Theme Park Scope

Anyone who’s ridden Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind more than once knows the drill: you board, the coaster launches backward, and somewhere in the chaos your brain is quietly hoping the ride gods bless you with a good song instead of, well, “Conga.”

For one day this month, that gamble disappears entirely.

On Monday, September 21, 2026, Cosmic Rewind will exclusively play “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire for every single ride, all day long. Normally, the coaster randomizes between six different songs each time you board, meaning no two rides ever feel quite the same. On the 21st, that randomness disappears completely — every rider gets the same song, and the reason is about as on-the-nose as Disney tributes get: the lyrics literally reference “the 21st night of September.”

This isn’t a one-off gimmick, either. This marks the fourth year in a row Disney has run this exact celebration, which makes it safe to call this an honest-to-goodness annual tradition at this point. If you’re already planning a 2027 trip, you can pencil in September 21 for next year with a pretty high degree of confidence it’ll happen again.

Past years have kept things simple; just the song swap and nothing else. This year, Disney’s actually building the celebration out a little further with two additions:

• The Supernova Sip — a new, one-day-only specialty drink featuring hot honey and lemon, finished with edible glitter and topped with orange cotton candy, available exclusively at EPCOT’s Connections Café on September 21
• A Star-Lord meet-and-greet — giving guests the chance to meet the Guardians’ de facto leader in person as part of the day’s festivities

Between the drink, the meet-and-greet, and the soundtrack switch, this year’s celebration is a noticeably bigger deal than a simple “one song all day” gimmick… it’s shaping up to be a legitimate mini-event tucked into a normal EPCOT day.

For anyone who hasn’t experienced it, Cosmic Rewind opened at EPCOT in 2022 and has become one of the park’s most popular attractions, thanks to its backward launch, genuine G-forces, and a rotating Guardians of the Galaxy-inspired soundtrack that keeps repeat rides feeling fresh. That six-song rotation has included everything from crowd favorites like “September” and “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” down to more divisive entries like “Conga,” which, speaking purely objectively and not at all based on personal grudges, tends to rank dead last among longtime riders.

If “September” happens to be your favorite song in the rotation, September 21 is obviously the day to go. But it’s worth knowing the trade-off: if you’re the type who enjoys the mystery of not knowing which song you’ll get, or you’re specifically chasing a different track in the lineup, this is the one day you’re guaranteed not to hear it. Either way, pairing the ride with the Supernova Sip and a Star-Lord photo op makes for a pretty solid theme built entirely around one attraction corner of EPCOT.

We’ll report back on how the celebration actually goes, so check back with Theme Park Scope for updates and photos from September 21.