Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind normally features a 6-song playlist with songs synced to the roller coaster at random, but there’s one day in September featuring an all-day marathon of the same track on repeat. This shares the date & details about when you can hear the best track on the ride, setlist rankings, and strategy for enjoying the September celebration!
We’ve done Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind dozens of times since it debuted a few years ago, hearing every single song on the playlist several times, including the dreaded holiday version and “Conga.” Although the roller coaster track stays the same with each ride, the motion just feels different thanks to the song selections.
Suffice to say, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is an absolute blast. It’s like the ride dances to the music, for lack of a better explanation. It’s difficult to put into words, but once you ride, you’ll get it. An “Awesome Mix Tape” plus the humor of these Marvel misfits and a great queue and pre-shows plus thrills is a recipe for success. Cosmic Rewind is the most fun ride in EPCOT and, frankly, there should be more rides following this formula.
Do you remember…The 21st night of September?
Good news–those famous lyrics by Earth, Wind & Fire will play on repeat later this month at EPCOT! That’s right, on Sunday, September 21, 2025, guests riding Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind will get “September” as their onboard song. This was revealed on social media by the Disney Parks and Walt Disney World accounts.
Here’s the video announcement:
Do you remember…what’s special about September 21st? 🚀🎶
📍#EPCOT pic.twitter.com/w0JdNxytjW
— Walt Disney World (@WaltDisneyWorld) September 9, 2025
This special one-day-only offering was also offered last year, so it’s safe to assume it’s an annual tradition. If you’re planning ahead for 2026 or even 2027, mark your calendars for the 21st night (or day) of September.
This “September” celebration is an awesome one, like the Twilight Zone marathon but if they only played the best episodes. (Choosing a #1 episode of that series is much more difficult than ranking Cosmic Rewind songs. You’ve got the obvious classics like “To Serve Man,” “Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” “Time Enough At Last,” “Eye of the Beholder,” etc. But also sleepers like “He’s Alive,” “People Are Alike All Over” and “Howling Man.” Maybe Walt Disney World needs to do a day like this over at Tower of Terror! But I digress.)
Back on topic, we highly recommend making your way over to EPCOT if you’re at Walt Disney World. The ride has an even better energy than normal, as locals and tourists alike are aware of the ‘event’ and enthusiastic to be there. We’ve done this in the past and had a blast.
Part of the reason Walt Disney World can justify swapping out the setlist for a single song is because everyone with good musical taste agrees that “September” is far and away the best of the 6 tracks in the “Awesome Mix Tape” for Cosmic Rewind. I’m an expert on a lot of things. You know that. I know that. But uh, not a lot of things. A few things. Music is definitely not one of them, but I still maintain “September” reigns supreme.
Expect demand for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind to be slightly elevated on September 21, 2025. The date falling on a weekend means locals will have an easier time heading to EPCOT for the offering–not to mention that Food & Wine Festival is currently underway, so it’s already a popular time of year at the park. There are also a couple of “use it or lose it” ticket deals that expire towards the end of September, so that’ll spike crowds at the tail end of the month.
On the other hand, we’re in the midst of the true off-season at Walt Disney World. Cosmic Rewind’s celebration causing slightly elevated crowds on September 21st is as compared to the lower baseline, and September is the slowest month of the entire year. Not only that, but it’s not as if a ton of tourists will read this and suddenly plan trips to Walt Disney World as a result, for a single song on less than two weeks’ notice. There will probably be zero people who do that.
It’s basically just the tourists who are already planning Walt Disney World trips who might shift their schedules around, plus locals. To be sure, many from both groups will seek out Cosmic Rewind to be part of the fun when they otherwise wouldn’t have. But it’s not as if September 21st is suddenly going to see 10/10 crowd levels for the entirety of EPCOT thanks to this announcement. Nothing like that will happen. It’s all localized demand for just Cosmic Rewind.
With that in mind, we’d recommend strategizing if you want to successfully hear “September” a time or two on the 21st night (or day) of the month on Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. This will be the first year the ride isn’t using a virtual queue during this single-day celebration, so we’re not 100% sure of what to expect.
Since it reopened earlier this summer, Test Track 3.0 has been the #1 highest wait time at EPCOT. It’s also been the top Early Entry and regular rope drop priority. We’d expect that to change on September 21st, with Cosmic Rewind retaking its rightful thone on that day. As such, prioritizing the ride during Early Entry is a good idea, if you’re eligible. Otherwise, see our list of the Best & Worst Times to Ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind for comprehensive advice.
The easier alternative if you don’t mind splurging (and are staying on-site, as you’ll probably need the pre-booking advantage) is buying line-skipping access via the Lightning Lane Single Pass. As of Fall 2025, that costs between $16 and $18 per person most days, depending upon demand and crowd levels. Those posts explain each option, their pros & cons, and everything else you need to know.
For those who are unfamiliar with the attraction, here’s the full “Awesome Mix” playlist for Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind:
- “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire
- “Disco Inferno” by The Trammps
- “Conga” by Gloria Estefan
- “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears
- “I Ran” by A Flock of Seagulls
- “One Way or Another” by Blondie
On days other than September 21st, you won’t know which track you’ll hear each time you ride until you actually blast off with the Guardians on an intergalactic chase through time and space.
In addition to these 6 songs that did make the cut for the roller coaster portion of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, many more “Awesome Mix” tracks are played in the post-show and corridor upon exiting the ride. These also are cycled through at random, the full loop is like an hour long, and you’re only in this area for ~60 seconds, so it’ll take a while to hear them all!
As noted above, “September” is viewed by big-time music experts (or experts-ish) as the best Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind song. Here are my full power rankings for the playlist:
- “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire (Sarah’s #2)
- “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears (Sarah’s #1)
- “I Ran” by A Flock of Seagulls
- “Disco Inferno” by The Trammps
- “One Way or Another” by Blondie
- …Nothing At All…
- “Conga” by Gloria Estefan
My pro tip bringing AirPods so you can listen to something else if you get stuck with “Conga.” I know they wouldn’t be logical fits for the attraction, but I wish Cosmic Rewind could’ve gotten “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” or “Lake Shore Drive” instead. But you don’t have to worry about that on September 21st, which is a celebration of the Earth, Wind & Fire classic–but doubles as an Anti-“Conga” Day for us haters!
Finally, the above announcement contains a little joke about playing the “Flute Ambiance” from Living with the Land. Wait a minute…I love that idea!
There are so many iconic EPCOT Center attraction songs, some of which still exist and others of which are defunct. Can you imagine a special event aimed at hardcore fans–perhaps DVC’s Moonlight Magic or a special EPCOT Center hard ticket event–that offered a rotating selection of songs like “Feel the Flow,” “It’s Fun to Be Free,” “Tomorrow’s Child,” “Celebrate the Future,” “One Little Spark,” “Energy (You Make the World Go Round),” etc?
Not only that, but they could easily switch back to the original background music loops, have rare character meet & greets, run IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth, and offer so many other tributes to the original EPCOT Center. A lot could happen without any structural changes to the park, and fans like me would absolutely eat up an event like this!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Happy to see the “September” celebration return to Cosmic Rewind? What are you thoughts on the “Awesome Mix Tape” for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind? Think these tracks are good choices for a roller coaster through space and time? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? 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!