word, as well as news about any soft opens or previews.
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Tangent, but DLP actually beat WDW to the punch on launchers, opening its Space Mountain in 1995. The first full-circuit launching coaster in the world, according to Wikipedia. (And a tangent to a tangent: highly recommended the BBC documentary Shoot For The Moon about the process of opening such a complex piece of storytelling machinery. Its on YouTube.)
You know the people who walk around dressed in haute couture, extremely expensive clothing, they look ridiculous doing it. But they can show of they are rich and because the designer is well regarded they continue to buy their silly clothing from that designer.
Disney build a wale trap, and because of the brand and the ip the rich will come there not because they want to but because they can and they can post videos and pictures from the experience. It's another Club 33 where an intensely spoken too fish is prepared with a carrot that was hauled down a mountain by an old lady and mashed potatoes made from the most valuable potatoes in the world. You get it, it's a well cooked dinner and a nice setting and 80% upcharge for the exclusivity so people going there can feel special.
It's all fine, if you are into stuff like that.
...I continue reading "The Emperor's New Clothes".
I think it looks very technically sound. ROTR had several complications that don't exist here. Notably, no ground vehicles that have to hit sensors, also, ROTR I am told is dependent on constant wireless communication signal strength and gaps. No dual elevator systems, no turntable delivery. Limited animatronics. And think about this, if they can launch a car every 30 seconds, they can queue 1860 to 1900 per hour. About time.
I think this may be their biggest success.
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This looks like an incredibly complicated piece of machinery. Given the constant issues Disney has faced with bleeding-edge technology on attractions (like ROTR), I hope they have maintenance technicians permanently stationed here to fix issues over the first year of operation. The anticipation and excitement for this coaster is massive, and standby lines will undoubtedly be measured in hours over the busy summer months. The appeal of the Guardians franchise will make this attraction incredibly popular with the GP (beyond just coaster fans), as the ToT's Mission Breakout overlay proved at DCA, and guests will need to bring lots of patience and determination (or $$$ and a quick trigger for ILLs) if they want to experience Disney's most revolutionary roller coaster.
While most Disney coasters tend to be on the tame side (mostly to appeal to the largest audience possible), many forget that the company has been a trend-setter in the industry in building the very first steel tubular roller coaster in the world (Matterhorn), one of the first launching roller coasters in the world (Rock 'n Roller Coaster), and now one of the largest indoor roller coasters in the world. I don't think this and the pending debut of Tron Lightcycle Run will make WDW a serious coaster fan's destination, but these technologically advanced additions help to compete with the pure thrill machines of the local competition.