‘Help! Help!’ Cause of death revealed for guest who rode Stardust Racers at Epic Universe - Universals Epic Universe Scores First Kill

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Apparently Universals new Epic Universe Park just suffered an on ride death on their hottest ride. The Dueling Coaster "Stardust Racers". A 32 year old man was found seated and restrained in the ride, unresponsive, . The initial Medical Examiners Report says he died of multiple blunt force injuries.

There looks to be a bit of a mystery with this one. Sadly no footage of the event as all guest phones need to be secured in free ride lockers before getting in line.

BREAKING NEWS
‘Tragic event:’ Guest dies after riding Stardust Racers at Universal Epic Universe in Orlando

‘Help! Help!’ Cause of death revealed for guest who rode Stardust Racers at Epic Universe​

Witness recounted incident to News 6​

Anthony Talcott, Digital Journalist

Daniel Dahm, Digital Content Manager

Mike Valente, Reporter
Published: September 18, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Tags: Theme Parks, Orange County, Orlando, Universal Orlando, Death Investigation, Epic Universe, Universal Epic Universe, Stardust Racers

ORLANDO, Fla. – In the wake of a guest dying after riding an Epic Universe roller coaster on Wednesday, the Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner has released the cause of death.

The guest — identified as 32-year-old Kevin Rodriguez Zavala — was found unresponsive after riding the coaster, prompting first responders to take him to the hospital, Orange County deputies announced.

Zavala was ultimately pronounced dead at the hospital. However, Orange County fire officials said that he hadn’t fallen from the roller coaster.

Instead, Orange-Osceola Chief Medical Examiner Joshua Stephany told News 6 that Thursday’s autopsy revealed the cause of death as “multiple blunt impact injuries.”

“The manner of death is accident,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, a Universal spokesperson provided News 6 with the following statement on Thursday evening:

“We are devastated by this tragic event and extend our sincerest sympathies to the guest’s loved ones. We are fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation. The attraction remains closed.”

Fellow guest Maria Fernandez, who said she was one of the dueling racers at the same time as Zavala, recounted what happened to News 6.

“When I was on the ride, the travel finishes, and one girl starts to say, ‘Help! Help! Help!’” she explained. “...The girl was screaming, and we didn’t understand what happened.”

When the ride came to a stop, security began to usher riders off the roller coaster, Fernandez added.

She said that Zavala appeared to be slumped over, bleeding, with his leg seemingly broken.

“I don’t know if he was dead in that moment, but I think yes,” she continued.

Stardust Racers has been one of the most popular attractions at Epic Universe since it opened in May.

The ride is a dual-launch racing coaster that reaches speeds up to 62 mph and reaches a height of 133 feet. It’s described as Universal’s most thrilling coaster experience with unique maneuvers along 5,000 feet of track.

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Universal Studios' Ride Guys give a sneak peek of Stardust Racers at Epic Universe. (Universal Orlando Resort)
The Universal App shows the ride is closed on Thursday.

Universal Orlando Resorts opened Epic Universe in May. The park has five themed sections and a 500-room hotel.

It’s the first major, traditional theme park to open in Florida since 1999, when Universal Islands of Adventure debuted, though Universal opened a themed Orlando water park, Volcano Bay, in 2017.

The addition of Epic Universe brought the total number of parks at the Florida resort to four, including Universal Studios.

Florida’s largest theme parks are exempt from state safety inspections, unlike smaller venues and fairs. Instead, the largest theme parks like Walt Disney World and Universal conduct their own inspections and have their own protocols, but they must report to the state any injury or death.

Records by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services show that a 32-year-old man experienced notable chest pain while riding Hiccup’s Wing Gliders back in May.

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Hiccup's Wing Gliders (Universal Orlando)
In June, those same records state that two other guests suffered conditions while riding on Stardust Racers: a 63-year-old man who experienced dizziness, and a 47-year-old woman who had a “visual disturbance. Both of those guests rode the roller coaster on separate days and had pre-existing conditions.

The agency released this statement to News 6 regarding the incident:

“The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is aware of the incident and currently has an investigator on scene. Universal has been extremely cooperative and has complied with all required notifications. This is an ongoing investigation, and more information will be released as it is available.”

