Being willing to pay $17 to ride EPCOT's Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind isn't enough if you are not a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel guest

Gallery / 3 Photos
Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind Virtual Queue and Lightning Lane signs

Posted: Monday May 30, 2022 10:27am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Securing Lightning Lane access to EPCOT's Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind is proving more difficult than just handing over $17.

Guests arriving at Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind as the ride enters its first full week of operation

Walt Disney World's latest rollercoaster is now into its fourth day of operation, and so far, sales of Lightning Lane access have reached capacity during the Disney World Resort hotel guests' early sale window. The early sell-out before park opening means that those guests not staying at a Disney hotel have no option to purchase Lightning Lane access.

The Lightning Lane sales at Cosmic Rewind are reaching capacity before non-resort hotel guests are able to make a purchase

Since Genie launched at Walt Disney World, guests of a Disney Resort Hotel can make their first purchase starting at 7:00am on the day of their visit, while other guests can make their first Lightning Lane purchase when the park opens. This gives a huge advantage to resort hotel guests for high-demand Lightning Lane purchases.

At Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind, Individual Lightning Lane purchase is reaching capacity at around 7:15am, 75 minutes before non-resort guests can make a Lightning Lane purchase.

Cosmic Rewind's Virtual Queue reaches capacity almost instantly at both 7am and 1pm distribution times

Assuming this pattern holds, the only option for non-resort hotel guests to ride Cosmic Rewind is to secure a Virtual Queue boarding group at 7am or 1pm. Both of those distribution windows are incredibly short, reaching capacity in 3 seconds.

Learn more about the Virtual Queue process at Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind.

Nova Corps Starblaster with Spaceship Earth and Monorail passing by

Discuss on the Forums

Get Walt Disney World News Delivered to Your Inbox

valenrandy12 days ago

We came in through IG at about 8:10/8:15am. The line for GOTG was all the way to SSE when we joined it at 8:26am. At 8:30am the line started moving, reached the breezeway at 8:32am then reached the regular standby entrance to GOTG at about and finally getting on the ride at 9:20.

dmc49313 days ago

I think I saw one report, it seems like you need to be fine with the fact that there will probably be a couple hundred people in front of you by the time you get to the breezeway where they hold you (and honestly that seems like a good day). Still seems feasible compared to the wait times the rest of the day

gorillaball13 days ago

What’s the rope drop looking like for Cosmic Rewind coming from International Gateway? Are you just at a natural disadvantage and behind everyone from the front gate?

Purduevian24 days ago

I think this is especially true at EPCOT where most people prefer to be in the countries in the afternoon and evening.

wdwmagic24 days ago

Best Time to Ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT - Wait Time Guide https://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/guardians-of-the-galaxy/news/06mar2025-best-time-to-ride-guardians-of-the-galaxy-cosmic-rewind-at-epcot---wait-time-guide.htm

Animaniac93-9830 days ago

Don't wait times usually peak around noon time? It's seems to be when the most people are in the park at once

James Alucobond30 days ago

Maybe Connections runoff or lunch reservation arrival spike? Would be interesting to see if it’s something that just happens more globally at the park.

UNCgolf30 days ago

I wonder why it has those random spikes mid-day. Seems like it's happened all week, where the wait time skyrockets around noon before going back down.

wdwmagic30 days ago

Quite busy midday today

PurduevianFeb 26, 2025

frozen is definitely not a people eater

wdwmagicFeb 26, 2025

These shows those attractions, but not on the same chart. https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/walt-disney-world-ride-wait-times-%E2%80%93-morning-afternoon-evening-stats.985625/post-11157412

buckeyegator55Feb 26, 2025

once test track re-opens you will have 5 people eaters gotg, rat, frozen, soarin, and test track, should,imo, spread out the lines.

PurduevianFeb 26, 2025

Would adding FOP and/or ROTR make it too busy? I feel like guardians compares closer to those 2 as it is the clear premiere attraction in a non-MK park. (Even though SDD amazingly has almost identical wait times to ROTR)