PHOTOS - Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster construction at Epcot

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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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gerarar4 days ago

900 days since the ride opened and the ride is still on its VQ!

mergatroid15 days ago

That's fair enough.

MisterPenguinOct 07, 2024

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/big-list-of-forum-abbreviations.939248/

UNCgolfOct 07, 2024

I'm not a big fan of Cosmic Rewind -- it's fine, but I don't think it's remotely a special attraction -- so I wouldn't mind losing those things for something better. I also think the half a billion price tag is a problem, not a good thing (spending half a billion on a ride certainly could be a good thing, but CR doesn't have the content to justify that price). Regardless, I'm certainly not suggesting the Imagineers don't care or aren't trying to design the best possible attractions. Just because CR doesn't work very well for me doesn't make it bad; most people seem to love it. It doesn't really matter how I personally feel about something if it's an overall success.

zipadee999Oct 07, 2024

Would this be a retrack or a full-blown rebuild with a new layout like Tokyo? I feel like that would make it too much like Cosmic Rewind or even Tron right next to it. Right now Space relies on its 1975 charm as a form of differentiation, so I hope that any overhaul keeps the general structure of the attraction intact. I’d be happiest with a re-track and re-profiling by either Vekoma or S&S since Arrow Dynamics isn’t around anymore, a new cable-lift system that removes the un-immersive lift hill noise, on-board audio, and new effects/projections during the coaster layout. Those are all upgrades they could do to modernize and make the attraction vastly more enjoyable while still retaining the original Space Mountain

JayspencyOct 07, 2024

Tdo?

Marc Davis FanOct 07, 2024

Wouldn't that require a complete rebuild? This doesn't seem like something Disney would fund absent an IP, which makes me nervous...

FigmentFan82Oct 07, 2024

Wait so, theme updates to Space Mountain in MK? Would this be when they refresh the tracks as well?

MisterPenguinOct 07, 2024

Jack occasionally posts here: @IveBeenJack

UNCgolfOct 07, 2024

It's too bad they didn't just do that at EPCOT instead of Cosmic Rewind. Then maybe they could have built a good Guardians attraction elsewhere. Note that I'm not calling Cosmic Rewind a bad attraction (although I don't think it's a great one) -- just that it's a bad Guardians attraction in terms of capturing what makes the IP interesting/fun. Cosmic Rewind would be just as good, if not better, if it was a space themed coaster without the misused Guardians.