Disney Is Re-imagining the Roller Coaster With Epcot's New Guardians of the Galaxy Experience

Carlye Wisel
Updated

Disney World is turning your idea of a roller coaster on its side — somewhat literally.

Details revealed at IAAPA Attractions Expo 2018 confirm Disney’s new Guardians of the Galaxy coaster won’t just set Walt Disney World records for its size, but break innovative boundaries for all rides.

Touted as a one-of-a-kind experience, the forthcoming Marvel adventure at Walt Disney World will be a “storytelling coaster." That means it isn’t a thrill ride like Space Mountain or a dark ride like Frozen Ever After, but a hybrid of both.

Each four-seat ride vehicle will be programed to orientate riders towards different things happening throughout the experience, all while dipping, tilting and whooshing past on its track. Disney rides are known for telling “stories”, like Expedition Everest or Pirates of the Caribbean, but this appears to go one step further, all but ensuring guests get up close with Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket and the gang in an immersive world packed with thrills.

This new Marvel experience is shaping up to be most similar to Crush’s Coaster, a fan favorite at Disneyland Paris’ Walt Disney Studios Park, but with a technological edge and storytelling capability far beyond any other Disney coaster vehicle.

This well-hyped attraction is already going to be one of the longest enclosed coasters in the world, and likely longer than Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, according to the Orlando Sentinel. (It’s said that Spaceship Earth, the timeless ride tucked inside Epcot’s emblematic geosphere, could fit inside the new coaster building four times.)

Disney’s new Marvel coaster currently has no specific opening date, but will welcome its first guests in 2021 as part of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary celebrations.

Florida’s new Guardians of the Galaxy ride is only one of the many Marvel experiences opening around the world in the coming years. Disney California Adventure, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland will all be opening new experiences themed to Ant Man, Spider-Man, The Avengers, Iron Man and more, bringing the famed blockbuster movies to your vacation in more ways than ever before.