Universal Orlando has extended the closure of Stardust Racers for a third time, this time until after Easter and the heart of Spring Break 2026. The high-capacity coaster has been closed on and off for various reasons over the last several months. Here are the latest dates & details, along with our commentary.
It’s been a rough first year for Stardust Racers, the dueling coaster that’s Epic Universe’s marquee thrill ride. The ride is currently closed for a scheduled refurbishment of an unknown nature, but one that’s no longer believed to be routine.
Stardust Racers was originally slated to have a brief refurbishment starting February 19th and reopening only a few days later on February 22nd. At the last minute, this was quietly extended another week, through the end of last month.
Two days prior to the scheduled reopening, the refurbishment was extended through March 14, 2026. With that date fast approaching, the reopening has been pushed back again. Stardust Racers will now miss the bulk of the Spring Break season.
As of now, Stardust Racers is scheduled to be closed through:
February 22, 2026February 28, 2026March 14, 2026- April 5, 2026
Stardust Racers is now scheduled to reopen on April 6, 2026. For those keeping score at home, that’s the Monday after Easter, meaning it’ll miss 2-3 of the 10 busiest holiday weeks of the entire year for Central Florida.
What started as a few days for a routine refurbishment has expanded into at least a 46 day closure (and counting) with 4 different reopening dates calendared (and counting). It’s pretty clear something is up.
Typically, we wouldn’t bat an eye at this type of thing, as refurbishments do get extended from time to time–even multiple times. However, Stardust Racers’ aforementioned track record coupled with how new it is (less than a year old) does pique our curiosity.
It doesn’t help that rumors have been swirling on social media about Stardust Racers, some suggesting that something is ‘terribly wrong’ with the attraction. (I’m paraphrasing as opposed to quoting because I don’t want to spread potential misinformation.) It’s hard to know what to believe, and I have no credible sources of my own on this–I’m also admittedly less attuned to the Universal fandom, so I don’t know which purported insiders are credible and which are full of it.
It also doesn’t help that Universal Orlando hasn’t exactly been transparent about this closure. Refurbishments being extended happens, but this is now the third one with zero communications from the company.
I definitely gave a bit of side-eye with the last extension to March 15th, which is conveniently the day before Central Florida school districts start their Spring Break. Even that felt like wishful thinking on Universal’s part–as if they didn’t want to lose ticket sales so they added that date to the schedule strategically.
At least this time, they’re kicking the can down the road until the week after Easter, which is a far less popular week for Spring Break than the ones before it. But really, the closure should be an indefinite one at this point with a TBD reopening as opposed to a specific date.
With that in mind, we’ll underscore the obvious that reopening dates are tentative and subject to change, as evidenced by three extensions already. It’s possible/probable that Universal has no clue when they’ll fix the problems plaguing Stardust Racers, so they’ve simply kicked the can down the road another 2 weeks and are hoping for the best.
In which case, they could resolve the issue tomorrow and the ride could reopen ASAP before Central Florida’s Spring Break arrives. At the other end of the spectrum, Stardust Racers might not reopen until late summer, or perhaps beyond. If the unsubstantiated rumors are accurate (and they usually are not!), this could end up being a multi-month closure.
I would recommend putting zero stock in the current April 6, 2026 reopening date. Stardust Racers is going to reopen when it reopens. That’s the more honest timeline.
This is Stardust Racers’ third significant closure since Epic Universe opened less than a year ago. This ongoing refurbishment follows a January incident where both coaster trains simultaneously valleyed during high winds and cold temperatures, which reduced the trains’ momentum, preventing them from clearing a peak.
That rare double valley required Universal to bring a crane into the park to physically lift the trains off the track. The coaster was closed for 3 days following the incident. That actually wasn’t the first time that Stardust Racers had valleyed; the coaster did at least once during pre-opening testing.
There’s also been plenty of downtime and instances of Stardust Racers running with only one track; while frustrating to miss out on the dueling element, having two tracks has arguably improved uptime of the attraction.
Stardust Racers’ most serious issue occurred in September 2025, when 32-year-old Kevin Rodriguez Zavala died after losing consciousness during the ride.
The medical examiner ruled the death accidental and attributed it to multiple blunt impact injuries. The litigation was eventually dismissed following a private settlement. That’s one of multiple lawsuits and potential settlements made concerning Stardust Racers.
Following that tragedy, Universal closed Stardust Racers for investigation and made changes to transfer requirements and accessibility procedures across multiple attractions. The ride reopened in early October, but that along with other litigation over the attraction understandably cast a long shadow.
In the meantime, Stardust Racers being down is a big blow to the operating capacity of Epic Universe.
Stardust Racers is also one of the more reliable and high-capacity attractions in Epic Universe, owing in large part to it essentially being two roller coasters on one load platform. The theoretical hourly capacity of Stardust Racers is estimated to be over 2,750 guests, which is a big reason why it frequently has the shortest waits in the park. Like Monsters Unchained, the roller coaster is/was a people eater.
