Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind has a slightly different preshow at EPCOT. A video recorded by @MadisonBolger and posted to X shows Disney has trimmed the opening scene with Terry Crews, so there is no longer a pause after his character asks what the people of EPCOT call themselves. The gap guests used to fill by shouting answers, including the much-debated “Alcoholics,” is gone.
The moment comes in the first preshow room. Crews appears on screen as Centurion Tal Marik of the Nova Corps, a character created for the attraction. He fumbles through a greeting to the “people of Epcot” and asks, “Does anyone know what they call themselves?” before trying out “Epcoters” and “Epcotians.” Since the ride opened in May 2022, the preshow sat on that beat long enough for the room to answer.
That beat is no longer there. In the current version, the picture glitches for a split second and Tal Marik goes right into his next line, where he realizes he is on camera and welcomes the crowd as “Epcot-terrans.” The rest of the scene plays the way it always has, right down to his warning to put phones away before guests step into the chamber. The trim is so small that a first-time rider would never know anything was missing.
Most of the answers over the years were harmless. Guests yelled “humans,” “kids,” or “Disney World fans.” One answer took over. “Alcoholics,” a nod to drinking around World Showcase, became the reply heard in room after room, and fans have argued about it online ever since. Some riders laugh every time. Others have spent years asking people to stop. The question has been put to a lot of rooms, too. Cosmic Rewind dropped its virtual queue for a standby line in February 2025, and it is still one of the busiest rides at EPCOT.
Disney has not announced the change or said why it was made. The video shows the cut lands on the exact spot where the shouting happened.
We get why this happened. The joke wore out a long time ago, and no parent wants to explain it to a six-year-old in line for a family coaster. The cost is that the kids lose their turn too. Some of the best moments in that room came from a small voice yelling something nobody saw coming. A two-second edit solves the problem, and it also closes one of the few spots where a Disney preshow let the crowd talk back.
For your next ride, nothing else is different. The coaster, the song lineup, and the rest of the preshow are the same. If someone in your group tries the line anyway, Tal Marik will be talking right over them. The ride’s friendlier fan tradition is safe as well, with “September” playing all day every September 21.
