Excitement is building as Universal Orlando Resort gets ready to debut its most ambitious expansion yet: Epic Universe. With a grand opening set for May 22, the new theme park is already making waves during its preview period for Annual Passholders and invited guests. Fans are flocking to experience all five lands—each bursting with storytelling, rides, and themed experiences—and the enthusiasm has only grown louder online.
Epic Universe brings with it several highly anticipated features, including the magical streets of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic, the wild thrills of How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk, and the bright, interactive landscapes of SUPER NINTENDO WORLD. And while each land offers its own brand of magic, the heartbeat of the park can arguably be found in Celestial Park.
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Celestial Park is described by Universal as “the cosmic heart of Epic Universe,” filled with dancing fountains, immersive dining, serene walkways, and a ride that’s quickly become the talk of the resort: Stardust Racers.
With its high-speed dueling launch and gravity-defying spin, the coaster blends innovation with adrenaline in a way that’s caught the attention of longtime Universal fans. It’s meant to be a smooth, thrilling ride that delivers a powerful finale to a day at the park.
However, during a recent preview session, that experience was interrupted for dozens of riders when the coaster came to a sudden and unexpected halt.
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The shutdown didn’t stem from a technical issue or weather delay—it was reportedly caused by guests not following basic safety instructions. The incident came to light through a Reddit post that has since gone viral within the Universal fan community.
User Several_Teach_6879 recounted the frustrating event:
Today I waited 45 minutes for stardust. On the first booster, both vehicles came to a screeching halt. We were there for around 25 minutes before a TM came and checks that everybody is wearing shoes. Two women towards the middle of the yellow train literally took their flip-flops off. Is it likely these people were expelled from the park? I really hope so… Some people have no common sense anymore.
Idiot takes her shoes off on stardust
byu/Several_Teach_6879 inUniversalOrlando
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Many users expressed disbelief that such a seemingly small action could lead to a full ride stoppage—but according to theme park workers, the rules are there for good reason.
As someone who works at another theme park relatively close to Orlando as a ride operator, you HAVE to have shoes on a roller coaster. If we need to escort you off of the coaster at a far point, and you don’t have shoes on, you will cut your feet on the catwalks next to the coaster. They’re designed for safety, not for comfort. So please, wear secure shoes to a theme park so you can wear them on all the rides. We will not let you ride my roller coaster I work at without shoes.
Other commenters placed some of the blame on Universal’s team members, suggesting that the situation could have been prevented at load time:
Honestly if I was you I would be more upset with Universal than the 2 women. People can just be oblivious to their surroundings, and people that don’t usually go to theme parks and ride roller coasters just don’t think about these things a lot of the time. The attendant at the entrance to the ride shouldn’t have allowed them to join the line wearing flip flops and the ride operators DEFINITELY shouldn’t have allowed them to get on the ride either. I have no idea how they then figured it out after the train was dispatched, unless another guest noticed and said something? It also doesn’t make any sense that it would take them 25 minutes to come out to you because of this reason. Just seems like that team completely dropped the ball. Did they compensate you for the loss of time with a one-time express pass or something? If not, you should have gone to customer service. They would have definitely given you at least that to make up for the loss of time.
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In a follow-up, the OP (Original Poster) added that the two guests had been sitting on their sandals, and only tried to slip them back on after the ride halted. That detail has fueled speculation that they knew they were skirting the rules and hoped to avoid detection.
Though the ride was delayed for about 25 minutes, operations reportedly resumed shortly afterward. Several guests on board were provided a one-time Express Pass to help make up for the lost time.
Despite the brief hiccup, the incident sparked a wider debate within the fan community over the policies surrounding footwear on rides. Currently, Universal allows flip-flops and other open-toed shoes throughout the park, and most attractions don’t require riders to change footwear unless loose items could become a hazard.
Do you think Universal should ban flip-flops on high-speed rides? Should team members be stricter about enforcing footwear rules at load? Or are incidents like this simply part of the growing pains of opening a brand-new park? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
