Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind has switched to a standby line and joined the Early Entry ride roster at EPCOT. The Marvel roller coaster has one of the highest wait times in all of Walt Disney World, which has a big impact on park strategy & itineraries. This post covers when to do & avoid Cosmic Rewind for the shortest waits, with recommendations for Early Entry, rope drop, midday, nighttime, ExEH, and more.
This best & worst times guide for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is based on comprehensive on-the-ground field testing and “ride research.” That includes over a dozen turns on the attraction via the standby line, as well as a lot of time spent observing the inflow of guests through both the regular line and Lightning Lane Single Pass (which is obviously the best play for a short wait if you don’t mind spending the money).
It’s supplemented by wait times data and historical precedent, but it’s less reliant on that than normal. If posted wait times told the whole story, this article would basically be the following: do Cosmic Rewind at the beginning of the day or end of the evening, and avoid the middle of the day. However, posted wait times do not tell the whole story, and sometimes aren’t even directionally accurate. Hence this lengthier post providing Cosmic Rewind strategy, zig when they zag advice, etc.
For starters, we want to “warn” you. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ended its virtual queue during Walt Disney World’s shoulder season. This resulted in below-average wait times for the first couple weeks that the ride had a standby line. That made early reports of standby trends unrepresentative of overall patterns.
As opposed to doing my field testing then, I waited until spring break. This included multiple days in EPCOT, spread over two different weeks. The first of these was disproportionately college students on their recess, whereas the second was seemingly out-of-state tourists. With another shoulder season right around the corner and summer also likely to be less busy than the crowds I encountered, my experiences might also be unrepresentative of overall patterns. But I’d rather overestimate than underestimate–better to be pleasantly surprised than disappointed.
Suffice to say, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind’s standby line and demand dynamics will continue to evolve over the course of the year. Wait time trends and crowd patterns will continue to change in the coming weeks and months, especially once Test Track 3.0 debuts, and thereafter whenever the next EPCOT ride goes down for reimagining.
Regardless, there are clear conclusions we can draw about standby lines and wait times at the Marvel roller coaster. Here’s a rundown of the best & worst times to ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind…
Best: Early Entry (Front of Pack)
Before EPCOT officially opens for the day, there’s Early Entry, which is offers 30-minute access to guests staying in on-site hotels at Walt Disney World. (See our Guide to Early Entry at Walt Disney World for more info & strategy.)
EPCOT usually opens at 9 am, which puts Early Entry at 8:30 am. If you want to be at the front of the pack, you need to arrive almost an hour before that, by around 7:45 am. Complicating strategy is that EPCOT has two park entrances, one at the front and one in World Showcase (International Gateway) near the France pavilion. As a general matter, it’s easier to be at the front of the pack for Cosmic Rewind from the front entrance, whereas it’s easier to be at the front of the pack for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure from International Gateway.
In my tests from the back entrance, I was able to make it close to the front of the pack from International Gateway…but not close enough. This front of the pack approach is also a tad stressful, as you stand in a mass of people waiting in the breezeway between Connections Cafe and Creations Shop. While covered and theoretically shaded, the morning sun will also be shining directly in your eyes.
The goal of being at the front of the pack for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is to be on and off the ride in under 30 minutes, beating the rope drop crowd for your second ride of the day. If you don’t want to ride twice, you may want to consult the second strategy. See Beating EPCOT’s Early Entry Crowd to Guardians of Galaxy Cosmic Rewind from World Showcase for my attempt at this from International Gateway.
Best: Early Entry (Back of Pack)
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is now the most popular ride during Early Entry, but most guests show up at or before the 30 minutes starts, with a slower trickle of guests during that time. It’s also a rather efficient and high capacity roller coaster, which means that it’s processing more guests than there are new arrivals and the line is typically decreasing in length, if only slightly, over the course of Early Entry.
Some might also have the perspective that “waiting is waiting,” so arriving at 7:45 am for Early Entry adds another 45 minutes to whatever your eventual wait time is. Being at the front of the pack for Cosmic Rewind might result in a 15 minute wait in the physical line, for a total of a 60 minute all-in wait.
By contrast, being at the back of the pack might result in a 40 minute actual wait in the physical line, which is actually 20 minutes less total time spent waiting since you didn’t show up at the crack of dawn in order to “hurry up and wait.” Honestly, in all of the testing I’ve done, this is my preferred approach for Cosmic Rewind. It’s lower stress, less time spent standing in direct sunlight, and more time to sleep, which means staying out later.
In order to be at the “back of the pack,” you simply need to beat the rope drop rush to Cosmic Rewind. This means arriving for Early Entry “on-time” (or thereabouts) and making it over to the line by around 8:55 am. See Easy EPCOT Early Entry Plan for Low Waits at Guardians of Galaxy Cosmic Rewind.
