ORLANDO, Fla. — Epic Universe visitors loomed at the theme park Saturday afternoon in anticipation of the Stardust Racers roller coaster reopening.
It would be the first day the thrill ride has been available to the public since a man died Sept. 17 after riding it.
Universal Orlando Resort announced the move Friday afternoon, saying it had worked with local and state officials to observe testing of the attraction. The ride system’s manufacturer and a coaster engineering expert did their own examinations that validated Universal’s findings, the company said.
Saturday morning, both sides of the dueling coaster were put through their paces — sometimes empty, sometimes with Universal employees on board. Epic workers told passers-by that it was hoped the ride would be available by late afternoon or early evening.
Guests were finally allowed to line up at 6 p.m., but a fire alarm at the park delayed proceedings again. At 6:45 p.m. the first full trains of the day launched. The park was scheduled to close at 10 p.m.
Jared Ream, a coaster enthusiast with the tattoos to prove it, waited out the coaster on the patio of nearby Meteor Astropub restaurant inside Epic. Ream, who lives in Dayton, Ohio, said Saturday was the last available day of his vacation to try to get aboard it.
“I would say that right now is probably the safest time to ever ride this ride because you’ve got everybody’s eyes and attention on it,” Ream said. “So you got everybody inspecting it, saying it’s fine to open.”
Universal was not allowing people to queue up for the ride Saturday until it sent out a notification via its app. Periodic rainstorms — the kind that halt the ride under normal circumstances — added a question mark to the wait.
Kevin Rodriguez Zavala, 32, died after being found unconscious on Stardust Racers, a thrill ride that moves at 62 mph, goes through multiple launches and includes an inversion. The Orange County medical examiner ruled his death accidental and the result of “multiple blunt impact injuries.”
Attorney Ben Crump, who represents Zavala’s family, said Friday it was too soon to resume operation of the roller coaster.
“Stardust Racers is evidence in an active death investigation,” Crump said in a news release. “Reopening the ride before our experts can examine every component is unadulterated spoliation of evidence, a grave risk to public safety, and puts profit over people’s lives.”
Ream, who said he lost 140 pounds in order to ride the coaster, disagreed.
“I would say the only reason they kept it closed for so long was out of respect for the family and the investigations,” he said. “They could have opened it earlier, but they didn’t.”
The ride debuted May 22 along with Epic Universe, the first theme park to open in Orlando in more than 25 years. Universal officials said detailed information about ridership and safety guidelines is at the front of each attraction, in queues and on its app.
“Safety, as always, is our top priority,” Universal Orlando Resort President Karen Irwin said in a memo to employees.
Lisa Lohmueller, who lives in Pittsburgh and was visiting Epic Universe for the first time with her husband Josh, said she was surprised the ride was reopening.
“That, I’m guessing, is a testament to the amount of information that they have around everything that they’re able to make that call,” she said.
Lohmueller, who said she was heartbroken for the Zavala family, noted the intensity of the ride — and the possibility of a long wait — were more off-putting than safety issues.
“It seems like an awesome-looking ride,” she said. “And honestly, if you’re, like, which one of the rides would be associated with the fatality, I would not have guessed this one.”
