Theme Park Scope

Please read the next sentence out loud in your best off-key singing voice, and trust me, mine is the offkeyest.

“Rockin’ around the galaxy, it’s a happy holiday!”

That is how Disney opened its announcement, and I am going to pretend I was not already humming along before I finished the sentence. Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT is getting a holiday soundtrack this winter, and it might be one of the more delightfully weird holiday overlays Disney has ever done.

Here is what we know. Starting November 25, guests can save the galaxy to the tune of three seasonal songs. Disney says the songs will be shuffled to create a fresh experience on every ride, which means you will not know which one you are getting until the music starts, same as the regular setup.

• “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams.
• “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24” by Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
• “Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses.

I want to tell you what I love about this lineup, because it is kind of perfect for a coaster that has always been about the soundtrack. The Andy Williams classic is the warm, cozy anchor, and since it came out in 1963, it fits the ride’s whole theme of Star-Lord sharing his love of Earth music with the people of Xandar. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra track is the one I am most curious about, since it is a big, dramatic rock-orchestra version of familiar carols, and a big, dramatic rock-orchestra song on a coaster that launches you backward in the dark sounds like an excellent match. And “Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses, from 1981, is a quirky new wave holiday song with a sense of humor, which feels like it was made for a ride about space raccoons and talking trees.

Outside the holiday season, Cosmic Rewind plays one of six songs: “September” by Earth, Wind and Fire, “Disco Inferno” by The Trammps, “Conga” by Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears, “I Ran (So Far Away)” by A Flock of Seagulls, and “One Way or Another” by Blondie.

Disney’s announcement says the six regular songs are what the ride plays “outside of the holiday season,” which strongly suggests the three holiday songs take over during the holidays. This means that the people who have complained about “Conga” for years may get a few weeks of relief. I have been very open about my feelings on that particular track, so please enjoy this small moment of hope with me.

These new tracks begin on November 25 and run into early January, and we will update this post as soon as Disney clears it up. If you are planning to ride at the very end of that window, it is worth checking before you go.

The timing is clever. The EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays runs from November 27 through December 30, so the holiday songs on Cosmic Rewind start two days before the festival opens and continue after it ends. That gives guests a few extra ways to feel festive, whether they are there for the global holiday traditions, the Candlelight Processional, or just the thrill of a good backward launch.

If you are the type who likes to hear every song, plan to ride more than once. With three tracks shuffled randomly, you could get the same one twice in a row, and that is exactly the kind of chaos I enjoy. If you are traveling with kids or friends, make it a game and have everyone guess which song will play before the ride starts.

I also appreciate that Disney leaned into the weirdness. Cosmic Rewind has always had a sense of humor about itself, and playing a New Wave Christmas song while you chase down a cosmic threat is exactly the kind of joke the ride was built for.

We will keep an eye on any updates to the dates and the playlist, so check back with Theme Park Scope before your holiday trip to EPCOT.