Guardians of the Galaxy Ride Coming to Epcot!
UPDATE: Walt Disney World has announced that a Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster is coming to Epcot, with the popular Marvel characters getting a big budget ride replacing Universe of Energy.
The project is now under construction with an anticipated opening date of Fall 2021. You can see progress on the gigantic show building in our monthly updates on the biggest construction projects at Walt Disney World.
Beyond that, not many official details are known about the ride. It’s expected to be a hybrid coaster, and if the show building’s size is any indication, it’ll be massive.
Note: what follows is info from prior to the official announcement, including a rundown of the rumors and permits about the Guardians of the Galaxy attraction…
As outlandish as this sounds, the rumblings of late have been that Guardians of the Galaxy would be replacing Ellen’s Energy Adventure, in a totally new build, or a partial expansion of the existing building (not exactly sure how that would be accomplished). There were even height balloons spotted, giving further credence to the ‘new build’ rumors.
Additionally, Disney filed with the South Florida Water Management District to re-route the canal behind Universe of Energy, and create two new retention ponds. The permits reason for the work is “for possible future changes to parking capacity and back of house areas.”
You might be thinking: “a water permit, so what?” That’s definitely one way to look at it. Even if the Guardians of the Galaxy project were dead, it’s possible Disney would still go forward in filing this permit. However, the permit mentions the addition of construction trailers, and contains a huge boundary (see below) that includes the Universe of Energy building.
Disney is well aware that fans are watching the construction permits it files, and after having the gondola story leak out before Walt Disney World was ready to announce it, it’s also possible the company is getting (even more) vague with permits.
It’s also possible that is for a project other than Guardians of the Galaxy. Universe of Energy is well past its prime and due a replacement regardless, and this could be setting the table for whatever is to come. As we reported in our 8 Huge Epcot Rumors post, a lot is on the table right now for the park, and Imagineering seems to be in “Blue Sky Overdrive” for a reimagining of the park.
Whatever is happening with Universe of Energy, I do not think it’s some simple canal work. This is the precursor to something bigger. Hopefully we’ll hear what that “something” is at the D23 Expo in a couple months.
My Reaction
I don’t care how much lipstick you put on it or layers of backstory are flung onto the walls of the queue and post-show, a Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster has no place in Future World. These characters are an inorganic fit for Future World, and any attraction featuring them necessarily will be shoehorned into Epcot.
If what follows sounds familiar, it’s because this is becoming somewhat of a refrain from me with each rumor or announcement that amounts to thematic denigration by management that either doesn’t understand or care (or both) about the distinct, overarching themes of parks and lands.
I can already anticipate the responses defending the addition of this roller coaster (or any potential Guardians of the Galaxy attraction): that Ellen’s Energy Adventure is stale, that Future World is stale, that the edutainment component of the original EPCOT Center has failed. I would agree with all of those premises.
However, before I agree to any conclusions that might follow from said premises, I’d add more to that: Disney ignored Epcot for decades, shoehorning things where they didn’t belong, and letting the park stagnate. As such, my ultimate conclusion would not be that Epcot needs thrill rides or a new mission statement to be relevant.
Future World stopped being “relevant” when Disney started ignoring its mission statement, not due to that mission statement being broken. The problems Epcot faces today were not caused by its lofty ambitions, but of Disney “updating” it by shoehorning in characters and going the cheap route on keeping the park fresh. A Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster is not the solution to Epcot’s problems, it’s another symptom of them.
Despite what many claim, Epcot’s mission statement is not obsolete, and learning has not suddenly become “boring.” An estimated 135 million people, including 45 million in the U.S., watched “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey,” hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson. Americans are fixated by SpaceX’s every move, and CEO Elon Musk is treated like a rock star wherever he goes. The tech companies of Silicon Valley rank as some of the world’s most admired companies. Pop culture has made being geeky cool, and information is more accessible than ever.
No, CSPAN isn’t the most popular network on television, but most people do like to learn. If educational subjects are presented in ways that makes them fascinating, they are well received. Which, as it were, was the whole point of “edutainment” in the first place. In their heyday, the original EPCOT Center attractions resonated with guests, who learned something while being entertained.
Focusing on innovation through edutainment is not dead as a viable concept for a theme park, just as learning and being entertained are not “dead.” What isn’t viable is trotting out woefully outdated attractions, shoehorning characters into existing attractions in a half-baked manner as a bandaid, and spending hundreds of millions of dollars on new attractions that are just flat out weak.