Worst: Regular Rope Drop
Otherwise known as official park opening time, when a rope is dropped allowing regular guests to access all the areas of EPCOT, rope drop occurs after Early Entry. This means that on-site guests will already be in the park, and in line for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
Rope drop has the exact same dynamic as Early Entry, but exaggerated since more guests come from off-site. Meaning that in order to be at the front of the pack, you’re going to need to arrive ~45 minutes before official park opening. But unlike Early Entry, this doesn’t put you at the front of the line for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind–you’re behind the Early Entry guests are already in that line!
So there’s one of two scenarios here. You arrive ~45 minutes early to be at the front of the pack and wait for regular rope drop, then encounter another ~45 minute line (perhaps more) for Cosmic Rewind, making your total wait ~90 minutes. Or you arrive right on time for regular rope drop and are at the back of the pack, having a total wait time of also around 90 minutes. Perhaps a bit less, maybe more.
One reason why this herd of guests is all doing Cosmic Rewind is because they’ve consulted resources indicating that this is one of the best times to ride. Another is looking at posted wait times, which still reflect a relatively reasonable wait. Both are wrong.
Rope drop is theoretically a good time, if you’re at the front of the pack and don’t account for the early time you arrived. The posted wait time also isn’t bad, but the problem is that it’s rising. If you’re at the back of the pack, by the time you make it over to Cosmic Rewind, the line will be longer, even if it’s not yet reflected in the app.
This is where the importance of field testing comes into play. If you look at wait times data in a vacuum, as other resources do, they’ll tell you one thing. But that doesn’t account for the practical realities of visiting. Again, I actually went to EPCOT and did this testing. Unless you can teleport to the front of the Cosmic Rewind line at 9:00 am, this is not a good option.
On top of everything else, there’s also the opportunity cost of rope dropping Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Which is to say that even if you can hit it at rope drop with a 90 minute posted wait time as opposed to a 120 minute wait later in the day, you’re sacrificing Soarin’ Around the World as a walk-on or Frozen Ever After with a shorter wait (ditto Test Track when it reopens). Meaning that you will instead be doing those later in the day when their posted wait times are much higher.
Suffice to say, off-site guests should target less popular rides rather than being tempted by the siren’s song of Cosmic Rewind. It isn’t worth it when considering the bigger picture. Zig when they zag.
Best: Mid-Morning
Yes, really. Conventional wisdom is that the middle of the day is the worst time to ride any popular ride, and that’s partially true. Before that, there’s a lull for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind during the middle of the morning. There always is for these headliners. For the most part, the lull occurs sometime between the second hour the park is open and lunch. It occurs as a bit of an accordion effect, as people start seeing the posted wait time imbalance and avoiding the attraction in question.
And then suddenly, it drops dramatically. For example, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind might have a 120 minute wait at 9:30 am while almost every other attraction at the front of EPCOT is at 30 minutes or less. Soarin, in particular, becomes a big draw at this point because it’s another popular ride that’ll have longer waits later. The logical guest thus avoids Cosmic Rewind and does something else. That happens en masse, producing the aforementioned dynamic.
This is also why guides covering the best & worst times to ride that are based solely on wait times data get this wrong. If looking at the numbers, it’s a terrible time to do Cosmic Rewind! But in actuality, there’s a window of opportunity that opens once enough people have balked at the 2-hour wait (or whatever it is), preferring to ride something else with a shorter wait or not wanting to conflict with lunch.
It’s really difficult to time this, but the sweet spot with Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind appears to be occurring right around 10:30 to 11 am most days. Even when the posted wait time hasn’t dropped, we’ve noticed a lower in-flow of guests to Cosmic Rewind around this time. You’re not going to have a low wait time now by any means, but the opportunity cost is also lower–Cosmic Rewind’s actual wait time will be falling, whereas Soarin’s actual wait time will be rising, regardless of what the posted wait times reflect.
Worst: Midday
Not much explanation is needed here. After grabbing lunch, more guests will be willing to wait in a longer line for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. From a mix of observation and data, the peak time waits resume from around noon to 6 pm.
Honestly, I’m not sure this is truly the worst time to do Cosmic Rewind. The middle of the day is busy everywhere in EPCOT, and there’s something to be said for a shaded wait while everything else is busy, too. Consider the qualitative, not just the quantitative side of things.
Best: Pre-Dinner (Maybe?)
Another thing to consider is the possibility of another pre-dinner lull. I wasn’t able to do sufficient testing to confirm this, but it’s typically the case with most other attractions. EPCOT especially has a dynamic where more guests head to World Showcase in the afternoon, decreasing crowds at the front of the park.
As such, 5 pm might be a great time to line up–especially if it’s still sunny out and you’d like a reprieve from the heat and don’t want to sacrifice nighttime hours to ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
Worst: Early Evening
As noted above, most guests head to World Showcase in the afternoon and early evening, which results in the front of EPCOT hollowing out and wait times falling. This dynamic happens to an extent, albeit less pronounced, at Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
The “problem” is that early evening is also when locals arrive after work and school, and many of them love Cosmic Rewind. (Pretty much everyone loves Cosmic Rewind. It’s why you’re reading this, as opposed to “Best & Worst Times to Ride the Seas with Nemo & Friends.”) Along with this, there are regular ole tourists who want to do Cosmic Rewind before getting their fireworks spot. Both result in an uptick in inflow.
