1
Credit: Inside the MagicThe EPCOT theme park may be hosting its popular International Food & Wine Festival, but that doesn’t mean all guests are having a celebratory time at the Disney World theme park.
Beloved by many, the EPCOT park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Central Florida, is one of the most visited worldwide. While it may not be exactly as Walt Disney intended, EPCOT continues to capture and promote innovation and education.
From The Seas With Nemo & Friends to Living with the Land and the more recent Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana, inspiration and learning are at the core of the 42-year-old Disney park. That said, EPCOT is also home to some of the most thrilling attractions on Disney World property.
Test Track, a fast-paced vehicular-based ride, recently reopened and joined other more adult-targeted experiences like Mission: SPACE and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. The latter remains one of the most in-demand rides at the Florida parks, despite having been in operation for the last three years.
Debuting on May 27, 2022, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind brought a whole new kind of thrill to EPCOT as the park’s first roller coaster and one of Disney’s most ambitious attractions to date. Located inside the Wonders of Xandar Pavilion, the ride begins in the Galaxarium, where guests learn about Xandarian culture before suddenly being recruited by the Guardians for a mission through space and time.
Riders board vehicles on the innovative Omnicoaster system, which rotates 360 degrees and features Disney’s first-ever reverse launch, keeping the action in view during a nearly 3.5-minute adventure. A massive show building houses the track, where dazzling visuals, Marvel character cameos, and a randomized mix of ’70s and ’80s hits like “Conga” and “September” ensure each ride feels different.
That’s not to say things don’t go awry on the shiny new ride. One in-ride spat over using a mobile phone on the coaster even went viral online—something that has continued to be a point of contention for many guests experiencing attractions with those, such as influencers, wishing to film the moment.
Earlier this week, one guest reached out to Inside the Magic and explained how the Cosmic Rewind attraction experience collapsed around them and many others, leading to a less-than-favorable time in Xandar.
After having posted a wait time of 75 minutes, the guest told Inside the Magic that it took them 80 minutes to get to the first large room of the attraction’s pre-show.
“Took 80 mins to get into the first room, and when the doors opened it was already half full…We all piled in. Then the main room opened, and we packed in like sardines. It was flashing and doing its thing. The attendant was telling people to get out because there were too many of us.”
It’s unusual for overcrowding to occur inside an attraction at Disney World, where queue management and operation are considered of the utmost importance. The guest then described what seemed to be a complete technical collapse of the attraction.
“Then everything turned off, and it went dark. The [cast member] pegged it through a door, like hundreds of us just stood in the dark, packed in,” they added.
The guest said that another guest went to find out what was happening and came back into the room to explain that two cast members were just outside the door attempting to fix it, leading everyone to clap.
“Then suddenly there was a bang and the floor moved, [they] must have been trying to get the walls to fall with no success,” they said. The situation ended after 112 minutes, with cast members having to lead guests backstage through a “secret door” and to the ride vehicle boarding area.
These guests may have been trapped inside Cosmic Rewind before they boarded, but other guests have also experienced the ride with the lights on, leading some to criticize the Imagineering efforts–one guest called the inside of the attraction a “megachurch.”
Tell us about a time you were trapped on or inside an attraction at Disney World? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!