Disney Shelved a Big Bang-Themed Omnicoaster for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind recently opened in EPCOT at Walt Disney World offering an all-new thrill ride for Guests. The ride is housed within the Wonders of Xandar pavilion, the former home of the Universe of Energy attraction.

While Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind has largely been a hit with Guests so far, despite bringing on motion sickness for some, this ride was not the original idea that Disney Imagineers had for this area of the theme park.

In a recent podcast with D23, the official Disney fan club, Walt Disney Imagineer Wyatt Winter shared that Imagineers already had another idea in the works before the company approached them with the concept for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.

During the podcast, Winter shared that “[There was] an idea for a coaster that was about the Big Bang, singularity, kind of going through the cosmos, those were two ideas that were out there. Then, we got the assignment and thought of how do we put Guardians of the Galaxy here at EPCOT. We kind of mashed all those ideas together.”

While Imagineers were planning to use the Omnicoaster concept from the beginning, that is the most noticeable element of the attraction that made it to the ride Guests can see in the Disney Park today. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind certainly operates as an Omnicoaster with a reverse launch and ride vehicles that spin and rotate as Guests work their way through the ride’s story, but it is that story that is very different from the original idea.

The continued inclusion of IPs in the Parks is a divisive issue among Disney fans, especially in a theme park like EPCOT where some fans do prefer original concepts over adding stories already established in film.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind has proven popular with Guests so far, but given what we now know about Imagineers’ original plans, we can’t help but wonder what another ride on the same system would be like.