Stardust Racers
If you're a roller coaster fan, you'll already have heard about Stardust Racers, which has speeds of 62 mph and climbs up to 133 feet. Instantly upon their 2025 debut with the park, they were ranked among the best coasters in the United States, if not the world. Adding in Islands of Adventure's Jurassic World VelociCoaster, which opened in 2021, within the space of 4 years, Universal remade Orlando, once the domain of mild rides for the whole family, into a competitive roller coaster destination. (Mako, at SeaWorld, remains Orlando's tallest and fastest, but not by much.)
Stardust Racers is actually two coasters with intertwined tracks, and they're usually dispatched together so they can dance on the rails together to their on-board musical soundtracks. Roller coaster nuts can't seem to agree which side is better, Green ("Pulsar," on the right as you board) or Yellow ("Photon"), which is a sure sign that they're both great—packed with airtime (the feeling of weightlessness), novel twisting dives, sudden accelerations, and powerful pops over sharp hills. There's not much letup on these coasters, which both rate a 9 or 10 for intensity.
There's also a fictional narrative to go along with them: The people of Celestial Park have figured out how to harness comets and travel around the heavens, which explains why the vehicles, and not the tracks, are illuminated at night. That lighting decision makes this double coaster doubly fun to ride after dark.
For the safety of the other people riding, you must store all loose items into a free double-sided locker, and that's no joke: There are even metal detectors to check you. Choose the locker banks numbered 7–9; they're more likely to be less busy, which will speed you on the way out again when you pick your stuff up from the other side.
If you ride in the front, where the wait is usually longer, you get the strongest sense of soaring over those hairpin hills, but in the back, you feel the most intensity of being pulled into every maneuver. But some of the ride crew swears that it's row 9 where thrill-seekers get most balanced experience. You'll just have to ride and re-ride to determine your own ideal spot.
You must be at least 48 inches (123 cm) tall to ride, there's a Child Swap area so adults with kids can switch off their supervision duties to ride. As with all Epic Universe rides with stairs, the staff will show you the elevator if you need it. Ride duration: About 1:30.
If you're a roller coaster fan, you'll already have heard about Stardust Racers, which has speeds of 62 mph and climbs up to 133 feet. Instantly upon their 2025 debut with the park, they were ranked among the best coasters in the United States, if not the world. Adding in Islands of Adventure's Jurassic World VelociCoaster, which opened in 2021, within the space of 4 years, Universal remade Orlando, once the domain of mild rides for the whole family, into a competitive roller coaster destination. (Mako, at SeaWorld, remains Orlando's tallest and fastest, but not by much.)
Stardust Racers is actually two coasters with intertwined tracks, and they're usually dispatched together so they can dance on the rails together to their on-board musical soundtracks. Roller coaster nuts can't seem to agree which side is better, Green ("Pulsar," on the right as you board) or Yellow ("Photon"), which is a sure sign that they're both great—packed with airtime (the feeling of weightlessness), novel twisting dives, sudden accelerations, and powerful pops over sharp hills. There's not much letup on these coasters, which both rate a 9 or 10 for intensity.
There's also a fictional narrative to go along with them: The people of Celestial Park have figured out how to harness comets and travel around the heavens, which explains why the vehicles, and not the tracks, are illuminated at night. That lighting decision makes this double coaster doubly fun to ride after dark.
For the safety of the other people riding, you must store all loose items into a free double-sided locker, and that's no joke: There are even metal detectors to check you. Choose the locker banks numbered 7–9; they're more likely to be less busy, which will speed you on the way out again when you pick your stuff up from the other side.
If you ride in the front, where the wait is usually longer, you get the strongest sense of soaring over those hairpin hills, but in the back, you feel the most intensity of being pulled into every maneuver. But some of the ride crew swears that it's row 9 where thrill-seekers get most balanced experience. You'll just have to ride and re-ride to determine your own ideal spot.
You must be at least 48 inches (123 cm) tall to ride, there's a Child Swap area so adults with kids can switch off their supervision duties to ride. As with all Epic Universe rides with stairs, the staff will show you the elevator if you need it. Ride duration: About 1:30.
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