Universal’s Newest Theme Park Epic Universe Hit With Lawsuit Over ‘Careless Incident’
Exclusive Report Obtained
A theme park’s most visible safety systems tend to surround its biggest machines: restraints, height requirements, warning signs, test cycles, and banks of monitors watched by trained operators.
But a new lawsuit involving Universal Epic Universe is focused on something far less spectacular—and much easier for a guest to encounter without thinking twice.
A negligence complaint filed July 22, 2026, in Orange County Circuit Court alleges that Florida resident Juan Bautista Tenjo slipped on accumulated water in a designated attraction queue and photo area at Epic Universe. According to the complaint, the water had pooled around metal inserts used to hold crowd-control stanchions.
The filing alleges that Tenjo fell violently and sustained injuries that are continuing. Those claims have not been proven, and the complaint represents only the plaintiff’s account at this stage.
Epic Universe Lawsuit Alleges Water Collected Around Queue Equipment
Inside the Magic obtained and reviewed the seven-page complaint filed by Padron & Lopez-Trigo, P.A. against Universal City Development Partners, Ltd., the entity identified as operating Universal Epic Universe.
The alleged incident occurred on November 14, 2025—nearly six months after Epic Universe opened on May 22.
Tenjo alleges that he was a paying guest walking through an area serving both as an attraction queue and a designated photo opportunity. The complaint claims a “substantial accumulation of water” had formed on the walking surface because water was pooling from metal stanchion pole inserts.
It does not identify the attraction, themed land, or precise queue involved. Epic Universe contains five principal worlds: Celestial Park, SUPER NINTENDO WORLD, Dark Universe, How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic.
The complaint also does not explain where the water originated, how long it had allegedly been present, or whether weather, cleaning, plumbing, landscaping, or another source contributed to it. No photographs, incident report, medical documentation, or witness statements are included in the supplied filing.
Those omissions matter because they prevent the allegation from being tied to a particular attraction or recurring condition.
What Juan Bautista Tenjo Alleges Universal Failed to Do
Tenjo’s attorneys accuse Universal of failing to inspect, maintain, and repair the area adequately. They also allege the company failed to warn guests about the water and did not provide enough trained employees to identify and correct the condition.
The complaint seeks damages exceeding $50,000, excluding costs, attorneys’ fees, and interest. That figure is a jurisdictional allegation establishing the level of court in which the action was filed—not a damages award or necessarily the amount Tenjo expects to receive.
The claimed losses include bodily injury, pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, medical expenses, lost earnings, and diminished earning capacity. The document does not provide a diagnosis or specify which of those categories Tenjo has individually incurred.
Florida law also places a meaningful burden on a person pursuing this kind of case. Under the state’s premises-liability statute for transitory foreign substances, an injured person must prove that the business had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition and should have acted to remedy it.
Constructive knowledge can be established through evidence that the condition existed long enough that the business should have discovered it or that it occurred regularly enough to be foreseeable. The complaint alleges Universal knew or should have known about the water, but evidence supporting that allegation would ordinarily be developed through discovery.
The Overlooked Safety Issue Inside a New Theme Park
Epic Universe has already faced litigation involving alleged attraction injuries, including claims connected to Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry and Stardust Racers. Those separate cases do not prove a safety pattern, and they concern materially different allegations.
This filing is notable precisely because it is not about ride speed, restraints, or complex machinery. It concerns the ordinary infrastructure guests move through while waiting, taking photographs, checking phones, or watching the people ahead of them.
Universal’s published Epic Universe safety and accessibility guidance primarily helps visitors evaluate attraction requirements. Yet the new complaint illustrates that a guest’s experience also depends on less visible operational work: inspecting walking surfaces, managing water, maintaining queue hardware, and placing warnings when necessary.
Inside the Magic has previously covered another slip-and-fall lawsuit involving Universal’s Volcano Bay. As with that case, allegations in a complaint should not be treated as findings of negligence.
For current Epic Universe visitors, the filing does not establish that any attraction is closed, restricted, or operating differently. It does offer a practical reminder: report pooled water or damaged queue equipment to a Universal Team Member instead of assuming someone else has already noticed it.
The unnamed attraction remains the most consequential unanswered detail. Until the parties provide additional records or the case progresses, the complaint supports scrutiny of one alleged queue-area condition—not a conclusion about safety across Epic Universe.
