Song List for Guardians of Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
There are 6 songs on the playlist for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in Epcot at Walt Disney World. This post shares the music you can hear on the ride, how they shape the experience, and our rankings of the roller coaster’s different tracks. (Updated September 11, 2025.)
Before we get started, a couple plugs for other resources about this blockbuster attraction at Walt Disney World. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind switched to standby and ditched its virtual queue in 2025. This makes the ride easier to experience, but it’s one of the most popular attractions in all of Walt Disney World…for good reason!
Since it reopened earlier this summer, Test Track 3.0 has been the #1 highest wait time at EPCOT. It’s also been the top Early Entry and regular rope drop priority. We’d expect that to change once the new car smell wears off Test Track in early 2026. We still view Cosmic Rewind as the significantly better attraction, and recommend prioritizing the ride during Early Entry, if you’re eligible. Otherwise, see our list of the Best & Worst Times to Ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind for comprehensive advice.
The easier alternative if you don’t mind splurging (and are staying on-site, as you’ll probably need the pre-booking advantage) is buying line-skipping access via the Lightning Lane Single Pass. As of Fall 2025, that costs between $16 and $18 per person most days, depending upon demand and crowd levels. Those posts explain each option, their pros & cons, and everything else you need to know.
We’ve had the chance to experience Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind dozens of times since it debuted three years ago. We’ve heard every single song on the playlist at least three times, including the dreaded holiday version (more on that below), and each have different favorites that we think work better with the roller coaster. Although the track stays the same with each ride, the motion just feels different thanks to the song selections. It’s almost like the ride dances, for lack of a better term.
Suffice to say, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is an absolute blast. Even though the rides are very different in nature, Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! demonstrated just how fun an “Awesome Mix Tape” plus these Marvel misfits plus thrills can be. It’s a recipe for success and, frankly, there should be more rides following this formula.
Do you remember…The 21st night of September?
Those famous lyrics by Earth, Wind & Fire will play on repeat later this month at EPCOT! On Sunday, September 21, 2025, guests riding Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind will get “September” as their onboard song. See September Celebration at Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT for full details.
This special one-day-only offering was also offered each of the last two years, so it’s safe to assume it’s an annual tradition (and an awesome one). If you’re planning ahead for 2026 or even 2027, mark your calendars for the 21st night (or day) of September.
Expect demand for Cosmic Rewind to be slightly elevated on September 21st of any year, but especially ones when the date falls on a weekend when locals are off work (so 2025, 2029, 2030, 2031, etc).
As for the full playlist, Walt Disney Imagineering revealed that during development of the family-thrill coaster, they came up with a list of more than 100 potential songs for the Starjumpers’ onboard sound system.
The Cosmic Rewind ride team rode the attraction over and over again testing how various tracks fit with the spirit of the roller coaster. Per Imagineering, the goal was finding songs with that perfect balance of energy, a flow that matched the major movements of the ride, and lyrics that gave a fun nod to the story of Cosmic Rewind.
Here’s the normal Cosmic Rewind song list, which is played throughout the year…
The “Awesome Mix” playlist for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind consists of six songs in their classic versions:
- “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire
- “Disco Inferno” by The Trammps
- “Conga” by Gloria Estefan
- “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears
- “I Ran” by A Flock of Seagulls
- “One Way or Another” by Blondie
You won’t know which track you’ll hear each time you ride until you actually blast off with the Guardians on an intergalactic chase through time and space.
In addition to these 6 songs that did make the cut for the roller coaster portion of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, many more of the 100 tracks that were tested will be played in the post-show and corridor upon exiting the attraction. These also are cycled through at random–I still don’t think we’ve heard them all.
Next, our rankings of each song played on-board Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind…
Sarah’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind song rankings:
- “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears
- “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire
- “Conga” by Gloria Estefan
- “One Way or Another” by Blondie
- “I Ran” by A Flock of Seagulls
- “Disco Inferno” by The Trammps
Tom’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind song rankings:
- “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire
- “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears
- “I Ran” by A Flock of Seagulls
- “Disco Inferno” by The Trammps
- “One Way or Another” by Blondie
- …Nothing At All…
- “Conga” by Gloria Estefan
Seriously, next time I might bring AirPods so I can listen to something else if I get stuck with “Conga” again. I know they wouldn’t be logical fits for the attraction, but I wish Cosmic Rewind could’ve gotten “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” or “Lake Shore Drive” instead.
As mentioned above, there’s also a now-defunct holiday version of the attraction with different music. During the ride’s first Christmas season, there was the Guardians of Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind – Holiday Remix ride overlay with different music than normal.
During that first Christmas season, the Guardians of the Galaxy traded in their classic hits playlist for a mash-up of seasonal jams at Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT. Guests blasted off to the tune of an awesome holiday single, bringing joy to Xandar and Terra, too.”
