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Universal Is Still Patenting a Boat That Lifts Out of the Water and Rides an Overhead Coaster Track
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Universal Is Still Patenting a Boat That Lifts Out of the Water and Rides an Overhead Coaster Track

Michael Travels
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Published

Picture a boat ride. Calm water, a few rows of seats, nothing to worry about. Then the boat rises out of the water and turns out to have been hanging from a roller coaster track the whole time.

That is the idea in a Universal patent application published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on November 5, and the filing is quite open about the trick. The overhead hardware "may be camouflaged, enabling the ride vehicle to generally appear to the riders as a boat that is not capable of transitioning to an aerial ride format."

Patent line drawing of a boat-shaped ride vehicle with three rows of seats, hanging from wheels on an overhead track by a curved arm, with vertical pistons connecting the boat to a support frame underneath
FIG. 1 from the patent application: the boat (14) hangs from a bogie (12) on an overhead track (18), with extenders (22) between the boat and its support. Image: Universal City Studios LLC / USPTO

How the boat becomes a coaster

The application, titled "Ride System With Vehicle Support for Suspension and Floating Operation," describes a boat-shaped ride vehicle attached to a bogie that runs along a track. The boat sits on a support arm, and the two are joined by extenders, which the filing says may be pistons or actuators.

In the water, the extenders let the boat actually float within a range of motion while it stays attached to the track. When the boat leaves the water, the extenders can collapse so the boat locks onto its support, in some versions with a hydraulic latch. From there, the bogie can carry the boat along the track "while pitching, yawing, and/or rolling the ride vehicle." The switch can run in either direction, from water to air or from air back into the water.

Two patent line drawings stacked vertically: in the upper one the boat rests on a dashed waterline while hanging from an overhead track; in the lower one the same boat is lifted clear above the waterline, next to a short section of false track
FIG. 8 shows the boat floating; FIG. 9 shows it lifted out of the water on a bogie with a motion platform. Image: Universal City Studios LLC / USPTO

The filing explains why Universal thinks this beats what parks already have: "Generally, amusement park ride attractions either include a boat configured to float along a waterway or a coaster configured to move along a track, but not both." It is also a little rude about rides that simply run a car along a track that dips underwater, which it says can end up as "a slow and predictable roller coaster that may be in contact with water." The point of switching formats, it says, is that "each transition between riding formats serves to surprise and increase a level of entertainment of the rider."

An old idea with a new filing

The application is US 2026/0346151 A1, filed July 13, 2026 by Universal City Studios LLC, with inventors Sarka Harrington and Eric Alan Vance, both of Orlando. It is not a brand new invention. It continues an application filed May 4, 2021 that has already been granted as Patent No. 12,702,934, and the original provisional filing dates to May 5, 2020.

Universal has not said whether it plans to build it, and the filing does not name a park, land or ride.

Patent schematic of a curving ride path: a wide curved track section with ride vehicles along it and a rectangular structure inside the curve, joined at both ends to a thinner looping path below
FIG. 10, a schematic of a ride path: the wide curved section is the aquatic portion (118) beside a boarding platform (132), and the thin loop is the aerial portion (124). Image: Universal City Studios LLC / USPTO

So is this Dark Universe?

The timing is what has fans talking. The application was published the same day Universal confirmed an indoor thrill coaster for Epic Universe's Dark Universe, which seemed to cool rumors of a boat ride there.

Theme Park Insider compared the patent to the Mack Rides Rocking Boat system, which made its U.S. debut on Dollywood's NightFlight Expedition and which, the outlet notes, "had been tipped" to power the Dark Universe attraction Universal announced that morning. It then asked: "Could this system, described in Universal's new patent application, actually be the new Epic Universe Dark Universe ride system instead?"

There is no way to tell yet. Universal's announcement called the new ride a coaster, and a boat that turns into a coaster would technically fit, but nothing in the patent ties it to Dark Universe or anywhere else.

Also published that day: NFTs

The same November 5 batch included a second Universal application, US 2026/0346149 A1, titled "Systems and Methods for Customized Non-Fungible Tokens Corresponding to an Amusement Park Attraction." It describes a system that uses a sensor to detect what a guest does in an interactive attraction area, captures a piece of digital media of it, such as a photo, and can "mint a non-fungible token (NFT) associated with the piece of digital media." Its flowchart ends with a step to "enable unlocked content" after further activity.

That one also has deep roots: it continues a 2022 application already granted as Patent No. 12,722,088, with a provisional filed July 22, 2021. Theme Park Insider's summary: "Yup, you could earn an NFT at a Universal theme park."

Would you ride a boat that turns out to be a coaster, or is that exactly the kind of surprise you would rather skip?

Sources

Image credits: All drawings from US 2026/0346151 A1, Universal City Studios LLC / USPTO.

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