Above all else, it’s the execution that matters for an individual attraction, and how that attraction is integrated into the larger thematic tapestry of a land and park. Imagineers could make a strange attraction about a green martial artist, talking raccoon, and humanoid tree, and it could be awesome. It just depends upon the execution. Ironic that the very envelope-pushing, creative movie that proves this true is going to further obliterate Epcot’s theme as more franchises are shoved into Epcot in a way that is an inorganic fit (which is also to say that franchises could work in Future World).
The possibility of a Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster in Future World is indicative of there being no vision for Epcot. Management has its eye on the next few years–and this coaster will undoubtedly be a marketing draw the first few years it’s open–with no concern for the long-term. The net result is that 10 years from now every park will look the same: like a hodgepodge of attractions not designed with theme in mind, but on the basis of which franchise could fit where in any given year. Expedition Everest needs a big refurbishment next year? Well, good news! Cars 3 has a mountain in one of its backgrounds, and it did well in the Asian markets, so it’s a perfect fit for an overlay in Asia at Disney’s Animal Kingdom!
For fans, I know it might be easy to accept attractions that are poor fits, especially in Epcot, as the park has been neglected for so long. I also know there’s not exactly any love lost for Ellen’s Energy Adventure, which is long overdue for a replacement. However, that does not mean we should just gladly accept whatever. Theme still matters, and adherence to theme is part of what will be necessary to get Epcot back on track. After years of stagnation, the answer to Epcot’s problems does not lie with quick shots in the arm, but with a comprehensive vision that re-establishes its unique identity in ways that entertain and capture the imaginations of guests.
The reason so many of us are fans in the first place is because of the “Disney Difference,” or the high standards to which Disney held itself that differentiated its parks from the rest. After years of neglect, there is a lot in the pipeline right now for Walt Disney World (more on this soon…), just because we have been starved for anything new in the past does not mean we should lower our standards for what it means to be a Disney theme park.
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Your Thoughts
Do you agree or disagree with my take on Guardians of the Galaxy rolling into Epcot? Is Ellen’s Energy Adventure such a snoozefest that you just don’t care? Or do you “trust in Disney” to do a good job making any concept fit? Hearing from you–even if you disagree with me–is half the fun, so please share in the comments!
Oh, and we live Ellens Energy Adventure, especially when it’s really hot!
How was Captain Eo such a great fit? Something needs to go there.
Test Track doesnt fit either
And the Wonders of Life pavilion is still empty.
So the idea of GotG “not fitting” is off. But yes, the idea of a Roller coaster doesnt fit.
Sorry Tom, but you really need to brush up on your research skills. Universal still has the theme park rights to Marvel characters for any of their parks east of the Mississippi. Until that changes, the only Disney parks in the US that will have Marvel characters are in Anaheim. Please stop posting such ridiculous stories, it only makes this site look like a trashy tabloid.
The East of the Mississippi clause only applies to characters in use at Universal Studios. There’s additional restrictions within 60 miles of the park, but they only explicitly mention simulator or virtual reality rides
A roller coaster is neither so Disney may have found a loophole. They just couldn’t include Marvel or the name of a character in the ride’s name. It would also explain why they didn’t go with the Tower of Terror idea for Florida, since it would involve screens.
http://orlandounited.com/2016/05/darn-marvel-contract/
Good explanation, thanks Greg. I was not aware of all the nuances.
Also, Guardians of the Galaxy does not fall under the Marvel characters banned from Disney East of the Mississippi. If you read DTB forums, and several other articles, Tom addresses this, and yes he is very informed. Guardians of the Galaxy can be used by WDW. This has been a rumor circulating for sometime, and been a topic in the forums for a while. This isn’t really news. However, another site, WDWNT.com wrote an article about it first, which Tom references http://wdwnt.com/blog/2016/08/epcots-guardians-galaxy-ride-will-roller-coaster-attraction/ and this is just Tom’s response.
If i’m not mistaken they are already featured in an attraction in walt disney world. They are part of the finale sequence at the end of the great movie ride. Which leads me to believe they don’t fall under the theme park rights issue.
Big Hero 6 is Marvel and you can already meet Baymax in EPCOT.
Big Hero 6 is NOT Marvel. It is Disney.
Big Hero 6 first appeared as a Marvel comic book, with many of the characters featured in the movie, in a mini-series form in September of 1998. This is more than a decade prior to Disney acquiring Marvel, so stating flatly that the team is a Disney property without a previously existing Marvel history is flatly inaccurate. The language of the Marvel contract with Universal is probably part of why Disney went ahead with making the animated film to begin with, knowing that they could use the characters in the parks if they wanted to.
