Incidents at Universal parks

Last updated

This is a summary of notable incidents that have taken place at various Universal-owned theme parks, amusement parks, or water parks. This list is not intended to be a comprehensive list of every such event, but only those that have a significant impact on the parks or park operations, or are otherwise significantly newsworthy.

Contents

The term incidents refers to major accidents, injuries, or deaths that occur at a Universal park. While these incidents were required to be reported to regulatory authorities due to where they occurred, they usually fall into one of the following categories:

Universal Orlando Resort


Universal Islands of Adventure

Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls

  • On January 1, 2011, a major fire broke out on the attraction's show building. The ride and the park's Toon Lagoon area were evacuated. No injuries were reported. [1] The ride reopened on March 11, 2011, after being restored to its original condition. [2]

Dueling Dragons/Dragon Challenge

  • On July 1, 2009, an employee was walking underneath the Dueling Dragons coaster in a restricted area when he was hit by a train during a test run. The victim suffered multiple head injuries and was taken to nearby Orlando Regional Medical Center. [3]
  • On July 31, 2011, a tourist was injured when an unidentified object hit him in the eye while riding Dragon Challenge. Prior to the incident, the guest had only one good eye, therefore the incident resulted in the guest completely losing his sight. Dragon Challenge remained shut for less than 24 hours after the incident with Universal concluding that the ride was safe. [4] [5] [6]
  • On August 10, 2011, a rider was struck by an object while riding the attraction, injuring his face and leg. As a result of this and the aforementioned incident in which a rider lost sight in one eye, Universal officials announced that the two roller coasters would no longer operate simultaneously, pending an investigation into both incidents. [7] In October 2011, officials suspended the dueling aspect of the ride permanently. [8]

Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure

  • On October 2, 2019, the park temporarily shut down the ride after a swarm of honey bees surrounded the whole area of the attraction. It reopened later that evening. [9]

Skull Island: Reign of Kong

  • On December 10, 2016, a 38-year-old tourist from Guatemala fell ill after riding the attraction. He sat down on a bench while his family continued their visit to the park. When his family returned, they found him dead. Two years later in 2018, a lawsuit was filed against the park stating that none of the signs used for the attraction were in Spanish. [10]
  • On May 16, 2021, a woman's index finger was severely cut during mid-ride, and had to be partially amputated as a result. [11]

The Incredible Hulk Coaster

  • On September 23, 2003, a 34-year-old woman from Jensen Beach, Florida, suffered a heart attack from an unknown heart condition while riding The Incredible Hulk Coaster. She was rushed to Sand Lake Hospital in critical condition, but never regained consciousness and died shortly after being taken off of life support. [12] [13]

VelociCoaster

  • Not long before the ride's grand opening, park guests were banned from the park after throwing ice at one of the ride's trains. [14]
  • On July 9, 2021, a 28-year-old woman was arrested after fighting in the ride's queue line. [15]

Universal Studios Florida

Parkwide incidents

  • On September 30, 2016, at around 10:00 a.m. local time, a "catastrophic" failure knocked out power to the entire Universal Studios Florida theme park. Park employees were able to evacuate riders from most attractions, but the Orlando Fire Department was called in to assist with some evacuations from the Men in Black: Alien Attack and Transformers attractions. However, two rides managed to remain in operation during the outage: Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts and The Simpsons Ride. Initial reports did not indicate a cause of the failure, but the adjacent Islands of Adventure park was unaffected. [16]

E.T. Adventure

  • On October 15, 1996, a 28-year-old man from Casselberry, Florida fell 10 to 12 feet from the ride's platform while trying to step into the vehicle. He was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center and treated for his injuries. [17]
  • On January 31, 2019, an 11-year-old boy visiting from Brazil was injured when his foot became wedged between the ride's unloading platform and a vehicle, breaking multiple bones in the process. Due to this incident, the attraction has changed its operational procedures. [18]

Hogwarts Express

  • On October 1, 2016, a man and a 14-year-old girl suffered minor injuries when an e-cigarette exploded on the ride. [19]

Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit

  • On August 1, 2013, an unidentified woman received minor injuries when the ride came to a sudden stop. [20]
  • On October 17, 2025, a small fire briefly broke out on the ride's tracks before being contained. No injuries were reported and investigators are working to determine the cause. [21]