On top of that, an interesting observed dynamic is an influx of guests to the Lightning Lane from around 7-7:30 pm nightly. The exact time seemed to vary slightly, but there was frequently a backup at the Lightning Lane touchpoints around then. I don’t know how to explain this.
Perhaps Disney sells more slots for this timeframe than the rest of the day, recognizing that standby is usually less popular in the evening? It’s possible more guests are returning all at once, wanting to be done before fireworks? Maybe inebriated guests having more troubles scanning than normal?
Regardless of the explanation, the actual wait times in early evening are worse than you might expect–with the posted wait time being closer to accurate (as opposed to inflated). It’s not truly one of the worst-of-the-worst times to do Cosmic Rewind; it just is far from the best, as you might’ve been led to believe.
Best: 30 Minutes Before Park Closing
My favorite time to do any attraction at the end of the night. I discovered that a variation of my normal strategy, discussed in the next entry, is optimal from a blended subjective/objective perspective.
I didn’t test every 5-minute increment towards the end of the evening, so I’m not exactly sure where the sweet spot is here, but let’s just say it’s about 30 minutes before park closing. The downside to this approach is that you’re going to miss Luminous and end your evening in the former Future World as opposed to World Showcase.
The upside is shorter wait times. Walt Disney World doesn’t stop lines for attractions until park closing, which means you can queue up right until the clock strikes midnight (or EPCOT’s case, 9 pm). This effectively extends your day and is when the actual wait time is lowest for Cosmic Rewind. Given this, you might conclude that the best time to queue up is 8:59 pm. (It’s not–see below.)
When doing this, you will want to ignore the posted wait time. Not only is it reactionary, but also because Disney deliberately inflates wait times at the end of the night to discourage guests from getting in one last ride. The other upside to this is that the Lightning Lane closes at 9 pm, meaning that once those guests are processed, it’s all standby–so the line moves faster.
Best/Worst: Buzzer Beater
As noted, our tried and true approach for any headliner attraction is getting in line 1 minute before park closing. This is like the reverse rope drop, or ‘rope rise’ option. (We like to think of it as the “buzzer beater” approach.)
I did this twice with Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and that was enough for me. It’s an admittedly small sample size, but on both occasions, I was sandwiched among ‘Drinking Around the World’ parties that sounded and smelled drunk. There was an above-average number of guests “catching up” to their parties because, from what I overheard, they had gone to grab more drinks.
I’d like to think I’m not a prude, but the experience was subjectively worse getting in line at the last minute like this. And while I recognize that this is entirely anecdotal and I could’ve just gotten unlucky twice, I could see plenty of other parties while walking through switchbacks. Suffice to say, the guests around me weren’t the outliers.
On a couple other evenings, I literally saw guests running from World Showcase towards Cosmic Rewind at ~8:55 pm to make it to the ride before the line closed. From what I could gather, there were a lot of groups using the ‘buzzer beater’ strategy to Drink Around the World for as long as possible and then jump in line for Cosmic Rewind at the absolute last minute. This is to say that actual wait times are also objectively worse at 1 minute to park closing versus 30 minutes. (Posted wait times are inflated in both cases, so I’m just going with my gut and observations here.)
Obviously, this is a to each their own type of thing. If you are also Drinking Around the World and think the convivial atmosphere of the Cosmic Rewind queue at 8:59 pm is your scene, by all means, do that instead of 8:30 pm. Or if you just don’t care and it makes more sense with your schedule.
It’s also possible that my testing suffers from selection bias, having occurred during spring break. Maybe during summer, fall, or the holiday season, it’ll be a totally different dynamic. I’m just sharing my experience to date–I’ll do more testing later and circle back to this. I do suspect the last minute influx (versus 30 minutes) will probably hold true, even if the subjective side doesn’t.
Best: Extended Evening Hours
I’ve now done Extended Evening Hours at EPCOT twice since Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind switched to standby. This is probably the trickiest one to pin down, as there were ride breakdowns during both of my nights that messed with crowd dynamics.
Regardless, I’m pretty confident that the best time to jump into line for Cosmic Rewind is at the very end of Extended Evening Hours. Even if the line is shorter earlier in the event (and it probably will be!), opportunity cost is once again the name of the game. Doing Cosmic Rewind in the first hour of ExEH will consume a ton of time–time that could be spent walking onto other attractions. Instead, jump in line at the bitter end, effectively extending Extended Evening Hours and pushing your wait–whatever that might be–beyond the end of the offering.
Another good approach is doing Cosmic Rewind at the very beginning, before or during Luminous, and then backloading Frozen Ever After and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. Since those two are more kid-centric attractions, their wait times will almost always drop in the last hour of ExEH. Just beware breakdowns, as they can throw a monkey wrench into everything.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What’s your optimal approach and time of day to ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind? What would you recommend to Walt Disney World first-timers? Will you stick to standby at one of the ideal times or buy a Lightning Lane Single Pass for Cosmic Rewind? Do you agree or disagree with any of our strategy? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
