As of late February 2025, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is now not utilizing a digital queue throughout EPCOT’s regular working hours because it opened over Memorial Day weekend practically 3 years in the past. Throughout these 1,002 days, the trip solely posted a wait time and used a standby line throughout arduous ticket, restricted capability events.
As such, this marks the primary time ever that we’ve seen simply how in style and in-demand one in every of Walt Disney World’s latest headliner attraction is throughout a daily operational surroundings. Will or not it’s EPCOT’s longest wait time, dethroning Remy’s Ratatouille Journey? Given the shortage of ‘grownup’ sights with Check Observe closed for reimagining, might it additionally surpass Slinky Canine Sprint, Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice, Avatar Flight of Passage, TRON Lightcycle Run, or different headliners? We’re about to search out out.
Earlier than we get going, we need to reiterate that Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind switching to standby may have large ramifications on step-by-step EPCOT itineraries. That is the most important change in over a decade for EPCOT technique, extra so than any of the opposite new rides which have debuted throughout that point. Not even the swap from Further Magic Hours to Early Entry/Prolonged Night Hours or free FastPass being changed by Lightning Lanes was as impactful. These have been considerably lateral shifts, whereas this introduces a brand new mega E-Ticket headliner with a daily line.
So far, the swap to standby at Cosmic Rewind goes surprisingly properly. We’ve been cheerleaders of this modification, considered it as a very long time coming, and didn’t purchase into the doom and gloom eventualities about perpetual 3 hour waits. Even so, it’s been actually easy crusing that has exceeded our optimistic expectations. This nearly makes us ponder whether Walt Disney World has throttled Lightning Lane Single Cross gross sales for this week, or if it’s all a matter of low crowds.
To that time, we additionally need to warning that Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is dropping its digital queue within the coronary heart of EPCOT’s low season. There’s a cause why Walt Disney World strategically timed the swap to standby this week. It’s the calm after Mid-Winter Break final week and earlier than the Spring Break storm, and one in every of our 10 Greatest Weeks to Go to Walt Disney World in 2025. At EPCOT, particularly, it’s additionally a short window between two festivals.
Alternatively, it’s additionally true that there are tons of bloggers, vloggers, and influencers who need to be the primary to do Cosmic Rewind’s standby line, for no matter cause. But it surely’s not like strange Annual Passholders and locals are going to come back out of the woodwork, taking time without work work, for this swap to standby. That is nothing like a brand new attraction opening by way of demand, as needs to be apparent.
Then there’s the fact that EPCOT operations has little or no expertise with this trip having a daily queue, which means that the posted wait instances are going to be all over, usually divorced from their precise waits (in methods each good and unhealthy). They’re figuring this out as they go.
What I’m saying is that the primary few days of Cosmic Rewinds’s standby line will probably be nothing like the beginning of Flower & Backyard or coronary heart of Spring Break (Orange County’s recess is correct across the nook in mid-March), which will probably be nothing like mid-Could or when Check Observe 3.0 opens. For those who’re visiting for Easter or this Christmas and need to understand how this queue will affect you, it’s too early to inform. The outcomes from February merely gained’t be dependable for March via late April.
For these wanting extra dependable suggestions, we’ll be discipline testing technique for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, however solely as soon as crowd ranges enhance beginning with Mardi Gras and persevering with with Spring Break in March and April.
There are a few issues price noting. The primary is that Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is open for Early Entry at EPCOT, which explains its larger wait time as of 9 am. It had already been working for half-hour at that time, which is adequate time for the majority of on-site Early Entry visitors to make their option to the attraction and elevate wait instances for the common rope drop crowd.
The second is that each Remy’s Ratatouille Journey and Frozen Ever After had sporadic downtime all through the primary day of Cosmic Rewind’s standby line, together with within the first couple hours of the day. In principle, this might have elevated wait instances for Cosmic Rewind. In observe, we’re undecided simply how impactful that is (but). It’s more likely that a kind of rides happening would enhance wait instances on the different, given their location in World Showcase and family-friendly demographics. Nonetheless, Cosmic Rewind might see a slight bump.
Slicing to the chase, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind posted a 35 minute wait time to begin the morning, from Early Entry via common rope drop. Shortly thereafter, it inched as much as 45 after which 50 minutes. With out being there, I’m going to hazard a guess that the precise wait at ~9:25 a.m. was not the posted 50 minutes, however somewhat, a lot larger. I’m fairly assured on this simply judging by photographs of the prolonged queue and understanding what the approximate precise wait is as soon as the road is out the door.
In any case, solely a pair minutes later, the wait time for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind skyrocketed from 50 minutes to 170 minutes in a single fell swoop. That’s the place it stayed for a whopping ~6 minutes, earlier than plummeting to a still-high 135 minutes. That wait time solely lasted ~9 minutes, earlier than it was right down to “solely” 110 minutes.
By 9:46 a.m., Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind was right down to an 85 minute posted wait time. On the danger of stating the plain, the earlier ~quarter-hour price of posted wait instances have been mistaken. It’s not like you can get in line at 9:25 a.m. and solely wait 50 minutes, whereas somebody lining up 5 minutes later would wait 170 minutes and somebody leaping in one other 10 minutes after that will wait 85 minutes. That defies the legal guidelines of, I dunno, one thing. Except we’re utilizing bounce factors to journey via time and area. So becoming for Cosmic Rewind, I suppose.
The sort of ‘whiplash impact’ with wait instances truly occurs rather a lot. A very low wait time will entice a whole lot of visitors unexpectedly, and in response, the posted wait time skyrockets. We’ve identified beforehand that it’s higher to anticipate when wait instances will drop somewhat than reacting to it. In any other case, you’ll be a part of the flood of visitors all arriving across the similar time, somewhat than driving the wave, so to talk. Regardless, that whiplash impact can not happen in such extremes–in each instructions–in such a brief timeframe. That’s not attainable.