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Edit; Formating fixed​

Heres a full ride POV from the Yellow Side

Some coverage

Here's a better look at the ride vehicles and restraints
 
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RodgerDodger said:
I'm trying to wrap my head around how the ME is labeling it an "Accidental Death" with only a few hours investigation. "Malicious Murder Machine Functioning as Advertised! Nothing to See Here!"
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Because the only other options an ME has on the form are "homicide" , "suicide" or "natural causes"

It's not a release of liability for the park, it's just a declaration that in the ME's opinion? The wounds were not self-inflicted (so no suicide) , and not inflicted by another (so not homicide) , and the trauma is obviously the cause of death (it wasn't a health condition that broke his bones) , "accident" it is by process of elimination.
 
looking at that video of the coasters going *by* each other like that i'm wondering... could people have tossed rocks or something at him? some bad apples i knew would take change on the coasters and empty their pockets when they were over people on the ground. extremely dickish. could a group have like gathered up some rocks?
 
I went to a kid's birthday party in a mall where one of the stores had carnival rides in what could have been an FYE! or whatever, and one of the rides was a rollercoaster meant for the under 10 crowd but adults could ride. I had to duck to not have my head collide with a rafter beam. That place no longer exists(malls borderline don't exist) but it was both shocking and I didn't complain to any management or staff. Thrilling.
 
R00T said:
looking at that video of the coasters going *by* each other like that i'm wondering... could people have tossed rocks or something at him? some bad apples i knew would take change on the coasters and empty their pockets when they were over people on the ground. extremely dickish. could a group have like gathered up some rocks?
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Yeah with open footwells... I would not want to take a steel toed boot to the head at 62 124 mph.

She said that Zavala appeared to be slumped over, bleeding, with his leg seemingly broken.
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I think the leg broken part is a probably not significant and a misunderstanding of what she was witnessing given that photo. I'm going to guess the bleeding wasn't from the leg.
 
R00T said:
looking at that video of the coasters going *by* each other like that i'm wondering... could people have tossed rocks or something at him? some bad apples i knew would take change on the coasters and empty their pockets when they were over people on the ground. extremely dickish. could a group have like gathered up some rocks?
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Probably not. They had an incident with one of their prior coasters at Islands of Adventure. Dueling Dragons. They used to actually duel, until a phone dropped from one train clipped someone in the head on the other. After that they were never allowed to duel them again, and mostly just ran 1 track. Stardust Racers was supposedly designed to not have that risk. Plus they make you empty everything out of your pockets and such and lock it up before going on the ride.
 
Chub Rub said:
Photo of him from the GoFundMe, a wheelchair user with fat upper body and spindly little legs.
View attachment 7936430
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George Lucas said:
Roller coasters aren’t designed for deformed people.
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They really aren't and a lot of roller coaster fatalities are due to this specific body-type. Because it prevents the restraints from working properly.

Ride operators are SUPPOSED to refuse to seat them, but due to a lot of factors (Including bribes, threats of discrimination complaints, or just sympathy), they get on the coaster and it seldom ends well.
 
Blindeye said:
Weird, fucked up center of mass and an inability to control his extremities to offset it, it was stupid for him to go on rides like this and stupid for him to be allowed to
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But that's the insane thing. Unlike with every other death of a mobility limited carbohydrate endowed individual on a rollercoaster, with him the restraints appear to have worked. he stayed firmly locked in the restraint diaper until the ride vehicle returned to the station. Usually the restraint mechanism fails to hold their odly shaped body. And the fly out and ricochet off the track structure. Enen if he passed out, there's not a lot that he can reach to slam against?
 
bird strike?
Or just ragged around helplessly and shaken to death?
 
RodgerDodger said:
But that's the insane thing. Unlike with every other death of a mobility limited carbohydrate endowed individual on a rollercoaster, with him the restraints appear to have worked. he stayed firmly locked in the restraint diaper until the ride vehicle returned to the station. Usually the restraint mechanism fails to hold their odly shaped body. And the fly out and ricochet off the track structure. Enen if he passed out, there's not a lot that he can reach to slam against?
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Yes, looking at the YT videos of the ride linked in OP it's really puzzling. The ride also doesn't really have sharp turns to the sides, no massive drops and no loopings, so if he had passed out, would he really have flailed so hard against the seat, and multiple times, that it killed him? I suppose it's possible since he was in poor health, maybe his bones were very weak. But I'd really like to find out where exactly the blunt trauma injuries are located.
 
Rename the ride to Stardust Crusaders because my boy just got ORA ORA ORA'd to death.
 
I'm betting the restraints weren't designed property for a wheelchair, and while the restraints held, the wheelchair was free to move and bludgeouned its master to death
 
Chub Rub said:
Photo of him from the GoFundMe, a wheelchair user with fat upper body and spindly little legs.
View attachment 7936430
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Explains the broken leg comments, just blunt force trauma though? I think they just labeled it that for the sake of it. I could see that if he died because roller coasters aren't meant for the wheelchair bound then the parks would get less business thus some strange false conclusions.
 
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