With the news that the Guardians of the Galaxy will be replacing the Tower of Terror at Disney’s California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort, another rumor featuring the band of a-holes has been gaining traction.
Rumors had been circulating that they’d be replacing Ellen’s Energy Adventure at Epcot for a while. Rumors seem to be ramping up more recently, after Disney did some ride building height tests for the building. This lets them know if a new ride building would interfere with the theming of another area.
According to WDW News Today, the new ride would be similar to the Gringotts ride at Universal Studios. This would require the current building to be destroyed and a new one to be built. This isn’t new for Epcot, as the old Horizons building needed to be torn down for Mission: Space.
Marvel currently has a contract with Universal Studios that allows Universal to have Marvel characters in the Marvel Superheroes Island section of Islands of Adventure. Disney used two members of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Star-Lord and Gamora, last year in their Halloween event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Star-Lord and Gamora were “face” characters, which means no costumed head, and allowed guests to have their picture taken with them. Both haven’t been seen again in the parks. This has lead many to believe that the characters are OUTSIDE the scope of the contract since this incarnation of the Guardians didn’t appear in the comics until 2008. The contract also states that Marvel can’t use Marvel characters that appear in Marvel Superhero Island east of the Mississippi River. Disney currently has a meet and greet set up for Spider-Man at Walt Disney’s Studios at the Disneyland Paris resort.
The current version of Universe of Energy has been in Epcot since 1996 when it was updated to include Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Nye the Science Guy. The original ride opened with the park on October 1st, 1982.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 hits theaters May 5th, 2017.