This is a sharp contrast to Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness, for example, which has an estimated hourly capacity of 700-800 guests. That is, of course, assuming it’s operational in the first place. (Curse of the Werewolf should be in the 1,000 riders ballpark, also explaining its high wait times.)
In other words, Stardust Racers having the capacity of ~3 other rides combined and being more reliable made it an asset to Epic Universe, which is still finding its operational footing. That ride being closed for a prolonged period of time is a massive blow to park operations, albeit one that’s (hopefully) partially offset by efficiency gains elsewhere and the end of storm season.
Stardust Racers is also an excellent ride. It’s one of Universal’s best roller coasters anywhere, ever. It’s right up there with Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry and Monsters Unchained as one of my three favorite attractions in the park. On a personal level, it’s my favorite roller coaster in the world.
In our Epic Universe Ride Reviews & Ratings, we gave Stardust Racers a perfect 10/10, with the following praise: “These playful coasters are full of surprises, with high-speed thrills offset by moments of levity and amazing interplay between the two tracks. There’s a ridiculous amount of airtime, and even though it’s intense, it’s never punishing.”
What makes Stardust Racers so special is that it’s a dual-launch racing coaster that is incredibly engaging and well-paced. Reaching speeds up to 62 mph and heights up to 133 feet along 5,000 feet of track, Stardust Racers is Epic Universe’s most thrilling coaster experience with unique maneuvers such as the “Celestial Spin,” in which the two coaster vehicles perform an inverted crisscross while speeding through the air, creating an otherworldly adrenaline rush.
Here’s a current look at the full refurbishment calendar for 2026 at Universal Orlando:
Universal Epic Universe
- Stardust Racers: February 19, 2026 – April 5, 2026
Universal Islands of Adventure
- One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish: March 24, 2026 – March 25, 2026
- Jurassic Park River Adventure: January 5, 2026 – November 19, 2026
- Pteranodon Flyers: February 27, 2026 – May 14, 2026
- Me Ship, The Olive: April 19, 2026 – April 25, 2026
Universal Studios Florida
- Finnegan’s Bar & Grill: January 12, 2026 – Winter 2026
Universal Volcano Bay
Universal Volcano Bay is seasonally closed on select dates between October 2025 and February 2026. Additionally, Universal Volcano Bay will be closed for maintenance beginning October 26, 2026, with a current planned reopening on or before March 24, 2027.
A previously-scheduled refurbishment for Yoshi’s Adventure was removed from the calendar the first time that the Stardust Racers closure was extended. Assuming it’s not urgent, we’d expect that Super Nintendo World ride refurbishment to happen whenever Stardust Racers finally does reopen. Epic Universe can’t really afford to lose the capacity of two attractions simultaneously.
Speaking of capacity, it’s also worth emphasizing that Epic Universe still isn’t firing on all cylinders.
During the company’s most recent earnings call, Comcast CFO Jason S. Armstrong shared that Epic Universe is “not yet operating at full run rate capacity, but we’ve made meaningful progress expanding ride throughput and remain focused on scaling further over the next several quarters with higher attendance, stronger per-caps, and additional operating leverage over time.”
Here’s what he previously said last August: “We expect Epic to continue to scale over the course of the year, with higher attendance and per caps as well as significantly improved operating leverage.” On a subsequent earnings call, one of the executives suggested it’d be a few more months before the park fully hit its stride.
Now, Armstrong has said that he expects Epic Universe to be at full capacity by the end of 2026. It’s unclear why leadership believes it’s going to take another full year to ramp up Epic Universe, but it isn’t uncommon for a brand-new theme park–especially one with several envelope-pushing attractions–to have growing pains.
While the longer time horizon for the ramp-up is disappointing, it’s not surprising. In January, Epic Universe had its busiest day ever.
Not just the highest wait times ever for Epic Universe, but for any park at Universal Orlando or Walt Disney World since at least 2019–and by a very wide margin. The average wait on that date was 107 minutes, with peak waits of over 300 minutes and multiple headliners hitting 200+ minutes throughout the day.
Since then, Epic Universe has had some quieter days, but not weeks. The average wait time for every single week this year has been 60 minutes or higher. To put that into perspective, the busiest week of the last year at Walt Disney World was that of New Year’s Eve, which only hit 49 minutes. And the astronomical crowd levels at Epic Universe are a byproduct of capacity constraints, not overwhelming demand.
Fortunately, there are sweet spots to visit amidst the madness. See our Epic Universe Crowd Calendar: Best Dates to Visit in 2026 for advice. The worst and least busy dates are actually pretty predictable, albeit slightly counter-intuitive and unlike the other Universal Orlando theme parks.
Need trip planning tips and comprehensive advice for your visit to Central Florida? Make sure to read our Universal Orlando Planning Guide for everything about Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. Also check out our Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Guide for everything about those parks, resorts, restaurants, and so much more.
Your Thoughts
Surprised to see Stardust Racers have its closure extended a third time? When do you expect the troubled roller coaster to reopen? Optimistic that the park will find its footing and operate at full capacity well before the end of 2026? Agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
