Man dies after riding roller coaster at new Florida theme park Epic Universe
Sep 18, 2025, 6:43 AM | Updated: 2:32 pm
FILE - Guests arrive at the main entrance to Epic Universe Theme Park at Universal Resort Orlando, April 10, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A patron at one of the nation’s newest amusement parks has died after riding a roller coaster there, Florida authorities said.
The man in his 30s was found unresponsive after riding the coaster at Epic Universe on Wednesday, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Orlando said in a statement to The Associated Press. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
No further details were immediately released early Thursday.
Universal Orlando Resorts opened the park in May. It has five themed sections and a 500-room hotel.
It’s the first major, traditional theme park to open in Florida since 1999, when Universal Islands of Adventure debuted, though Universal opened a themed Orlando water park, Volcano Bay, in 2017.
The addition of Epic Universe brought the total number of parks at the Florida resort to four, including Universal Studios.
