A Tragic Day at Epic Universe and Why It Matters

The news coming out of Epic Universe lately has been really heavy, and honestly, it’s been hard to read about. Back in September, a 32-year-old guest, Kevin Rodriguez Zavala, rode Stardust Racers — one of the park’s flagship coasters — and was later found unresponsive. The medical examiner ruled his passing an accident caused by multiple blunt-force injuries, which is heartbreaking on every level.

For a while, both Universal and Mack Rides (the company that built the coaster) stayed pretty quiet publicly. But recently, Mack’s CEO, Christian von Elverfeldt, finally spoke out. He offered condolences to the family and said something that stuck with me: they still don’t know exactly what went wrong. All of the technical checks they’ve done show the coaster was operating the way it was supposed to. He repeated over and over that safety is their number one priority — and as someone who spends a lot of time in theme parks, that’s something I never take for granted.

If you haven’t seen Stardust Racers yet, it’s not exactly a “warm-up” ride. It launches up to 62 mph, hits a height of around 133 feet, and is one of Epic Universe’s big shiny headliners. So when something tragic happens on a ride like that, it hits differently.

After the incident, Universal shut the coaster down for a full review. It reopened on October 4 after the park, the manufacturer, and outside experts all confirmed it was operating properly. But the situation is still complicated. The family has said they feel the reopening happened too quickly, especially while the investigation they requested was still ongoing.

It’s also important to say this clearly: there are a lot of unknown factors in this case. We don’t know the full extent of this guest’s disabilities, what actually happened on the ride in the moment, or the exact sequence of events that led to the incident. Without those answers, it’s impossible — and honestly unfair — to speculate.

For what it’s worth, I’ve personally ridden Stardust Racers, and it’s an incredible coaster. Out of all the new attractions, it actually felt like one of the “less violent” ones. Don’t get me wrong — it’s fast and has plenty of drops — but it doesn’t have any inversions or the intensity you get on something like VelociCoaster. It’s thrilling, but not in a way that tries to throw your body around.

Theme parks are my happy place — always have been — but moments like this remind me how much work goes on behind the scenes to keep guests safe. And how important transparency is when something this serious happens. No ride, no matter how thrilling, is ever worth overlooking the people involved.

I’ll keep following this story as more comes out, but my heart goes out to the family, the staff, and everyone affected by this. If you’ve had thoughts or feelings about this situation, feel free to share — these kinds of conversations are important in the theme park community.

Geena