Tom, Irrespective of whether this is a good idea or not how does Disney get around the Marvel/Universal/Florida restriction for this attraction? I thought Disney couldn’t use any Marvel characters in their theme parks in Florida.
I wouldn’t mind seeing a Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster…but not at Epcot. Find someplace at Hollywood Studios for it, or make a fifth park filled with Marvel and Pixar stuff.
I couldn’t agree with this or the other posters more. This is such a bad fit for Epcot but a perfect tie in for DHS. These is so much that Disney could do with future world that this is sad. While I prefer new story rides you could use IP in creative rides (a mix is fine but all IP is bad and will date as badly as the original ride concepts). Dr Ludwig von Drake would be an ideal host for a future world pavilion, or Dr Bunsen and Beaker. Like the circle of life film characters, or tough to be a bug in AK, characters like baymax or wall-e could be used creatively in edutainment rather than book report rides or thrill/spinner rides.
If Epcot needs a coaster I’m not adverse but Make it a suitable theme – I’d prefer somewhere in world showcase like the old mt Fuji idea or how about the Using the design of the Tron coaster from Shanghai as part of an Internet pavilion where you zoom round the information superhighway
My only complaint is that they seem to keep doing away with rides fit for the whole family and putting in ones with restrictions. That makes it harder for families with small kids to find things to do together. I guess it makes it easier for these families to forgo the expensive trip to WDW for a few years at least. They need to understand that there are people (adults as well as kids) that don’t like thrill rides. They need to provide more entertaining non-thrill rides again. I mean, it used to be you had Horizons, World of Motion, and Universe of Energy. The whole family could ride all of these. Now, only Universe of Energy works for small kids. If this roller coaster replaces it, that will be gone as an option, too.
I agree!!^^
It won’t be, but what if guardians of the galaxy was actually a roller coaster WITH educational aspects. Why couldn’t the galaxy portion be a jumping off point for an entire exploration of the cosmos.
I like this idea!
Tom, this article is spot on. I read it hearing “Battle Hymn of the Republic” in my mind.
Amen! I would love a Guardians of the Galaxy attraction somewhere at Disney, but NOT in Epcot.
This article is spot on. First, this continual infatuation with forcing Marvel — especially GotG — into the parks at any cost is ludicrous. And forcing them in just anywhere makes even less sense. You don’t pay top dollar to spend a week at Cedar Fair. I’m continually disheartened with the lack of forethought or respect to the park’s legacy and of the IP built around the parks themselves (each park’s brand, their themes, lands, etc.)! It’s like the company itself doesn’t understand that they already have built-in IP that they could build upon. Seriously, where the heck is WALL-E? Perfect example of IP created by Disney, that would mesh perfectly with EPCOT’s IP — especially in UoE. Like the response from Cappy (above), I could go on and on about concepts that make too much sense to obviously be actualized — Innoventions as a new interactive children’s museum, Future World in general housing World’s Fair-esque exhibits of modern tech (from the likes of Apple, Tesla, etc.), more countries in WS with actual dark rides as they were concepted, etc. I also don’t think they understand that people care about this because we want desperately to go somewhere that provides extreme escapism and that makes complete sense (in theme, layout, story, and environment) — and people go to Disney because of this.
Ok, what if they did this Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster, BUT, they had the raccoon yelling out facts about science and outer space? Then the giant tree guy can tell us facts about global warming, however all it will sound like is “I am Groot.”
Seriously though, I see where you are coming from, I love the idea behind future world, but it was built with an inherent problem, it is too expensive to constantly be updating it to keep up with technology, and the future. Also we aren’t really getting the jetpacks and hover boards everyone expected, we are more getting steady advancements in computer technology.
Well said. I totally agree. There seems to be an idea that new is better regardless of what the new attraction is. Walt Disney once saw a western sheriff walking through Tomorrowland to get to work and was furious. He knew this broke the illusion, essentially removing the guest from the story they were immersed in. By throwing thrill rides haphazardly into areas where the theme simply doesn’t make sense removes the guest from the fantasy. It’s like walking into an operating room expecting to see surgeons in masks and gowns, but instead Batman is performing the surgery. It simply doesn’t fit. Very disappointing.
What email address or mailing address do we use to write Disney about these decisions? I realize that such letters/emails will likely end up in the “Words from Crazed Fanboys” pile but I want to feel like I’ve done SOMETHING to express my dismay.
I’ve found an email address or two online but I want to make sure I get things sent to the most helpful place.
