Stardust Racers is a

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

dual Dual or Duals may refer to: Paired/two things * Dual (mathematics), a notion of paired concepts that mirror one another ** Dual (category theory), a formalization of mathematical duality *** see more cases in :Duality theories * Dual number, a nu ...

launched

roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

Universal Epic Universe Universal Epic Universe is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida, United States. It opened on May 22, 2025, as the third theme park and fourth park overall to open at Universal Orlando. The park was part of a larger development and feature ...

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

Universal Orlando Universal Orlando Resort, often shortened to Universal Orlando, is a theme park and entertainment resort complex located in Orlando, Florida. It is the flagship of the Universal Destinations & Experiences theme park chain. Following the succe ...

first announced the new theme park in August 2019 before officially unveiling Stardust Racers and its associated Celestial Park area in January 2024. Stardust Racers was manufactured by

Mack Rides Mack Rides GmbH & Co KG, also known simply as Mack Rides, is a German company that designs and constructs amusement rides, based in Waldkirch, Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Ge ...

and includes two pairs of track, collectively making it one of the largest steel coasters in the United States. It officially opened on May 22, 2025, along with rest of the theme park.

History

Development

Universal Epic Universe was first announced on August 1, 2019, as a new third-gate theme park that would double

's footprint. No attractions or details were divulged at the time, although a large dueling coaster was predominantly visible in concept artwork. German roller coaster manufacturer

subsequently patented a new ride inversion design in the fall, where twin tracks twisted over each other while rising and falling from a peak. This would later become widely referred to as the Celestial Spin. Epic Universe was originally scheduled to open in 2023, but parent company

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

announced in April 2020 that construction would be delayed as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Europa Park Europa-Park is a theme park in Rust, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Covering a total area of 95 hectares, twenty themed areas offer around a hundred attractions, including shows and fourteen roller coasters. The park also includes six hotels, a ca ...

owner

Roland Mack Roland Mack (born 12 October 1949) is a German entrepreneur. Mack grew up as a son of the entrepreneur Franz Mack, in Waldkirch. In 1975, he became the founder of Europa-Park in Germany. Personal life Mack was born in Freiburg. He married M ...

announced in September that Universal had cancelled his company's order for "the largest roller coaster in the world", which was valued at well over 20 million

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s and wouldn't be delivered in the foreseeable future. Construction on Epic Universe resumed in March 2021 and the following January Roland confirmed that Universal had renewed the contract as a result, which had been amended to include a second coaster project.

Construction

Track and supports for the attraction began arriving in August 2022. Construction oversaw groundwork and coaster installation taking place concurrently, with each section being completed in phases. The first pieces were fitted in November 2022 with the initial launch tracks and maintenance bays, with the layout being physically completed in June 2023. The highlight Celestial Spin element was topped off near the end of May.

Announcement

Universal City Studios LLC submitted a trademark application for "Starfall Racers" to the

United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency in the United States Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark ...

on March 7, 2023. On January 30, 2024, Universal Orlando formally shared information on Epic Universe and its central Celestial Park precinct. Starfall Racers was also officially announced at this time, with a wide variety of concept artwork and animation released to the public. The coaster was finished in time and opened with the park on May 22, 2025. In 2024, the name was challenged by the Starfall Education Foundation for "brand misappropriation toward children" and in late May 2024, the roller coaster was renamed to "Stardust Racers", which was a backup trademark name in the event.

Characteristics

The ride's backstory is that the Celestians, residents of Celestial Park, have learned to capture comets from the stars and ride them. They are allowing visitors to race on two of these comets, Pulsar and Photon, to see which is the fastest. Each side of Stardust Racers stands tall, covers around of track, and reaches a top speed of . The aforementioned peak height reaches during the attraction's signature Celestial Spin element, where the tracks invert around each other while rising and falling. The top speed meanwhile is reached using a pair of linear motor launches on each side. Stardust Racers runs with up to four trains on each track, given that the maintenance bays can hold eight sets. Each train is made up of five cars where riders sit in two rows of two, for a total of twenty passengers. While the ride structure does not display any lighting at night, the trains feature onboard audio and lights, making the illuminated ride vehicles appear as comets in the night sky. A

flux capacitor Flux describes any effect that appears to pass or travel (whether it actually moves or not) through a surface or substance. Flux is a concept in applied mathematics and vector calculus which has many applications in physics. For transport phenom ...

from the '' ''Back to the Future'' film series can also be seen attached to the back of the trains.

References

External links

Official Website
{{Roller coasters at Universal Orlando Resort Roller coasters introduced in 2025 2025 establishments in Florida Universal Epic Universe Roller coasters in Orlando, Florida Roller coasters operated by Universal Destinations & Experiences