Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind has switched to a standby line and joined the Early Entry experience roster at EPCOT. The Marvel curler coaster has one of many highest wait occasions in all of Walt Disney World, which has a big effect on park technique & itineraries. This publish covers when to do & keep away from Cosmic Rewind for the shortest waits, with suggestions for Early Entry, rope drop, noon, nighttime, ExEH, and extra.
This greatest & worst occasions information for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind relies on complete on-the-ground discipline testing and “experience analysis.” That features over a dozen activates the attraction through the standby line, in addition to numerous time spent observing the influx of company via each the common line and Lightning Lane Single Move (which is clearly the very best play for a brief wait for those who don’t thoughts spending the cash).
It’s supplemented by wait occasions information and historic precedent, nevertheless it’s much less reliant on that than regular. If posted wait occasions advised the entire story, this text would mainly be the next: do Cosmic Rewind at the start of the day or finish of the night, and keep away from the center of the day. Nonetheless, posted wait occasions don’t inform the entire story, and generally aren’t even directionally correct. Therefore this lengthier publish offering Cosmic Rewind technique, zig once they zag recommendation, and many others.
For starters, we wish to “warn” you. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ended its digital queue throughout Walt Disney World’s shoulder season. This resulted in below-average wait occasions for the primary couple weeks that the experience had a standby line. That made early experiences of standby traits unrepresentative of total patterns.
Versus doing my discipline testing then, I waited till spring break. This included a number of days in EPCOT, unfold over two totally different weeks. The primary of those was disproportionately faculty college students on their recess, whereas the second was seemingly out-of-state vacationers. With one other shoulder season proper across the nook and summer time additionally prone to be much less busy than the crowds I encountered, my experiences may additionally be unrepresentative of total patterns. However I’d reasonably overestimate than underestimate–higher to be pleasantly shocked than disillusioned.
Suffice to say, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind’s standby line and demand dynamics will proceed to evolve over the course of the 12 months. Wait time traits and crowd patterns will proceed to alter within the coming weeks and months, particularly as soon as Check Monitor 3.0 debuts, and thereafter at any time when the following EPCOT experience goes down for reimagining.
Regardless, there are clear conclusions we are able to draw about standby traces and wait occasions on the Marvel curler coaster. Right here’s a rundown of the very best & worst occasions to experience Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind…
Finest: Early Entry (Entrance of Pack)
Earlier than EPCOT formally opens for the day, there’s Early Entry, which is provides 30-minute entry to company staying in on-site lodges at Walt Disney World. (See our Information to Early Entry at Walt Disney World for more information & technique.)
EPCOT often opens at 9 am, which places Early Entry at 8:30 am. If you wish to be on the entrance of the pack, you must arrive virtually an hour earlier than that, by round 7:45 am. Complicating technique is that EPCOT has two park entrances, one on the entrance and one in World Showcase (Worldwide Gateway) close to the France pavilion. As a basic matter, it’s simpler to be on the entrance of the pack for Cosmic Rewind from the entrance entrance, whereas it’s simpler to be on the entrance of the pack for Remy’s Ratatouille Journey from Worldwide Gateway.
In my exams from the again entrance, I used to be capable of make it near the entrance of the pack from Worldwide Gateway…however not shut sufficient. This entrance of the pack method can also be a tad anxious, as you stand in a mass of individuals ready within the breezeway between Connections Cafe and Creations Store. Whereas lined and theoretically shaded, the morning solar can even be shining instantly in your eyes.
The purpose of being on the entrance of the pack for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is to be on and off the experience in below half-hour, beating the rope drop crowd to your second experience of the day. In the event you don’t wish to experience twice, you might wish to seek the advice of the second technique. See Beating EPCOT’s Early Entry Crowd to Guardians of Galaxy Cosmic Rewind from World Showcase for my try at this from Worldwide Gateway.
Finest: Early Entry (Again of Pack)
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is now the preferred experience throughout Early Entry, however most company present up at or earlier than the half-hour begins, with a slower trickle of company throughout that point. It’s additionally a reasonably environment friendly and excessive capability curler coaster, which signifies that it’s processing extra company than there are new arrivals and the road is often lowering in size, if solely barely, over the course of Early Entry.