So basically, 1000 people tried for a whole year to come up with the most idiotic, insipid idea immaginable, right? – Congrats, Disney – mission accomplished!
I have this moment of Walt Disney’s ghost appearing to the person who greenlit this, telling of a visit of three ghosts; Van French, Card Walker and a guy in a black robe with a scythe and mouse ears. The executive wakes up screaming “It’s not too late!”
I’ve been thinking of ways to express to Disney Corporate that this is a bad idea. It is difficult because, while Tom’s argument and those of most of the comments are spot on, it is clear that Disney does not think this way anymore. If they gave a modicum of thought to theme, at least in Epcot, then we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
And, from a short-term investment perspective, this probably makes sense. Ellen has low ridership, is old and probably pricey to maintain. A Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster which, I have to say, I liked a lot but am confused by the more hardcore fandom) costs initial money and handles fewer riders, but will be insanely popular to start and rids Disney of paying for Ellen. Short term bump.
I tried to find statistics on how Mission: Space’s ridership has been through the years. While I didn’t find the sort of stats I was hoping for, the search results were interesting. When I googled “mission space ridership,” eight of the 10 results on the first page were about the ride. None of the posts were more recent than 2013. Five of those results, based on the links and descriptions alone, were clearly about accidents on the ride and Disney’s decision to provide the alternate, less intense experience. Of the three not clearly about Space’s tumultuous past, one was a WDW Magic post about the Mars sculpture being under refurbishment (where many early comments begged for green mission to be removed, flights to be somewhere other than Mars, or for the return of Horizons), a discussion about the mechanics of the ride, and a LaughingPlace post where people discussed the rides popularity (usually in the context of whether they could retain the contents of their stomach or not after one ride).
While I may be reaching, I see this as Mission: Space proving a shaky long-term investment. Bad press became no press. I could be wrong and ridership could be the highest its ever been. And I could be cherry-picking because I am not talking about Test Track, the other “thrill” ride at Epcot (though I don’t think its in the same category as a roller coaster or Space). But I would like to think there is enough reasonable financial doubt in the long-term to keep this coaster from being built. But then we would have to convince a major American corporation in 2016 to not chase the quick dollar and invest so that something beneficial in the long-term can grow.
So it seems more likely that Disney fans invested in what Epcot originally stood for will have to decide if the GotG coaster is just another lost battle or the end of the war.
My two cents on how to freshen up EPCOT:
1. Redo Mission Space with a GOTG theme if you must.
2, Redo Ellen’s Energy Adventure with WALL-E and Eve talking about the importance and development of solar, wind, hydrogen and other green technology.
3. Fully commit to the Innoventions rooms and update exhibits every two years or so as technology advances. Include lots of hands on exhibits that will keep children engaged. If every major city in this country has a Children’s Science Museum that can pull this off, so can Disney.
4. Use the Inside Out characters to redo the Journey Into Imagination pavilion or bring back Dreamfinder. The fact that the line is rarely longer than 5 minutes should tell you that it is currently not working.
5, Add new countries to the World Showcase. The spaces are there and Brazil, India and Australia would be way too easy.
6. While we’re in the World Showcase, put the river ride in Germany already. Add the Ratatouille ride to France if you must. A quick service restaurant in Canada wouldn’t hurt either. The point is, the good people at Disney should be able to figure this out and it’s frustrating that they haven’t already.
good ideas, Cappy!!!
I LOVE these ideas! All of them would help EPCOT return to its former glory without sacrificing the mission of the park for cheap thrills.
These are perfect!
I may not agree that a roller coaster belongs at Epcot. From a standpoint of families vacationing there how many children want to go to parks to learn? They want to go to have fun this would fit that mold. The park can still be educational and fun. it doesn’t need to be on or the other. If they do it right it can be educational also.
It’s interesting that you still put your “Planning a trip to Walt Disney World…” spiel at the end. Who would want to plan a WDW trip after that tirade. LOL!
I agree with you. Epcot was a beautiful park in its day. Adding a roller coaster will make it something like Cedar Point– we need another roller coaster; where can we shove it in? Imagine walking up to Epcot and seeing the curved steel of a roller coaster hogging the space behind Spaceship Earth. Yuck! ‘m disappointed that Disney is bowing to the perceived anti-intellectuaism wave in this country. They’ve already taken all the education out of Test Track. Whole rooms that once showed real world testing processes in fun and memorable ways are now just decorated with blue lights– nothing more. A roller coaster in Future World hardly screams future. Hopefully, they’ll do it so well, though, I have to eat these words.