Jaws

  • In July 1990, a 39-year-old man from Sicklerville, New Jersey fell into the water after a piece of the queue line's railing broke. He then sued the park for $1 million, claiming that the company and its park employees were negligent with maintaining the ride. [22]

Men in Black: Alien Attack

  • On January 8, 2004, an 11-year-old boy's foot became wedged between the ride vehicle and the loading platform. He was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center to be treated for his injuries. A park spokesperson claimed that there was no evidence the accident might have been caused by a malfunction, but the attraction remained closed for further inspection before it was deemed safe for it to reopen again. [23]
  • On November 8, 2016, emergency crews were summoned to the attraction at around 2:30 a.m. to attend to a maintenance worker who had no pulse. The worker was found in the rafters of the attraction building. The worker was declared dead, but no cause of death was revealed, although park officials did state that the ride itself was not involved. [24]

Revenge of the Mummy

  • On September 21, 2004, a 39-year-old man from Apopka, Florida, fell approximately 4 feet (1.2 m) off the loading platform as he was attempting to step into the ride vehicle. He suffered injuries to his head and noted pain due to the fall. He was rushed to Orlando Regional Medical Center for surgery and died the next day. [25]
  • On September 23, 2004, a 67-year-old woman was injured when her arm became stuck between a handrail. The ride was temporarily shut down following an investigation and continued to resume normal operational hours after it was deemed safe. [26]
  • On November 18, 2007, a 34-year-old woman broke a vertebra in her lower back while riding the attraction. [27]

The Simpsons Ride

  • On June 13, 2008, guests in one ride vehicle were sprayed with a nontoxic substance described as a "derivative of vegetable oil". No injuries were reported, and the guests were given a change of clothes and allowed to shower at the property. The park identified the source of the oil but were not able to determine the cause of the incident, and the unaffected ride vehicles remained open. [28] [29]

Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster

  • On June 19, 2006, a 4-year-old girl injured one of her feet while exiting the train. She was taken to the hospital to be treated for cuts on her foot. Reports said that the girl's foot got stuck between the train and platform. Her foot was freed, but Universal closed the coaster so that staff could examine the ride. The attraction reopened the next day on June 20. [30]

Universal Epic Universe

Stardust Racers

  • On September 17, 2025, a 32-year-old man with a pre-existing spinal cord injury [31] died after being found unresponsive on Stardust Racers. His cause of death was reported to be "multiple blunt impact injuries," and his death was ruled an accident. The ride was closed the following day for investigation, and was ultimately determined to have been functioning properly at the time of the man's death. [32] The investigation into the incident ended soon after and the ride is currently operational. [33] [34]

Universal CityWalk Orlando

Universal Volcano Bay

Puihi

  • On August 23, 2017, a 13-year-old girl from New Jersey suffered a head injury while riding the Puihi water slide at the park. She fell out of the raft and was trapped underneath it and nearly drowned. The girl was unable to stand up on her own after being rescued from the water and was taken to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children for treatment and recovered. Almost a year later, on April 16, 2018, her family filed a lawsuit against the park. [37]

Other incidents

  • On December 27, 2018, a 26-year-old man from South Carolina allegedly molested a 10-year-old girl while they were on Kopiko Wai Winding River. He was arrested by the police and was also charged with lewd and lascivious behavior for molesting a child under the age of 12. [38]
  • On June 2, 2019, multiple employees were sent to the hospital after experiencing electrical shocks. The park closed early and reopened the next day. [39]
  • On June 14, 2020, a 9-year-old boy was found unresponsive after coming down the Kala and Tai Nui body slides. He was hospitalized and released the next day. [40]

Universal Studios Hollywood

Backlot fires

Backdraft

Backlot Tour

Construction incidents

Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem

E.T. Adventure

Guest accidents

Jurassic Park: The Ride

Universal CityWalk Hollywood

Power outage

Waterworld

Universal Studios Japan

E.T. Adventure

Super Nintendo World

Yoshi's Adventure

  • On August 12, 2021, a Goomba stack animatronic fell onto the ride during operation. No injuries were reported. [57]
  • On November 23, 2021, a fire started in one of the ride's indoor areas. The ride and the park's Super Nintendo World area were evacuated. No injuries were reported. [58]

Universal's Halloween Horror Nights

Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood

Halloween Horror Nights Orlando

Universal Kids Resort

Universal United Kingdom

References

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