The Holiday Remix did not return either of the last two years. We strongly suspect that it was a one and done, as guest feedback towards the song was negative. To each their own, but we hated the holiday overlay. It was in no way whatsoever integrated into the attraction–the Christmas song just came out of nowhere. Even with that, the ride doesn’t feel the least bit festive because literally nothing else was done to make it a cohesive or comprehensive Christmas overlay.
Worst of all, the song itself is not very good Cosmic Rewind has fantastic flow and fluidity–thanks to the music and the motion, it normally feels like dancing in roller coaster form. That was not the case for Holiday Remix, which underscores just how much song selection matters. Don’t be disappointed if you missed it, as the Holiday Remix actually diminishes the Cosmic Rewind experience.
With that said, we hope Walt Disney World hasn’t given up on the idea of a holiday overlay to Cosmic Rewind. Honestly, we’d love to see well done ones for both Christmas and Halloween. The reason we’d love to see this even after the first attempt was a misfire is because we know there’s potential for this to be awesome.
That’s because there is a great seasonal overlay for the Guardians of the Galaxy ride at Disney California Adventure. Known as Guardians of the Galaxy — Monsters After Dark, the Halloween overlay at Disneyland Resort is really good. It’s campy and fun, completely keeping in the spirit of the characters.
Monsters After Dark also runs simultaneously with the regular ride–there’s a day/night split, with Monsters After Dark starting in the evening hours. It’s truly the perfect solution, as guests can choose which version they want to ride…or do both!
If you want to know when a holiday overlay is introduced or the playlist changes, sign up for our free email newsletter. We’ll notify subscribers as soon as there’s news about song selection changes for Cosmic Rewind.
As mentioned above, there’s also a somewhat similar music-based attraction at Disneyland Resort. For the sake of comparison, here’s the Song List for Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! On the DCA attraction, Rocket hotwires the lift to play while guests help escape from the Collector’s Fortress and one of the following songs plays:
- “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” by Pat Benatar (1980)
- “Give Up The Funk” by Parliament (1975)
- “Born To Be Wild” by Steppenwolf (1968)
- “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5 (1969)
- “Free Ride” by The Edgar Winter Group (1973)
- “Burning Love” by Elvis Presley (1972)
Even if none of these songs are your jam, so to speak, they just “hit different” when played during a thrill ride. I don’t know how to explain it, but all of those tracks work really well on Mission Breakout.
Speaking of the Cosmic Rewind ride experience, the attraction’s antagonist is Eson, a Celestial that has been watching Earth for eons. The Celestial makes a startling appearance in the attraction and is looking “to right a wrong in a big way.”
While Eson might be surprising to encounter at Epcot’s Wonders of Xandar pavilion, he’s no stranger to the Guardians of the Galaxy. While the Celestial and the ragtag troop have never crossed paths before, Eson was once in possession of the Power Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones, as the group learned in the first Guardians of the Galaxy. Now, he has set his sights on Earth.
The Guardians of the Galaxy–Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot–step in to help save the day. But, they can’t do it alone, so (naturally) they enlist the help of guests to stop Eson from completing his grand plan!
This is a similar story conceit used in both Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure and Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout. It’s right up there with “and something goes terribly wrong” as a storytelling device on rides.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What are you thoughts on the “Awesome Mix Tape” for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind? Think these tracks are good choices for a roller coaster through space and time? Are you excited to experience Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at Epcot? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
We got September our first ride and I was giddy laughing the whole ride. Next rides were Everybody wants to rule the world then One way or another…. all great. I want to know the list of songs that didn’t make the cut!
Finally got to ride this last night, we had “Conga” and it was Amazing!!!!!! Like someone else commented, our entire train was just dancing and going nuts. I have now an entirely new love for this song and Disney has knocked it way out of the park with this ride. Glad I had not watched any videos of the ride so I had almost no idea what I was in for.
We’ve Rodin’ 4 times and had Disco Inferno, One Way or Another (twice) and I Ran: we both thought Blondie was the best we’ve had so far! We can’t wait to hear more! This has become one of our favorite rides!!!
Got Disco Inferno then Everybody Wants to Rule the World – both were great.
Back in Time by Huey Lewis would be my choice, but maybe it’s not available since it’s tied to Back to the Future.
I didn’t hear the songs. I was focusing on not throwing up!! LOL- everyone with me got off the ride a little green.
I still think SPACE TRUCKIN’ by Deep Purple would have been appropriate. I can’t comment on how well it would have “fit” with the attraction since I’ve not been able to experience it yet.
We got “I Ran” and thought it was great and went with the ride perfectly! Such a a fun ride!
Conga is actually the track I want most – hope I have a chance to land it at least once!
Yes!!!! I rode again today and FINALLY Conga played! It had the entire train dancing and singing. It was absolutely amazing. I mean all other times have been great too but this song just set it off.
Agree! We had Conga too and it made the ride so much more enjoyable. We were all dancing! This was my favorite ride
No “Love Rollercoaster” by Red Hot Chili Peppers?
