‘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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TowinKarz said:
Possibly, they realized they were gonna get sued either way.... let him on and he dies because he was in no shape to ride? Lawsuit. Deny him? ADA/discrimination against a poor helpless handicapped person who just wanted to ride like everyone else! Lawsuit. And decided to take the Ivan Drago solution.

If he dies? He dies.
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Some minimum wage monkey didn't decide this, they just let him on and let some retard lug him onto the ride off whatever mobility device he was on. There was no contemplation of liability here. Just a monkey amusement park worker doing all he knew to do.
 
TowinKarz said:
Possibly, they realized they were gonna get sued either way.... let him on and he dies because he was in no shape to ride? Lawsuit. Deny him? ADA/discrimination against a poor helpless handicapped person who just wanted to ride like everyone else! Lawsuit. And decided to take the Ivan Drago solution.

If he dies? He dies.
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Generally workers aren't allowed to disallow someone to ride unless they physically have something about them that creates a safety hazard.

The most obvious and common hazard is someone being too short, second is someone being too fat to secure the restraints. Others that depend on the ride is amputees. They have to take off their prosthetic leg for certain rides, and if it was amputated above the knee, they aren't allowed to ride.

Otherwise, someone can come up to an employee and say "Hello I am a 75 IQ pregnant epileptic with a spine made of dry spaghetti, is it safe for me to ride this?" You can only tell them what basically what is on the sign. That it is not recommended for them to ride. It has to be left up to the rider, because if you tell someone they can't ride, that could be a discrimination lawsuit.
 
RodgerDodger said:
The question is assuming he passed out, either from medical issue or from the g forces of the coaster, how and what was he able to repeatedly come in contact with?

There are more rumors today that some metal piece of one of the seats was broken and dangling. I'm assuming some piece of the seat ahead of him that broke from the repeated impacts with his head and face?
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Blunt force doesn't have to mean something hit him, it could be him ragdolling and hitting the back and sides of his own seat repeatedly.
 
TowinKarz said:
Possibly, they realized they were gonna get sued either way.... let him on and he dies because he was in no shape to ride? Lawsuit. Deny him? ADA/discrimination against a poor helpless handicapped person who just wanted to ride like everyone else! Lawsuit. And decided to take the Ivan Drago solution.

If he dies? He dies.
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A negligent death lawsuit is much much worse then a my hurt feelings lawsuit.
 
AnOminous said:
Some minimum wage monkey didn't decide this, they just let him on and let some retard lug him onto the ride off whatever mobility device he was on. There was no contemplation of liability here. Just a monkey amusement park worker doing all he knew to do.
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That's how James Hackemer (archive) died falling from a Six Flags coaster in 2011. The first headlines just said "war vet" or "amputee," but he'd also had a severe brain injury and two strokes.

With that in mind, the family quotes in the sensationalist news started to sound like they were humoring a guy with greatly diminished capacity. One of the ride operators tried to talk to him, but only tried as hard as you'd expect from someone working in the service industry dealing with an entitled person plus family.

He had on a seat belt and lap bar, but that's not secure with only half a leg, and then he leaned to catch his hat as it flew off...
 
Aunt Carol said:
That's how James Hackemer (archive) died falling from a Six Flags coaster in 2011. The first headlines just said "war vet" or "amputee," but he'd also had a severe brain injury and two strokes.
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It's also what happened with that "14 year old kid" that turned out to be the fattest niggerspic ever created in hell itself on the "drop the niggerspics and watch them splat" ride.

Since the employee doesn't really have to deal with the lawsuit, it's probably best in general that fucking retards that demand to ride the retard killer 9000 get what they've got coming.
 
reptile baht spaniard rid said:
It's also what happened with that "14 year old kid" that turned out to be the fattest niggerspic ever created in hell itself on the "drop the niggerspics and watch them splat" ride.
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That guy wasn't even able to lock the harness but they ran it anyway. Wasn't that at a traveling show, so even less oversight?
reptile baht spaniard rid said:
Since the employee doesn't really have to deal with the lawsuit, it's probably best in general that fucking retards that demand to ride the retard killer 9000 get what they've got coming.
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They need a waiver to sign, then the ride operator gets to go over the PA system and tell everyone that an Unadvised Rider is boarding: time to either distract your kids or start filming.
 
