TVA Time Racer

Upon entering and exploring Marvel’s streets of San Francisco, observant guests will begin to notice various posters that seem a bit out of place. They are all somewhat cryptic and on the surface don’t seem all that connected to the rest of the land.

Guests will also most certainly notice the numerous tubular ride tracks suspended overhead throughout the land. These pieces of track somewhat resemble the launch track from Space Mountain in Paris, only more industrial with less whimsy.

As it so happens, these elements are in fact related.

The tracks belong to TVA TimeRacers; the land’s roller coaster, and an attraction that figuratively and literally connects the entire Marvel landscape. The name is of course taken from an unused portion of the Project Gemini concept for Epcot.

Meandering toward the back of the land from San Francisco, guests will happen across an industrial alien landscape with a large, rigid structure in its center. Pillars reach toward the sky and through the use of forced perspective seem to go on endlessly.

Guests enter the main building and will find themselves inside the Time Variance Authority headquarters. Monitors overhead play video loops staring Miss Minutes (an AI who takes the form of an animated clock with a charming southern belle accent). The videos also feature other various voice overs from unseen characters. These videos serve to highlight the TVA backstory.

In a nutshell, the Time Variance Authority, physically and as an organization, exists outside of space and time. Their purpose is to protect the “sacred timeline” - which is equivocal to the “main” timeline of the Marvel universe. Other branch timelines exist within the greater Marvel universe, and from time to time the TVA have to prune these branch universes. This is accomplished by traveling to the point of a so called Nexus event, where the branch in time stems from, and essentially changing events to cause that event to never occur. This is all done to prevent too many branches of time from coming into existence and leading to multiversal war.

The TVA headquarters is very mid-century-modernistic in feel, blending the aesthetics and technology of many elements of various time periods.

For fans of the Loki tv series, this will be an opportunity to literally wander though the TVA headquarters recreated from the show.

Finally reaching the central room of the TVA, guests are sorted into numerous pre show rooms with transparent ceilings, allowing them to look up and out at the massive atrium of the main boarding room.

Miss Minutes will once again star in a preshow film that sets up the story of the ride and also serves as the safety spiel.

Guests (“recruits” - implying guests are all actually variants) are told they will be traveling across multiple branched timelines in search of a single variant who is seemingly causing chaos for the timeline just for the fun of it.

Though not actually named in the pre-show, his photo is shown and most guests should immediately recognize that it’s Deadpool.

Guests are then lead into the atrium, which while large is made to seem impossibly tall thanks to clever use of mirrors. It is here that guests will board their coaster vehicles for their wild journey throughout the timeline.

The ride, built by longtime Disney collaborators Vekoma, is a story driven launch coaster similar to Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind at Epcot. While the track does not feature any inversions, it does have a vertical launch, a first for a Disney ride. As a result the coaster does have a 42” height requirement.

Once boarded, the trains are propelled into a narrow room facing a screen where other TVA agents are shown setting a “charge” that will open a time door for riders to pass through. As the trains enter the doorway, they immediately enter the vertical track section and are launched upward at 59mph while surrounded by fog and electrical effects. The trains crest the 102’ vertical track and are slowed down to a more moderate 18mph as they head toward what is geographically the Wakanda section of the land.

Each area of the land features a small show building used for the TVA coaster story sections, which are presented via screens. Guests will visit alternative versions of New York in 2099, ancient Asgard, the Charles Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters from the X-Men ‘97 universe, and finally San Francisco during “the blip.”

In each scene, Deadpool/Wade Wilson, voiced of course by Ryan Reynolds, is seen and heard causing relatively lighthearted pandemonium and mischief. Just because he can. (Thanks to the time sliding devise he gained control of at the end of Deadpool 2). Guests enter and exit each show scene through the inclosed tubes connecting each locale. A “charge” is set between each scene and the trains are accelerated via linear induction.

During the New York segment, Wade can be seen on a rooftop having a light saber battle with Miles Morales. It is unknown where he obtained the light sabers.

Then in ancient Asgard, Wade is seen being fed grapes while watching theater alongside Odin and a young Thor and Loki while women feed him grapes. This is a reference to Thor Ragnarok, essentially making this scene a parody of a parody.

Next is X-Men ‘97, which is an animated universe. This scene features the main cast of X-Men ‘97, along with Wade, having an all out battle royal in the Danger Room.

Finally, guests reach San Francisco during “the blip” (the five year period of time following the Battle of Wakanda, where Thanos used the Infinity Gauntlet to “snap” away half of all life across the universe). Here, Wade, Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Yukio, and Wolverine (portrayed by Hugh Jackman) are seen doing battle with Mister Sinister and an army of Celestials.

Wade will of course offer a plethora of quips throughout the ride. These are randomized from a vast library of sound bites, many of which are fourth wall breaking. Wade will reference Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure, events (or lack thereof) in the MCU, and events from the Deadpool films.

The three and a half minute ride concludes as riders finally end up back at the TVA building, descending via a massive helix that serves as the coaster finale.

Naturally there is a Marvel gift shop at the end of the ride featuring every type of merchandise imaginable.

Next: Wakanda