PHOTOS - Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster construction at Epcot

Gallery / 5 Photos
Guardians of the Galaxy construction - April 2018

Posted: Wednesday April 4, 2018 9:02am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Construction of Walt Disney World's upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy rollercoaster is well and truly underway in Epcot's Future World.

The rear of the former Universe of Energy pavilion is now an active construction site, with work taking place on that building, and on the second new building that will house the actual ride.

Guardians of the Galaxy construction - April 2018

The former Universe of Energy building will contain the queue and pre-show areas, and as you can see from the image above, the rear wall has a large section removed that will join onto a new building that is now being built.

Behind the existing building, work is well underway on construction of the new ride building that will contain the actual coaster. Much like Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, the two buildings will be linked by a tunnel.

Guardians of the Galaxy construction - April 2018

So far there are minimal changes at the front of Universe of Energy.

Guardians of the Galaxy construction - April 2018

Besides construction walls, the only other point of note is the former ride exits have been removed and covered in scrims.

Guardians of the Galaxy construction - April 2018

Disney has not yet announced an opening date for Guardians of the Galaxy at Epcot, but current estimates put the ride at a Spring 2021 opening.

Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind concept art

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lazyboy97o2 hours ago

If someone was wearing something like a metal ring and hit it in the right place, especially near a corner, it is possible to break the glass rather easily.

MisterPenguin7 hours ago

The building is just settling on a sink hole.

bmr159112 hours ago

Definitely not a punch, but a metal water bottle strapped to a backpack whipping around could generate a lot of power.

Giss Neric13 hours ago

Shattering tempered glass requires a huge amount of force so I'm not sure if someone punching the glass is true.

bmr159115 hours ago

I’m eager to hear how that happened. Someone lean on it with too much weight? A flying water bottle?

ZachPL16 hours ago

Just saw this on reddit

gerararFeb 25, 2025

The VQ system has finally ended today for GOTG: CR! Standby line starts tomorrow Tuesday, February 25, 2025. The VQ system was reportedly supposed to end multiple times during some lull periods, but never came to fruition. It went through 2 hurricane closures, but nearly 3 years later after the ride opened May 27, 2022, the VQ has concluded and standby is finally here. Scatterplot of every single VQ data point collected for the past 1002 days. Here's my final update for it and wrap-up post:

Andrew25Feb 24, 2025

I for one hope that one day they can find a way to add railings within the pre-show spaces to reduce the pain point that is the funnel at the end. Ideally, it would be tiered "rows" within the preshow space where a CM then can release each section one by one instead of the mass release. I also think Disney should really enforce kicking people out of line who exit the preshow early to get a headstart.

Professortango1Feb 24, 2025

I am aware. I was speaking more to the concept of the room rather than the function.

Agent HFeb 24, 2025

The stretching room is not an elevator in Florida

Professortango1Feb 24, 2025

HM also has a trained CM in the elevator with us, so they can manage the emergency release if an incident were to occur.

lazyboy97oFeb 24, 2025

Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts also has an elevator scene in the queue. Florida Fire Prevention Code, NFPA 101 12.4.9.2.1.3 allows designs that “confound the egress path” when combined with “approved directional exit marking that becomes apparent in an emergency”. Section 12.4.9.6.2 also requires an Emergency Action Plan approved by the local fire department. The big thing to do when designing these spaces is to ensure systems fail in a safe manner. In a situation where the door is obscured the easiest solution would be for the default, no-power position to be that the door is open with signage visible when open.

Agent HFeb 24, 2025

Hm I didn’t think about that. maybe the haunted mansion is just sort of grandfathered in because there’s not really a way to change it?

PurduevianFeb 24, 2025

Guessing that might be a fire code issue? I have no idea how the HM stretching room gets away with having no visible windows and doors from a legal/code standpoint