What Are the Most Intense Rides at EPCOT?

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If you’ve wondered what the most intense rides at EPCOT are before planning your next Walt Disney World adventure, I’m here to help you decide if these attractions are perfect for you and if they’re worth it compared to rides at similar thrill levels.

EPCOT is known as Disney World’s festival park with lots of food and drinks to go around, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t intense rides here. As someone with over 25 years visiting, researching, and working in theme parks, as well as someone who’s ridden over 200 roller coasters, I personally love a good intense moment even if I’m tasting food from all over the world. 

Let’s take a look at the most intense rides at EPCOT!

What Makes a Ride Intense?

Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide what makes a ride intense! Not everyone finds the same things thrilling, and each person has a different threshold for when intense becomes too intense to enjoy.

Some things to consider when talking about intense rides are:

• Launches – how fast are they, are they backward launches, forward launches, or both, etc
• Spinning vehicles and how dizzy they make you
• G-forces felt during the ride
• Speed and acceleration
• Banked turns
• Inversions that turn the ride upside-down
• Immersive elements and theming
• Family-friendly considerations – is it too scary for the whole family to go on?

EPCOT has several different styles of attractions, like roller coasters, simulators, and dark rides. Beware that some of the rides on this list may cause things like motion sickness, so you’ll want to make sure you’re taking the necessary precautions before waiting in potential long lines for these rides.

The Most Intense Rides at EPCOT — Ranked by Thrill Level

1. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind

EPCOT’s newest ride is arguably its most intense. A thrilling space-themed roller coaster ride that includes a backward launch, spinning vehicles, and music, it’s the world’s longest indoor roller coaster, which isn’t going to be so fun for you if you get motion sickness or hate intense rides.

For those who ride it, you’ll be treated to some smooth, but intense thrills that never feel truly out of control. The rides vehicles have a controlled spin, so they don’t mimic the free-spinning insanity you can find on other roller coasters out there.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is currently EPCOT’s most popular ride, so be prepared for some of the longest waits of the day. You can shorten wait times by purchasing a Lightning Lane Single Pass or Lightning Lane Premier Pass when you visit.

It’s just the ride EPCOT needed in my opinion, but don’t ride it right after drinking around the world!

2. Mission: SPACE (Orange Side)

Arguably the ride on this list that makes the most people sick, Mission: SPACE is so intense, Disney actually made a less intense option for people to ride if they’re prone to motion sickness. If you’re scared of riding this ride and having it ruin your day, take a ride on the less intense green side.

As one of the most intense rides at EPCOT, Mission:SPACE simulates a rocket launch and flying through the stars. Real life astronauts have even commented on how realistic this feels.

With extreme G-forces, this space-themed simulator is truly intense, and can cause dizziness and motion sickness. There are even barf bags included on the ride vehicles.

I personally love this ride, but not everyone does. It tends to have pretty short wait times unless the park is super crowded.

3. Test Track

Though currently in the process of being rethemed and refurbished at the time of this post, Test Track for many years was EPCOT’s lone thrill attraction. That’s changed, but the thrills are still here.

It’s currently the fastest ride at Walt Disney World, with speeds up to 65 mph. With high-speed banked turns and acceleration, it may not be the a roller coaster, but it’s still thrilling.

This ride tends to get very long lines and break down pretty frequently, so I highly recommend using Lightning Lane for this if you purchase it.

Less Intense (But Still Exciting) Rides at EPCOT

Soarin’

I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who didn’t love Soarin’. It’s a peaceful simulator ride that’s exciting and very family-friendly without being too thrilling. See different sites around the globe with an immersive screen right in front of you. And be sure to enjoy the scents the pump out for each area as well!

Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure

One of the newer rides at EPCOT, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is a trackless dark ride that’s good for all ages. Most of the movement is pretty mild, but the screens help bump up the immersion factor. It’s a family-friendly dark ride that’s remains immersive. Check out some fresh bread in the France pavilion once you ride!

If you’re looking to have the best Walt Disney World vacation, work with me as a travel advisor and Authorized Disney Vacation Planner! With the help of my host agency, Wishdrawals Travel, I can help make it one to remember. Whether you’re a family with kids, a solo traveler, or a member of the LGBTQ+ community, you’ll have an stress-free, safe Disney trip!

Frozen Ever After

Frozen Ever After is a mild boat ride with a small backward drop and some beautiful scenes. Kids and anyone who loves Frozen will enjoy seeing Ana, Elsa, Olaf, and friends throughout this family-friendly dark ride. It gets long lines though, so be prepared to wait if you don’t have a Lightning Lane!

Expert Tips to Maximize Thrills & Avoid Long Lines

EPCOT has some intense rides, but not a ton, and because of this, the ones they do have tend to get pretty long lines. Luckily, I have some tips that can help you minimize wait times and spend more time riding rides and eating around the world!

• Lightning Lane isn’t absolutely necessary for this park, but if you absolutely must do all the rides on this list, I recommend getting at least a Lightning Lane Single Pass for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
• Test Track has a single rider line that I’ve personally used before and waited less than 20 minutes when the regular line was much longer. Try this if you don’t mind being split up from your party and not being able to choose which seat you sit in.
• If you rope drop EPCOT, there’s two options you have. You can either head towards Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and hit up Test Track right after, or head to Frozen Ever After in the World Showcase followed by Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. It just depends on which rides you want to knock out first.
• Mission: SPACE doesn’t tend to get a long wait times, so you don’t normally need to spend too much time factoring that into your plans.
• Soarin’ can get long waits from time-to-time, but they tend to fluctuate. Check the MyDisney Experience app to see the trends for when lines are shorter on the day of your visit.
• I personally don’t think you need to rope drop EPCOT. If you have a Park Hopper ticket, you can spend your day at Animal Kingdom and then pop over to EPCOT for the evening. The rides at the front of the park will tend to have shorter lines since most people tend to gravitate towards the World Showcase in the back of the park as the day goes on.
• If you’ve done all the rides you want at EPCOT and want to maximize your ride time at other parks, Magic Kingdom will be the easiest park to get to with the monorail connecting both parks. Plus, Magic Kingdom is usually open later than other Disney World theme parks, so you can get there in the middle of the afternoon and still have lots of time for rides and entertainment.

Let Me Help You Ride The Most Intense Rides at EPCOT!

The most intense rides at EPCOT are definitely thrilling, but getting to do them all take some planning. As an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, I specialize in making sure that your Disney World vacation is perfect for you, whether you’re a solo traveler, traveling with a large family, or an LGBTQ+ group looking for somewhere to have fun without worrying about feeling excluded.

I’ve been to Disney World numerous times and can help you plan the perfect trip, even if you don’t want to do intense rides! I’ll help you come up with your must-do activities on your vacation, and guide you on how to do them in ways that are stress-free and fun.

Reach out to start planning your next Disney World vacation with me – together we can make sure you experience all that EPCOT has to offer that’s perfect for you!

EPCOT Intense Rides FAQ — You Asked, I’ve Ridden

What’s the most intense ride at EPCOT?

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is the most intense ride at EPCOT, but Mission:SPACE tends to make the most people sick.

What EPCOT ride has the longest wait?

This is going to depend on the day, but it’s usually either Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Test Track, or Frozen Ever After.

Is Test Track the fastest ride at Disney World?

Yes, and it reaches speeds up to 65 mph!

Should I skip Mission: SPACE if I get motion sickness?

If you’re unsure, it’s better safe than sorry, as the orange side even has barf bags to help people who fall ill during the ride. You can still ride, though – just ride the green side that doesn’t have all the G-forces and thrill level to make you sick!