Some may additionally have the attitude that “ready is ready,” so arriving at 7:45 am for Early Entry provides one other 45 minutes to no matter your eventual wait time is. Being on the entrance of the pack for Cosmic Rewind may lead to a 15 minute wait within the bodily line, for a complete of a 60 minute all-in wait.
Against this, being behind the pack may lead to a 40 minute precise wait within the bodily line, which is definitely 20 minutes much less whole time spent ready because you didn’t present up on the daybreak with a view to “hurry up and wait.” Actually, in the entire testing I’ve completed, that is my most well-liked method for Cosmic Rewind. It’s decrease stress, much less time spent standing in direct daylight, and extra time to sleep, which implies staying out later.
With a view to be on the “again of the pack,” you merely have to beat the rope drop rush to Cosmic Rewind. This implies arriving for Early Entry “on-time” (or thereabouts) and making it over to the road by round 8:55 am. See Straightforward EPCOT Early Entry Plan for Low Waits at Guardians of Galaxy Cosmic Rewind.
Worst: Common Rope Drop
In any other case often called official park opening time, when a rope is dropped permitting common company to entry all of the areas of EPCOT, rope drop happens after Early Entry. Which means on-site company will already be within the park, and in line for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
Rope drop has the very same dynamic as Early Entry, however exaggerated since extra company come from off-site. That means that with a view to be on the entrance of the pack, you’re going to wish to reach ~45 minutes earlier than official park opening. However not like Early Entry, this doesn’t put you on the entrance of the road for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind–you’re behind the Early Entry company are already in that line!
So there’s one in every of two situations right here. You arrive ~45 minutes early to be on the entrance of the pack and wait for normal rope drop, then encounter one other ~45 minute line (maybe extra) for Cosmic Rewind, making your whole wait ~90 minutes. Otherwise you arrive proper on time for normal rope drop and are behind the pack, having a complete wait time of additionally round 90 minutes. Maybe a bit much less, possibly extra.
One motive why this herd of company is all doing Cosmic Rewind is as a result of they’ve consulted assets indicating that this is without doubt one of the greatest occasions to experience. One other is posted wait occasions, which nonetheless replicate a comparatively affordable wait. Each are incorrect.
Rope drop is theoretically an excellent time, for those who’re on the entrance of the pack and don’t account for the early time you arrived. The posted wait time additionally isn’t dangerous, however the issue is that it’s rising. In the event you’re behind the pack, by the point you make it over to Cosmic Rewind, the road might be longer, even when it’s not but mirrored within the app.
That is the place the significance of discipline testing comes into play. In the event you have a look at wait occasions information in a vacuum, as different assets do, they’ll inform you one factor. However that doesn’t account for the sensible realities of visiting. Once more, I really went to EPCOT and did this testing. Except you possibly can teleport to the entrance of the Cosmic Rewind line at 9:00 am, this isn’t an excellent choice.
On high of every little thing else, there’s additionally the alternative value of rope dropping Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Which is to say that even for those who can hit it at rope drop with a 90 minute posted wait time versus a 120 minute wait later within the day, you’re sacrificing Soarin’ Across the World as a walk-on or Frozen Ever After with a shorter wait (ditto Check Monitor when it reopens). That means that you’ll as an alternative be doing these later within the day when their posted wait occasions are a lot increased.
Suffice to say, off-site company ought to goal much less widespread rides reasonably than being tempted by the siren’s track of Cosmic Rewind. It isn’t value it when contemplating the larger image. Zig once they zag.
Finest: Mid-Morning
Sure, actually. Typical knowledge is that the center of the day is the worst time to experience any widespread experience, and that’s partially true. Earlier than that, there’s a lull for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind through the center of the morning. There at all times is for these headliners. For essentially the most half, the lull happens someday between the second hour the park is open and lunch. It 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 a sudden, it drops dramatically. For instance, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind might need a 120 minute wait at 9:30 am whereas virtually each different attraction on the entrance of EPCOT is at half-hour or much less. Soarin, particularly, turns into a giant draw at this level as a result of it’s one other widespread experience that’ll have longer waits later. The logical visitor thus avoids Cosmic Rewind and does one thing else. That occurs en masse, producing the aforementioned dynamic.
