Who's ready for 2025? As we look forward to the start of the new year, let's wrap our "all aboard the hype train" previews by returning to Universal Epic Universe.
Located in the park's central Celestial Park land, Stardust Racers reimagines a classic wooden boardwalk racing coaster for the 21st century. This steel Mack Rides coaster will feature two tracks running 5,000 feet, where cars will reach a top speed of 62 mph. Each track will offer one inversion and two LSM launches and top out at 133 feet.
This one looks smooth, swift and stuffed with fun elements, including an Easter egg reference to "Back to the Future" with OUTATIME license plates on each coaster train. That makes it one of the five new coasters we are most looking forward to experiencing in 2025.
Universal Epic Universe opens May 22, 2025 on the new south campus of the Universal Orlando Resort, just north of the Orange County Convention Center. For Epic Universe tickets, please visit our ticket partner's Universal Orlando tickets page.
For assistance in planning a complete Universal Orlando vacation, including discounts on bundled Epic Universe tickets and on-site hotel stays, please contact our partner for a free, no-obligation vacation quote.
Previously on "All aboard the hype train":
To keep up to date with theme parks in the new year, please sign up for Theme Park Insider's weekly newsletter.
If you're going to make a coaster the centrepiece of a land then I think this is how you do it. When I first saw the track going up I thought it looked horrible and unappealing to ride but the more I see it testing and the more I watch simulations the more I think this is going to be a fun, exhilarating coaster that will thrill and delight in equal measure. And the decision not to light the track at night is a) going to make night rides very exciting and b) looks amazing with the 'comet' trains streaking around the park in the darkness.
Out of all of the coasters hyped up this one perhaps deserves the hype the most.
Smooth. That’s the first word I thought of when I saw videos of this coaster being tested. It looks to be an equal match of elegance and thrills. I kind of feel like with all of the surrounding IP-based Portals that this coaster keeps getting lost in the sauce, but it’s one of my most anticipated rides at Epic Universe, as is the whole of the Celestial Gardens.
Of all the ride at Epic Universe, this one intrigues me the most in how it's going to come off and looking forward to it.
This looks really good, and though I don't think it's going to beat out VelociCoaster or Iron Gwazi in Florida's coaster hierarchy, it's almost certainly going to be a very strong ride. The racing aspect really helps set apart this ride, and it looks absolutely fantastic at night. Plus, with the presumed high capacity (I'm guessing ~2,500 riders per hour), this should be one that's easy to ride several times in a day at Epic Universe.
Yeah, but where's the new E-Ticket rides at Universal / IOA? Thought I'd ask before the Pixie Duster does.
You must be registered and logged in to submit a comment.
Now this coaster truly has me intrigued. I really hadn't ridden a lot of Mack coasters until this summer where Helix and Voltron were 2 of the biggest surprises of our European trip with smooth, dynamic, and unique rides. The recent off-ride videos of the coaster testing at night make this look like a showstopper after the sun goes down, and the promise of a thrilling on-ride soundtrack and numerous near-miss/dueling elements that should make this far more exciting than the statistics would suggest.
While I'm probably more interested in Monsters Unchained and Ministry of Magic at Epic Universe, this probably slots in at #3 attraction I'm most looking forward to at Epic.