Being at the forefront of technology has always been a priority for The Walt Disney Company. This tech-forward approach dates back its beginnings a century ago with industry-shaping breakthroughs in Walt’s earliest cartoons. Today, many of Disney’s innovations happen inside theme parks, whether to bring a fictional character to life in a believable way or to improve a safety function for guests.
Disney often files and publishes patents that provide a glimpse into the company’s newest inventions, which could one day be implemented at Disneyland or Walt Disney World. In this story, we’ll share 3 recent patents that showcase Disney’s latest tech ideas that could change future theme park trips. As a disclaimer, these patents indicate a work in progress, and the tech they display doesn’t always make it to the parks. The patents describe an intent, not a promise, but it’s an interesting look at what could eventually come to fruition. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including a new Disney Gift Card deal and Disney World’s best Christmas experiences that don’t require a park ticket.
READ MORE – Disney World’s Cheapest Hotel is Affordable and Surprisingly Good For the Price
New Accessible Boat for Scooters and Wheelchairs
Disney equips some of its theme park attractions with accessible ride vehicles that can accommodate guests in wheelchairs without the guest needing to transfer from the wheelchair. This accessible ride vehicle is custom-designed differently from the other vehicles to allow enough space for a wheelchair, and cast members help guests load into the vehicle by using a ramp that connects from the loading platform to the vehicle.
Disney Ride Closure ALERTS, Major Changes, Secrets Revealed
Get alerts on closures, park changes, exclusive discounts, and free printables. Trusted by 100,000+ Disney fans & planners.
A new patent from Disney notes the challenges of this process when the attraction is a boat ride and the extra measures Disney takes with accessible boat vehicles “to ensure no water can intrude into the vehicle, while ensuring the center of gravity is low for stability.” The patent goes on to say, “Such difficulties create complex, expensive systems that typically do not meet longevity requirements and lead to frequent and costly downtimes and repairs” and that these systems “significantly decrease the reliability and increase the weight, complexity, and cost of the ride vehicle.”
The patent presents new technology that would tilt the ride vehicle so that the guest can remain on a flat plane during the entire loading process. Most of the boat would tilt, but the piece of it that the guest is loading onto would remain flat “with respect to a water or ground surface,” the patent says.
Disney is currently constructing a new Coco boat ride and has plans for an Avatar boat ride, both at Disney California Adventure.
Disney filed this patent in March 2025 and published it in September 2026 as “Rider Inclusive Transport Aide”.
READ MORE – Disney World Pros Know Not to Ignore These 10 Overlooked Food Items at the Parks
PhotoPass Background Removal
The Disney theme parks are extremely crowded places, and inevitably a stranger might be in the background of a family photo making an odd face or distracting from the photo’s subjects, even unintentionally.
A new patent from Disney describes a technology that would remove “unwanted obstructions” from photo backgrounds, “modifying the image based on the one or more focal image segments to generate a modified image.”
The patent notes how the technology already exists to remove items from a photo background, but that this process is performed manually. “These methods are time-consuming and impractical,” the patent states, whereas the new technology would perform this function automatically.
The patent was filed in February 2024 and published in October 2026 as “Crowd Removal and Automatic Focus for Images”.
Disney previously utilized AI for a similar purpose. Earlier this year, Disney repainted Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom, which meant a large crane was in the background of many guests’ family photos. In pictures captured by Disney PhotoPass, the crane was removed with AI.
Last month, PhotoPass sparked controversy among fans online when the service began using generative AI for photo-ops that transformed guests into Haunted Mansion characters.
Detecting Ride Breakdowns
Despite occasional refurbishments and overnight checks, even the most well-maintained Disney attraction can occasionally break down.
A new patent describes a process to identify possible causes for ride shutdowns before they occur. This technology would be capable of “detecting audio anomalies” in ride equipment “using a first trained machine learning model” and “transmitting an alert to at least one computing device based on the anomaly.”
The patent emphasizes that there is “few, if any” current technology in place of this nature. As it stands, any audible abnormalities in the equipment might not be heard by live cast members because of how loud theme parks can be.
This technology would theoretically lessen unexpected breakdowns of Disney rides, decrease the number of guest evacuations from a ride, and help Disney better plan a scheduled refurbishment.
“By monitoring the performance and condition of in-service equipment,” the patent says, “corrective maintenance on the equipment can be better planned with shorter and fewer pauses of service, in turn increasing the availability of the equipment.”
The patent was filed in March 2025 and published in September 2026 as “Techniques for Detecting Anomalies in Audio Recordings for Predictive Maintenance”.
Don’t Miss the Latest Disney News
Don’t miss the latest Disneyland and Disney World news from Mickey Visit. Join the FREE Mickey Visit newsletter that over 100k readers receive every single week. Mickey Visit is here to help you save money and experience more during your Disney and Universal vacation. See the Mickey Visit guide to Disneyland and the Mickey Visit guide to Disney World for tips.