Rode it today and it’s incredible. Disney has totally out done themselves and this unbelievable ride
I am surprised that none of the original sound track made the list.
The Chain
Fox On the Run
Hooked on a Feeling
Ain’t no Mountain High Enough
amongst the others
As of Wednesday April 20 the construction walls are gone and they are having cast members and probably select V.I.Ps going for rides. You can now get a clean picture of the Nova Corps starfighter. I am currently sitting in the Skippers Canteen waiting for dinner to come out.
Heads up – Another WDW News website is listing 5 songs – Conga, I Ran, Disco Inferno, Everybody Wants to Rule the World & Fire by Ohio Players.
This is the official list that was announced directly by Disney.
As for Epcot (or EPCOT), Walt Disney wanted to create a theme park because it would be ever-changing. He became a bit bored and frustrated with movies because they were static, once released they were done and changes couldn’t be made and Walt didn’t like sequels either so didn’t want to continue the stories that way either. With a living, breathing park things could be very fluid and he could tinker with things or completely change them at will. Epcot changing is just Walt’s park evolving into the future.
Walt Disney wanted to create a city–his vision for EPCOT was never a theme park.
EPCOT Center never was what Walt wanted, it was what the company felt was economically viable after he passed away. Without Walt’s vision and marketing acumen, building the actual EPCOT was an impossible task. EPCOT Center was a compromise that the company felt was still somewhat in the spirit of Walt’s ambitions without being an actual community.
I am so excited that this ride will be song-based, too. We love Mission Breakout at Disneyland — it’s the one ride where guests consistently cheer at the end. And we once spent a spring break trip making sure we “collected” rides with all six songs. Given the expected lines this summer, I don’t think we’ll be able to do that for Cosmic Rewind, but it will be a fun goal for another visit. Thanks for the update!
I’m a huge Tears for Fears fan, and kind of shocked & happy that ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’ is in there.
By starting with a list of well over 100 songs, it’s clear the six that were chosen must truly fit the ride well. Can’t wait to see for myself.
The Epcot Center Purist vs. New Generation Epcot battle is finished. That ship has long since sailed.
It’s time to embrace what Epcot is becoming. And I think this coaster will be a very positive development.
As long as I get five or six on the list I’d be happy. Id even style my hair a la flock of seagulls. Sounds like a fun ride. Actually I’d be happy just to get on the ride without waiting more than 45 min late September with my kids.
No need to style your hair a la Flock of Seagulls- the ride will do it for you!
A few years ago, my son attempted to trick my niece into riding the Tower of Terror by calling it the Tower of Fun (his efforts were in vain as she was perfectly capable of reading, but he tried). However, on my first trip to Disneyland a few months later, I discovered that there really is a tower of fun! GOTG:MB is the most laugh-out-loud, squeal-with-delight, take-my-breath-away FUN I’ve ever had on a Disney attraction (except maybe Mr Toad’s Wild Ride, but that’s a whole different kind of fun). The music and these characters are why Mission Breakout delights me. I hope they brought the fun along with the thrill on this one.
I am treating the songs much like you. The 6 songs chosen for Mission Breakout didn’t do it for me when I heard them. Now years later I find myself asking Alexa to play burning love due to how it reminds me of Mission breakout and how awesome the track is for that attraction.
I have no doubt this attraction will be awesome. The placement into EPCOT is interesting but I am sure it will work too. I still think they should have put TRON in EPCOT and this over at DHS. Only issue with Guardians at DHS is it would be yet another headliner over there whereas EPCOT severely needs a lot of help in the front of the park.
I think just flip-flopping TRON and Cosmic Rewind would’ve made sense. Tomorrowland is already a goofy alien land, and TRON is more in line with the spirit of (former) Future World.
With that said, TRON and Test Track have a similar aesthetic, so that might’ve been overkill. Additionally, Marvel is likely a bigger draw than TRON, and Epcot obviously needs more help than Magic Kingdom.
+1 for Tron in Epcot- I’d not considered this before but it just feels better. I do take Tom’s points on why the decision fell to Guardians in the end but entirely agree this thematically makes more sense (and aesthetically, Tron canopy nicely echoes elements of Spaceship Earth). Shame the decision fell this way round.
I didn’t realize Elvis was in Mission: Breakout. We’ve ridden it probably 9-10 times in 2 trips (We really enjoyed it) and never heard that one! It’s an intersting mix for Cosmic Rewind (I only know 4 of the songs), but based on Mission: Breakout, I’m sure they will work well.
I’m not sure I’ve ever even gotten that Elvis song on Mission Breakout, and I’ve done it dozens of times. I swear that I get “Give Up The Funk” or “I Want You Back” about half the time. No complaints there!
“I Want You Back” has definitely been our most frequent song. No complaints here either! Especially since it was actually on the GotG soundtrack.
We seem to get “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” most of the time. No complaints! Except that I then have to hear “Hit Me with Your Pet Shark” for the rest of the day.