News Guest dies, found unresponsive after riding Stardust Racers

[Comped]

Frankly no one outside the theme park community is talking about this tragic incident.

It's made news not just in the Orlando area, but has been covered across the country, including on all 3 major nightly news broadcasts, and has been mentioned internationally including in Canada (at least according to my relatives) and the UK (I believe by either the BBC or ITV), not so sure about Australia... And if it's making those countries' news, stands the reason others will follow.

 

[mkt]

They absolutely should not permanently close this ride. They also should not settle this case. Bullies like that attorney should not win (ETA: perhaps they should settle if the terms are advantageous but they should at least try to put up a fight). It is very sad and unfortunate that this man died but it is a result of his own negligence. Universal did nothing wrong and the ride worked as intended. That man had no business being on that ride and his girlfriend or whoever was with him and let him ride that is responsible for his death, not Universal. I admit this is a tough stance but it is what is fair to Universal. If it comes out that Universal did something wrong (which I highly doubt), then I will change my mind.

It's weird, but for once I actually agree with you (well, not on everything, but a lot of this). If what Karen Irwin said is accurate, Universal itself didn’t fail mechanically here.

But realistically, once the investigation wraps, demolish + rebuild is probably the fastest way forward. The simple fact is that, because of the headlines, Stardust Racers is already a tarnished brand.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

It's weird, but for once I actually agree with you (well, not on everything, but a lot of this). If what Karen Irwin said is accurate, Universal itself didn’t fail mechanically here.

But realistically, once the investigation wraps, demolish + rebuild is probably the fastest way forward. The simple fact is that, because of the headlines, Stardust Racers is already a tarnished brand.

Yes! For once we agree. I see what you’re saying but tbh a rebuild of any magnitude would cost millions of dollars both in costs of construction and in lost revenue. If anything, they’ll do something superficial and call it a day. I don’t even think they have to do anything. The coasters (technically two) are safe and worked as designed. What happened is tragic in the truest sense of the word because it should not have happened.

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

They absolutely should not permanently close this ride. They also should not settle this case. Bullies like that attorney should not win (ETA: perhaps they should settle if the terms are advantageous but they should at least try to put up a fight). It is very sad and unfortunate that this man died but it is a result of his own negligence. Universal did nothing wrong and the ride worked as intended. That man had no business being on that ride and his girlfriend or whoever was with him and let him ride that is responsible for his death, not Universal. I admit this is a tough stance but it is what is fair to Universal. If it comes out that Universal did something wrong (which I highly doubt), then I will change my mind.

Okay this is just straight ableist as far as I'm aware.

There is nothing to show that this guy was unable to make his own decisions. We are talking about a 30+ year old man who was allowed by Universal on the ride. Do not for 1 second say that it was his neglience when you don't know that. Multiple blunt trauma injuries is not a preexisting medical condition and imo a ride in Florida should go through reasonable measures to keep you safe in the event you pass out which is fairly common in the heat without realizing it.

The way you talk posthumorously with limited knowledge about this man is honestly quite foul. You don't know his situation, you don't know what caused his death, based on what you're saying you have no medical experience whatsoever. And you're worried that what? This poor family is going to "bully" a billion dollar company??? These companies have you right where they want you, arguing semantics and worried about frivolous lawsuits as if its actually a major problem to these companies. Mcdonalds did a great job raking an elderly woman through the mud and now everyone screams "frivolous lawsuit" and "neglience" when they don't have an ounce of legal or medical experience.

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

Yes! For once we agree. I see what you’re saying but tbh a rebuild of any magnitude would cost millions of dollars both in costs of construction and in lost revenue. If anything, they’ll do something superficial and call it a day. I don’t even think they have to do anything. The coasters (technically two) are safe and worked as designed. What happened is tragic in the truest sense of the word because it should not have happened.

You conflate working as designed = safe. Those are not the same statements legally for a very good reason.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

As more time goes on, with no major changes to similar rides, I’m leaning more and more towards freak accident. It is a little concerning the ride is still closed though, usually if the ride didn’t malfunction and operated as intended they’ll reopen it within a couple days, we’ve seen this before after fatalities, the fact it’s still closed may simply be a PR move but it may also indicate there is still some unknowns of what actually happened and if it could happen again.