As intimated above, we additionally know from previous expertise that the precise wait time is roughly 60 minutes when the standby line hits the entrance entrance. In fact, this may fluctuate primarily based on the allocation of capability and influx of visitors via the Lightning Lane (each paid and in any other case), in addition to operational effectivity. Nonetheless, it’s a tough rule of thumb and one which we’ll proceed to observe because the mud settles on the standby line.
After 9:45 a.m., the wait time for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind by no means once more hit triple digits. The remainder of the day was largely uneventful, with a wait time vary of fifty to 65 minutes for the overwhelming majority of the noon stretch.
There have been a few spikes to 70 minutes, nevertheless it was remarkably constant after the rope drop rush and people ping-ponging waits. The truth is, there have been a number of instances after we noticed 2-3 different sights with larger wait instances than Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind! (Once more, downtime elsewhere in EPCOT performed a task there.)
Probably the most noteworthy development is that Cosmic Rewind’s wait time ticked up within the night, rising to 70 minutes at round 5 p.m., 75 minutes by 6:45 p.m., and 85 minutes at round 7:15 p.m. By round 8:00 p.m., it began a sluggish and regular decline to 50 minutes, which was the posted wait time at park closing. This was nearly actually overstated, as is at all times the case with wait instances within the final hour of the night, as they act as a deterrent.
From this, we’ve a number of preliminary observations. The primary is that Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind goes to be an excellent possibility throughout Early Entry. This contains visitors arriving by way of Worldwide Gateway, and can stay true at the same time as crowds enhance and if the holding factors for Early Entry evolve (they have already got!). Assuming, after all, you’re prepared to make the lengthy stroll.
What’s extra of an open query is whether or not Cosmic Rewind would be the greatest Early Entry possibility. This is likely to be untimely after solely two mornings, however I’m beginning to assume it won’t. Cosmic Rewind could siphon off sufficient Worldwide Gateway visitors that it turns into simpler to hit Remy’s Ratatouille Journey and Frozen Ever After earlier than common rope drop.
As soon as Check Observe reopens (and the preliminary fanfare dies down), it could be attainable to shortly knock out all 3 with minimal morning waits by mid-2026. Speak about getting forward of ourselves, although.
We’re additionally totally anticipating there to be a mid-morning lull for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. That is a simple prediction, as there at all times is for these headliners. The “when” of that is truly probably the most troublesome as a result of it will depend on the cadence of rope crowd crowds inflicting wait instances to spike. So far via 2 mornings, we haven’t actually seen this, nevertheless it’s a sluggish week for EPCOT.
This dynamic happens as a little bit of an accordion impact, as folks begin seeing the posted wait time imbalance and avoiding the attraction in query. After which all of the sudden, it drops dramatically. This recurrently occurred at Magic Kingdom pre-TRON at Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice; it could have a 90 minute wait at 9:30 am whereas nearly each different attraction is at half-hour or much less. The logical visitor thus prevented SDMT and does one thing else. That occurs en masse, producing the aforementioned dynamic.
Noon ought to proceed to be pretty constant, even as soon as Mardi Gras and Spring Break roll round. Wait instances will simply be constantly larger then. The true wildcards are after work as soon as EPCOT Flower & Backyard Pageant begins, and on weekends.
Usually, the entrance of the park begins emptying out later within the day as visitors transfer on to World Showcase. Nonetheless, we’d anticipate locals arriving after work will trigger a extra pronounced spike throughout festivals (and all day on weekends).
The final hour of the day needs to be reliably decrease, no matter what posted wait instances replicate. The entrance of EPCOT hollows out as each is getting spots for Luminous: The Symphony of Us. Except for Early Entry, that is the very best time to do any trip in EPCOT–particularly these within the former Future World. The one draw back is it sacrifices watching the fireworks and simply typically having fun with World Showcase at night time.
Finally, it’ll be fascinating to see how lengthy 170 minutes stays the height wait time for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. My guess is that it’ll not exceed that high-water mark for the rest of this month, however will as soon as March rolls round. One factor I’m assured in predicting is that we’ve but to see the height wait time for Cosmic Rewind in 2025.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is sort of actually the caliber of attraction that’ll hit 3-hour traces every now and then in peak crowd ranges. To be clear, I’m not suggesting this may occur with any diploma of regularity (it gained’t), nevertheless it’ll be one thing to observe for round Easter and possibly Mardi Gras, first weekend of Flower & Backyard, or Orange County’s Spring Break.
It’s additionally attainable this spike will happen earlier, or at a random time if one of many loading stations goes down. Alternatively, it helps that Cosmic Rewind has a really wholesome hourly capability, normally operates effectively, and is likely one of the most dependable new sights at Walt Disney World of the final decade.
On the very least, EPCOT goes to be considerably busier beginning subsequent week, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ought to fairly simply be capable of hit two hours with regularity. I believe 120+ minute peak posted wait instances all through March and April are fairly secure bets. The higher query is the place Cosmic Rewind will rank amongst all sights at Walt Disney World. It’s already fairly clear it won’t be the #1 wait time resort-wide, however will or not it’s the longest wait at EPCOT, or will Remy’s Ratatouille Journey surpass it? Needs to be fascinating to see, however in any case, it’s secure to say the worst case doom and gloom predictions will not be going to play out.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you expect the height posted wait time will probably be for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in March and April? What’s your optimum method and time of day to trip Cosmic Rewind? What would you advocate to Walt Disney World first-timers? Will you keep on with standby at one of many superb instances or purchase a Lightning Lane Single Cross? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluation? Any questions we will help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even once you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
