Universal Patent Filing Imagines Self-Driving Dinosaur Lockers That Hold Your Bag, Find You by Face and Meet You at the Ride Exit

Imagine handing your bag to a dinosaur before a roller coaster, and having it find you at the exit afterward. That is the picture painted by a Universal patent application published on Thursday, October 29: self-driving lockers that hold your things while you ride, then track you down when you are done.

The filing, US 2026/0341088 A1, is titled "Autonomous Vehicle Locker Utilization Systems and Methods." The applicant is Universal City Studios LLC, and all five listed inventors are based in Central Florida.

Figure 1 of the application: dinosaur-shaped lockers waiting near an attraction entrance, towing a cart, and serving guests. Image: Universal City Studios LLC, US patent application 2026/0341088

How it would work

• Calling one: scan a paper or phone pass at a pass scanner, and the system tells a locker where you are. In one example, a locker has a displayed name or call sign, and you summon it by shouting the name.
• Storing your things: once your items are inside, the locker can drive off to a holding area or maintenance bay out of guest traffic, which the filing elsewhere describes as an area guests cannot reach, until you need it again.
• Finding you again: the filing lists several ways for a locker to recognize or locate its guest: a camera, fingerprint, retina or iris scan, an RFID armband or key fob, or GPS tracking from a key fob, armband or phone. A fleet of lockers can wait at the attraction exit and use on-board cameras to pick out their guests as they leave, sharing what they see over a mesh network.
• Beyond bags: the lockers can also move strollers, wheelchairs, carts and mobility scooters while their owners ride.

The filing points out why face or fingerprint recognition matters: on a roller coaster where loose items are prohibited, a guest may have stowed their phone and ticket in the locker, leaving nothing to identify themselves with.

From Figure 1: a guest scans a pass while a dinosaur locker holds a purse in its storage compartment. Image: Universal City Studios LLC, US patent application 2026/0341088

The fun part: lasers, glowing eyes and a scavenger hunt

The filing also gives the lockers some personality. In Figure 1, one locker emits a sound and "emits lasers 28 from its eyes" to get the attention of the two guests whose toy it is holding. Other ideas in the filing:

• Glowing red eyes when a guest who is not assigned to the locker comes into its camera's view, and glowing green eyes when it recognizes its own guest.
• A locker that approaches "in a manner similar to friends greeting one another or, for certain narrative environments, in a manner similar to a predator stalking prey."
• Lockers you can customize with colors, sounds and lights, saved to your guest profile for next time.
• A quest mode, where guests follow clues or a map to find their locker for points or prizes. One example: guests who find their locker in under five minutes can make it glow in the dark.
• Different looks for different parks. The filing says a locker's design can depend on the park's theme, and can even change as it rolls between themed areas (a tractor in a farm area, a fish in an undersea one). Its drawings show a locker shaped like a dinosaur and another built like a beverage cart for extra storage, and compartments can be refrigerated or heated for food.

The filing also notes that a locker approaching its guest may stop short of a threshold distance, so it does not come too close.

From Figure 1: a locker lets out a GRRRR and shines lasers from its eyes to get its guests' attention. Image: Universal City Studios LLC, US patent application 2026/0341088

Would it cost extra?

Possibly. The filing says summoning a locker "may be a premium guest experience," and in that version only guests with premium passes could use the autonomous lockers. That is one embodiment among many, not a price list.

What this filing is, and is not

This is not the first time the idea has appeared on paper. The application is a continuation of an earlier one filed July 3, 2023, which the filing says is now US Patent No. 12,542,018, and it traces back to a provisional application from July 6, 2022. This newest version was filed February 2, 2026, so it shows Universal still seeking patent protection for robot lockers more than three years after its first filing, not that it has just thought of them. As with any patent application, it is a request for protection, not an announcement, and nothing in it names a specific park or ride. Its 20 claims are built on the core system (a locker that takes your items, travels to a second location, identifies you and unlocks), plus add-ons such as facial recognition, lockers sharing camera images across a fleet, custom colors, lights and sounds, and points added to a guest profile. The dinosaur styling, lasers and premium passes appear only as examples in the description.

Theme Park Insider's Robert Niles, who wrote about the filing on October 30, pictured "a dinosaur rolling up to give you back your phone and pack after riding Jurassic World VelociCoaster." He also compared the idea to the delivery robots guests may have met at Universal's Aventura Hotel.

From Figure 1: a locker tows a guest's cart to a temporary parking spot. Image: Universal City Studios LLC, US patent application 2026/0341088

It is also the latest in a run of Universal locker stories. Earlier this month we covered a patent filing that would light a path to your ride locker, and the face-scan lockers now in use at Islands of Adventure.

Would you pay extra to have a dinosaur babysit your backpack? And what name are you shouting across the plaza to call yours?

Sources

• US Patent Application Publication 2026/0341088 A1, "Autonomous Vehicle Locker Utilization Systems and Methods" (Universal City Studios LLC, published October 29, 2026)
• Theme Park Insider, "Let a dinosaur hold your stuff while you ride a roller coaster" (October 30, 2026)
• Parks Magic, October 3, 2026: locker guidance lights patent
• Parks Magic, October 23, 2026: Islands of Adventure lockers and facial recognition

Image credits: Universal City Studios LLC, US patent application 2026/0341088 (all images).