That is additionally why guides overlaying the very best & worst occasions to experience which are primarily based solely on wait occasions information get this incorrect. If wanting on the numbers, it’s a horrible time to do Cosmic Rewind! However in truth, there’s a window of alternative that opens as soon as sufficient folks have balked on the 2-hour wait (or no matter it’s), preferring to experience one thing else with a shorter wait or not desirous to battle with lunch.
It’s actually tough to time this, however the candy spot with Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind seems to be occurring proper round 10:30 to 11 am most days. Even when the posted wait time hasn’t dropped, we’ve seen a decrease in-flow of company to Cosmic Rewind round this time. You’re not going to have a low wait time now by any means, however the alternative value can also be decrease–Cosmic Rewind’s precise wait time might be falling, whereas Soarin’s precise wait time might be rising, no matter what the posted wait occasions replicate.
Worst: Noon
Not a lot clarification is required right here. After grabbing lunch, extra company might be prepared to attend in an extended line for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. From a mixture of statement and information, the height time waits resume from round midday to six pm.
Actually, I’m unsure that is really the worst time to do Cosmic Rewind. The center of the day is busy in every single place in EPCOT, and there’s one thing to be mentioned for a shaded wait whereas every little thing else is busy, too. Contemplate the qualitative, not simply the quantitative facet of issues.
Finest: Pre-Dinner (Possibly?)
One other factor to think about is the potential for one other pre-dinner lull. I wasn’t capable of do enough testing to substantiate this, nevertheless it’s sometimes the case with most different sights. EPCOT particularly has a dynamic the place extra company head to World Showcase within the afternoon, lowering crowds on the entrance of the park.
As such, 5 pm is likely to be a good time to line up–particularly if it’s nonetheless sunny out and also you’d like a reprieve from the warmth and don’t wish to sacrifice nighttime hours to experience Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
Worst: Early Night
As famous above, most company head to World Showcase within the afternoon and early night, which leads to the entrance of EPCOT hollowing out and wait occasions falling. This dynamic occurs to an extent, albeit much less pronounced, at Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
The “drawback” is that early night can also be when locals arrive after work and college, and lots of of them love Cosmic Rewind. (Just about everybody loves Cosmic Rewind. It’s why you’re studying this, versus “Finest & Worst Instances to Experience the Seas with Nemo & Pals.”) Together with this, there are common ole vacationers who wish to do Cosmic Rewind earlier than getting their fireworks spot. Each lead to an uptick in influx.
On high of that, an attention-grabbing noticed dynamic is an inflow of company to the Lightning Lane from round 7-7:30 pm nightly. The precise time appeared to differ barely, however there was often a backup on the Lightning Lane touchpoints round then. I don’t know learn how to clarify this.
Maybe Disney sells extra slots for this timeframe than the remainder of the day, recognizing that standby is often much less widespread within the night? It’s attainable extra company are returning suddenly, desirous to be completed earlier than fireworks? Possibly inebriated company having extra troubles scanning than regular?
Whatever the clarification, the precise wait occasions in early night are worse than you may count on–with the posted wait time being nearer to correct (versus inflated). It’s not really one of many worst-of-the-worst occasions to do Cosmic Rewind; it simply is much from the very best, as you may’ve been led to imagine.
Finest: 30 Minutes Earlier than Park Closing
My favourite time to do any attraction on the finish of the evening. I found {that a} variation of my regular technique, mentioned within the subsequent entry, is perfect from a blended subjective/goal perspective.
I didn’t take a look at each 5-minute increment in direction of the top of the night, so I’m not precisely certain the place the candy spot is right here, however let’s simply say it’s about half-hour earlier than park closing. The draw back to this method is that you just’re going to overlook Luminous and finish your night within the former Future World versus World Showcase.
The upside is shorter wait occasions. Walt Disney World doesn’t cease traces for sights till park closing, which implies you possibly can queue up proper till the clock strikes midnight (or EPCOT’s case, 9 pm). This successfully extends your day and is when the precise wait time is lowest for Cosmic Rewind. Given this, you may conclude that the very best time to queue up is 8:59 pm. (It’s not–see under.)
