The new Stardust Racers at Epic Universe will almost certainly be named the best new roller coaster of 2025 once all the votes are counted—but taking the all-time crown as the world’s best coaster will be a more difficult feat.
Stardust Racers will be the marquee coaster at Universal Epic Universe when the Florida theme park officially opens to the public on May 22 following annual passholder previews starting on April 17.
I rode Stardust Racers three times over the weekend during media previews and the stunning new Epic Universe ride is the front-runner for best new coaster of 2025 before the race even begins.
The Mack Rides multi-launch twin-track coaster features dueling trains that each reach a top speed of 62 mph over 5,000 feet of track, according to Roller Coaster Database. The right track features a Zero-G Roll while the left track has a Barrel Roll Downdrop, according to RCDB.
Stardust Racers was intense, relentless, and breathtaking.
The twisting course was filled with plenty of near-miss criss-crossing interactions between the tandem trains that often raced side-by-side.
I spent most of the ride floating off my seat with my thighs pressed against the lap bar restraint as the trains traveled over a series of ejector airtime hills.
Stardust Racers reminded me of the first time I rode El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey—still one of the best coasters in the world after nearly two decades.
It’s still too early in the year to declare Stardust Racers the best new coaster of 2025, but the Epic Universe ride appears to be head and shoulders above the competition.
When all the dust settles, I believe Stardust Racers will be declared the best new coaster of 2025 and here’s why.
For starters, Stardust Racers is easily the best of the new coaster opening at Epic Universe—which also includes Curse of the Werewolf in Dark Universe, Mine-Cart Madness in Super Nintendo World and Hiccup’s Wing Gliders in How to Train Your Dragon—Isle of Berk.
Epic Universe isn’t the only major new theme park opening in 2025. Six Flags Qiddiya is expected to open late this year in Saudi Arabia with eight coasters.
The biggest threat to Stardust Racers taking home the 2025 crown certainly has to be Falcon’s Flight at Six Flags Qiddiya.
The roller coaster record books will be completely reshuffled when the Intamin Exa launch coaster debuts as the fastest (155 mph), tallest (640 feet) and longest (13,944 feet) coaster in the world.
Falcon’s Flight will likely suffer in any 2025 best coaster rankings for two reasons—Saudi Arabia is too far for most coaster enthusiasts to travel and the new ride may open too late in the calendar year to garner enough votes.
- Siren’s Curse tilt coaster at Cedar Point in Ohio
- Rapterra wing launch coaster at Kings Dominion in Virginia
- AlpenFury nine-inversion launch coaster at Canada’s Wonderland
- Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf’s Revenge inverted coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Virginia
- Wrath of Rakshasa five-inversion dive coaster at Six Flags Great America in Illinois.
Among those contenders, only AlpenFury appears to have the résumé necessary to beat Stardust Racers in 2025.
So far, only Rapterra and YOY have officially debuted.
There are always a few coasters that rank near the top of any best coaster list because the fan base rallies behind the local favorite and runs up the votes. Cedar Point, Carowinds, Holiday World and a few other regional parks tend to always place coasters high in the rankings.
This year, Cedar Point loyalists will have a new horse to ride—Siren’s Curse, opening in early summer.
I expect Siren’s Curse will end up near the top of any best coasters of 2025 list, whether the tilt coaster is worthy of the laurels or not.
But I believe the sheer number of people visiting Epic Universe will push Stardust Racers to the top of the coaster heap in 2025.
The debut of Epic Universe could boost attendance across all three of Universal’s Florida theme parks by 8 million during 2025 and 2026, according to an analyst report from research firm MoffettNathanson.
The bigger question: Is Stardust Racers the best roller coaster in the world?
Epic Universe’s bold new coaster would certainly be a contender for the title and a worthy part of any discussion.
A handful of coasters that have debuted in the past five years often rise to the top of any rankings of the best coasters in the world.
The 2021 Velocicoaster at Universal’s Islands of Adventure currently sits at the top of Theme Park Insider’s World’s Best Roller Coasters list.
Amusement Today’s Golden Ticket Awards named Voltron Nevera at Germany’s Europa Park the best new coaster of 2024 and Iron Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa the best new coaster of 2022.
Popular rides like Hagrid’s Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure at Universal’s Islands of Adventure and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at Epcot will always do well in the rankings because millions of visitors go to those parks every year.
But the bigger competition for Stardust Racers for the all-time best coaster title will likely come from legacy coasters that tend to stick near the top of all-time best lists.
The 2015 Fury 325 at Carowinds and the 2018 Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point often show up in the Top 5 of any rankings, because they are great coasters with vocal fan bases.
The Cedar Point fan base can be particularly fanatical—often boosting the aging Millennium Force coaster that opened in 2000 near the top of any rankings.
