Universal Patent Combines Floating Boat With Overhead Track
For the second time in a week, Universal has received a patent for a cutting-edge ride system. The latest concept combines a tracked ride with a floating vessel. And like last week’s patent, this one comes with some cool possibilities. Thanks to Aahs n Oohs for sharing it with us.
As a reminder, the previous patent was for a system where a boat or vehicle could be propelled forward by a hidden channel of water. Fins extending from the ride vehicle into that channel would control its speed. No traditional flume is required, and the water guests see doesn’t necessarily have to be what’s moving the boat.
How it works
The latest patent takes a different approach. The ride vehicles are connected to an overhead track but are also naturally buoyant. So when they enter the water, they behave much like a real boat. The overhead system controls the forward motion.
That support underneath the vehicle is an important part of the trick. Adjustable connections between the support and the boat extend and retract, adding to the illusion that riders are actually floating.
When the vehicle enters the water, those supports extend as the boat rises. When it leaves the water, they can retract, bringing the vehicle back onto the support and locking it into place again.
That means the boat can genuinely rock with the water. The supports don’t all have to move the same amount. A wave hitting one side could lift that side higher than the other, creating natural side-to-side or front-to-back movement instead of motion that feels programmed by a ride vehicle.
Universal’s patent also allows powered systems to move the vehicle independently. So riders might feel real motion from waves combined with programmed pitching, rolling, or other effects created by the ride itself.
Want more illusion? While jets can create strong currents in the water, the overhead track is actually controlling the vehicle’s forward motion. That means riders could feel like they’re being swept downstream even while the ride system is moving the vehicle at a controlled speed.
That overhead track is doing some serious lifting, but it doesn’t have to do everything. The patent shows a motion platform between the track and the support structure that can raise or lower the entire vehicle assembly. So Universal wouldn’t necessarily need the overhead track itself to dip toward the water. The hidden machinery could lower the boat into position instead.
From boat to suspended ride
What makes this patent especially interesting is what happens when the vehicle is pulled from the water. The vehicle can pitch, yaw, and roll as it travels along the overhead track, creating two very different ride experiences.
So this ride could deliver some seriously cool effects thanks to its sophisticated hardware. But Universal doesn’t want riders focused on any of that. Instead, they can disguise the ride hardware with thematic elements. They can also introduce fake tracks to throw riders off.
They already do that really well with Mine-Cart Madness at Epic Universe. The gnarled tracks, filled with gaps, are there for show. The real track is out of sight from riders.
We don’t know if or where Universal will use this new concept. But we’re intrigued. The patent arrived just as Bioscotto published his latest Creature from the Black Lagoon armchair engineering article. I’m guessing he has more ideas for Dark Universe and other lands now that U.S. Patent 12,702,934 B2 is on the books.