When doing this, you’ll want to ignore the posted wait time. Not solely is it reactionary, but additionally as a result of Disney intentionally inflates wait occasions on the finish of the evening to discourage company from getting in a single final experience. The opposite upside to that is that the Lightning Lane closes at 9 pm, that means that after these company are processed, it’s all standby–so the road strikes sooner.
Finest/Worst: Buzzer Beater
Our tried and true method for any headliner attraction is getting in line 1 minute earlier than park closing. That is just like the reverse rope drop, or ‘rope rise’ choice. (We like to consider it because the “buzzer beater” method.)
I examined this twice and that was sufficient for me. I’ll by no means do Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind once more in the previous couple of minutes earlier than park closing, and positively wouldn’t topic my household to it. On each events, I used to be sandwiched amongst ‘Ingesting Across the World’ events that sounded and smelled drunk. There was an above-average variety of company “catching up” to their events as a result of, from what I overheard, that they had gone to seize extra drinks.
I’d wish to suppose I’m not a prude, however the expertise was subjectively worse getting in line on the final minute like this. And whereas I acknowledge that that is fully anecdotal and I might’ve simply gotten unfortunate twice, I might see loads of different events whereas strolling via switchbacks. Suffice to say, the company round me weren’t the outliers.
On a pair different evenings, I actually noticed company operating from World Showcase in direction of Cosmic Rewind at ~8:55 pm to make it to the experience earlier than the road closed. From what I might collect, there have been numerous teams utilizing the ‘buzzer beater’ technique to Drink Across the World for so long as attainable after which bounce in line for Cosmic Rewind on the absolute final minute. That is to say that precise wait occasions are additionally objectively worse at 1 minute to park closing versus half-hour. (Posted wait occasions are inflated in each instances, so I’m simply going with my intestine and observations right here.)
Clearly, this can be a to every their very own sort of factor. If you’re additionally Ingesting Across the World and suppose the convivial ambiance of the Cosmic Rewind queue at 8:59 pm is your scene, by all means, do this as an alternative of 8:30 pm. Or for those who simply don’t care and it makes extra sense together with your schedule.
It’s additionally attainable that my testing suffers from choice bias, having occurred throughout spring break. Possibly throughout summer time, fall, or the vacation season, it’ll be a completely totally different dynamic. I do suspect the final minute inflow (versus half-hour) will in all probability maintain true, even when the subjective facet doesn’t.
One other annoyance later within the night (not distinctive to the final minute) is that company usually tend to shout solutions that aren’t family-friendly when requested, “what do they name themselves?” Furthermore, within the pre-show, company disrupt the expertise and barge via the doorways to exit early (which accomplishes completely nothing–you’re simply ready in one other line longer).
Finest: Prolonged Night Hours
I’ve now completed Prolonged Night Hours at EPCOT twice since Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind switched to standby. That is in all probability the trickiest one to pin down, as there have been experience breakdowns throughout each of my nights that messed with crowd dynamics.
Regardless, I’m fairly assured that the very best time to leap into line for Cosmic Rewind is on the very finish of Prolonged Night Hours. Even when the road is shorter earlier within the occasion (and it in all probability might be!), alternative value is as soon as once more the secret. Doing Cosmic Rewind within the first hour of ExEH will eat a ton of time–time that might be spent strolling onto different sights. As a substitute, bounce in line on the bitter finish, successfully extending Prolonged Night Hours and pushing your wait–no matter that is likely to be–past the top of the providing.
One other good method is doing Cosmic Rewind on the very starting, earlier than or throughout Luminous, after which backloading Frozen Ever After and Remy’s Ratatouille Journey. Since these two are extra kid-centric sights, their wait occasions will virtually at all times drop within the final hour of ExEH. Simply beware breakdowns, as they’ll throw a monkey wrench into every little thing.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What’s your optimum method and time of day to experience Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind? What would you suggest to Walt Disney World first-timers? Will you stick with standby at one of many very best occasions or purchase a Lightning Lane Single Move for Cosmic Rewind? Do you agree or disagree with any of our technique? Any questions we might help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even if you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!