 

[Mr Ferret 75]

It's weird, but for once I actually agree with you (well, not on everything, but a lot of this). If what Karen Irwin said is accurate, Universal itself didn’t fail mechanically here.

But realistically, once the investigation wraps, demolish + rebuild is probably the fastest way forward. The simple fact is that, because of the headlines, Stardust Racers is already a tarnished brand.

I disagree. If there was no fault from universal or the ride itself then I can see it reopened.
Case in point , Smiler in the UK. No fatalities but a huge incident in 2015 that was found to be operational error.
Coaster is still popular and running nowadays.
If there was faulty design or operator error then yes coaster comes down.

 

[mkt]

I'm surprised no one's posted this here. Universal's own access rules for Starust Racers

 

[mkt]

I disagree. If there was no fault from universal or the ride itself then I can see it reopened.
Case in point , Smiler in the UK. No fatalities but a huge incident in 2015 that was found to be operational error.
Coaster is still popular and running nowadays.
If there was faulty design or operator error then yes coaster comes down.

A death pushes this into another category entirely.

And on top of that, you’re dealing with a completely different market and audience. In the U.S., litigation culture and media intensity are far stronger than in the UK - look at how cases get tried in both court and headlines here. Smiler could survive in its market. In Orlando, with a brand-new park trying to establish itself, the optics are completely different.

 

[Disney Analyst]

It's made news not just in the Orlando area, but has been covered across the country, including on all 3 major nightly news broadcasts, and has been mentioned internationally including in Canada (at least according to my relatives) and the UK (I believe by either the BBC or ITV), not so sure about Australia... And if it's making those countries' news, stands the reason others will follow.

These things of course make the news, I’m not disputing that. But it hasn’t really made any headway into public discourse.

Far bigger news (bigger in terms of what people consume and latch onto, not trying to downplay this tragedy) has come (and gone) since this incident. I promise, things move so fast, this was barely a blip in the news cycle.

Answers will come, the coaster will not be torn down, and while the family will surely be impacted by this sad event forever, it will be but a distant memory in the history of Epic Universe.

 

[Mr Ferret 75]

A death pushes this into another category entirely.

And on top of that, you’re dealing with a completely different market and audience. In the U.S., litigation culture and media intensity are far stronger than in the UK - look at how cases get tried in both court and headlines here. Smiler could survive in its market. In Orlando, with a brand-new park trying to establish itself, the optics are completely different.

I agree different optics and marker . I still believe , if no errors on ride or operator side then it stays.
Only time will tell on this one.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I disagree. If there was no fault from universal or the ride itself then I can see it reopened.
Case in point , Smiler in the UK. No fatalities but a huge incident in 2015 that was found to be operational error.
Coaster is still popular and running nowadays.
If there was faulty design or operator error then yes coaster comes down.

This is my thought also, unless something is proven to be defective beyond repair I can’t envision any scenario where this ride doesn’t reopen. If this was a freak accident and they find no flaws I think it’ll reopen with no modifications at all or maybe the addition of a disability car, if something is found to be defective with the restraints we’ll likely see new restraints, if something is wrong with the train we’ll likely see new trains, if something is wrong with the track we’ll likely see sections of replaced/modified track… short of a catastrophic failure that can’t be corrected I can’t see them tearing down a $40 million ride.

The only time I can recall a ride being torn down was when it caused a death as a result of gross negligence, unless that’s the case here I think it’ll be reopened sooner rather than later.

 

[DrStarlander]

I found this article interesting on Disney Parks incidents and deaths, including major/classic attractions (some that remained for years, including until today). Not vouching for the source or accuracy, but comes across as well researched for me. Disney Deaths

 

[Disney Analyst]

I found this article interesting on Disney Parks incidents and deaths, including major/classic attractions (some that remained for years, including until today). Not vouching for the source or accuracy, but comes across as well researched for me. Disney Deaths

Yep. There have been many. Some incredibly horrific.

Again why I said this will be but a sad blip, and nothing more. The coaster is not going anywhere.

Unless there is something so incredibly wrong with it, that it could never be fixed or deemed safe again.

 

[Tom Morrow]

The simple fact is that, because of the headlines, Stardust Racers is already a tarnished brand.

I'm willing to bet that if Stardust Racers opened tomorrow, it would have the same wait times it did before.