Aunt Carol said:
That guy wasn't even able to lock the harness but they ran it anyway. Wasn't that at a traveling show, so even less oversight?
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Nah that was actually at “ICON park” literally right next to Epic Universe in Orlando lol. Not really a theme park but connected to a big mall and it had a ferris wheel and whatever. It dropped you 100 feet and would tilt your body forward towards the ground for the fall. Thats a hell tf no for me
 
downloads said:
He was a twitch streamer under the name of Rodzkev, but he doesn't have any saved videos on his channel.
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He's got clips available:
https://www.twitch.tv/rodzkev/videos?filter=clips&range=all (archive.ph)

I know he's chillin and gaming, but he seems pretty slumped down in the seat.

https://www.twitch.tv/rodzkev/clip/PoisedRepleteLionPJSugar (archive.ph)

I'm guessing this is his mom, I really hope she wasn't there with him when it happened.

https://www.twitch.tv/rodzkev/clip/CourteousDirtyHornetCmonBruh (archive.ph)
 
Whatisgoingon said:
I know for a fact nobody actually cares or is checking safety precautions on the giant death machine that is an amusement park ride.
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The last time I went out to ride coasters I rode a new (to me) one, and while I was seated at the station platform waiting for the coaster to depart I was glancing around, looking at the new ride all curious, when I spotted a mechanic doing a regular inspection beneah the platform under the tracks.

I felt positively cozy on that ride after seeing him down there.
 
reptile baht spaniard rid said:
It's also what happened with that "14 year old kid" that turned out to be the fattest niggerspic ever created in hell itself on the "drop the niggerspics and watch them splat" ride.
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While true, it turned out an investigation revealed his seat had been tampered with. Was still a fatty-fat that was over the exceeded weight limit given to begin with, it just turned out he ended up taking the fall (kek) for it when some other poor fat sod could've before him.
 
My speculation is that he had spina bifida, his back broke on the first turn of the rollercoaster, he (hopefully) died quickly and then his body flailed the rest of the ride. Obviously not the smartest thing to do but I can't blame him for seeking some kind of adrenaline rush / trying to live his life. Who knows, maybe it was intentional? It's too bad, he had a lovely smile and seemed like a good person.
 
TowinKarz said:
Possibly, they realized they were gonna get sued either way.... let him on and he dies because he was in no shape to ride? Lawsuit. Deny him? ADA/discrimination against a poor helpless handicapped person who just wanted to ride like everyone else! Lawsuit. And decided to take the Ivan Drago solution.

If he dies? He dies.
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This was apparently his 6th ride on the new coaster. Some say that day, but that can't be right given the New Park Lines. Granted the ride does have a really good throughput as rides go.
Kari Kamiya said:
While true, it turned out an investigation revealed his seat had been tampered with. Was still a fatty-fat that was over the exceeded weight limit given to begin with, it just turned out he ended up taking the fall (kek) for it when some other poor fat sod could've before him.
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The huge kid had been turned away by the drop tower operators twice earlier in the day. They rightfully concluding he was just too big for the restraints. The restraints had to be properly down for the ride to dispatch. But the restraints were pneumatic. Not the old style clicks ratchets. The restraint arm could lock solid in any position.

Normally the safety sensor in the seat would only report good to go if there was 3" or less gap between the shoulder bar and the crotch of the seat.

He came back for one more try just before closing. Whoever was on duty knew that seats #1 and #2 had been "adjusted" to permit the XXXXL guests to ride. Those seat sensors had been moved to report secure at a 7" gap. He was also extremely tall so he was sitting with his pelvis horizontal and half hanging off. That 7" gap left just enough room for his pelvis to slip between the gap as the ride started braking. Catapulting him straight at the ground. (The video is posted here somewhere. I do not recomend. The sound when he hits is nightmare fuel.)
 
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downloads said:
He was a twitch streamer under the name of Rodzkev, but he doesn't have any saved videos on his channel.
I will not shit on the dead guy, but I do not believe it was safe for someone shaped like this to get on that ride.

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Oh no. There was a case like that on New Texas Giant where a paraplegic man died. Rollercoasters are designed and tested thoroughly, but they do so assuming people will be normally shaped. Rip crip, took a big dip.
 
It seems this coaster has the same gimmick dueling dragons had minus the cool dragon and wizard theme. Dueling dragons got cucked and fucked years ago from a similar thing, didn't it? They removed the dual launch mechanism and made it slower, which naturally killed it's popularity till they removed it. I didn't get to see the fucked destruction of it till I found out about it post corona.

Also found out recently six flags blew up kingda ka, not for any actual safety concerns or maintenence issues, but to "make room for future attractions" when it's like one of their most popular rides despite how quick it's over. Gay ass shit man.

whatever I feel like said:
Oh no. There was a case like that on New Texas Giant where a paraplegic man died. Rollercoasters are designed and tested thoroughly, but they do so assuming people will be normally shaped. Rip crip, took a big dip.
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Hey, imagine if this happened on the DK coaster.
i can imagine him fucking ragolling to this music they play in it.

 
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