Disney's New Elevation Illusion Patent Might Explain a Trick Inside the Encanto Ride

A new patent from Disney Enterprises, Inc. describes an elevation change illusion that could show up in future Walt Disney World attractions, with timing and an example use-case that lines up closely with the Encanto ride now in development for Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Encanto-themed ride concept art

The patent, titled "Elevation Change Illusion Through Set Design," lists Imagineer Daniel Joseph as the lead inventor, along with Jessica Klouda, Martha Gutierrez Navarro, and Jason Monahan. It was filed on February 10, 2025, and published today, August 13, 2026. It details a way to make a flat ride track feel like it's climbing or dropping, without the track actually changing height.

Patent Images: Disney's Elevation Change Illusion

The core version of this trick needs no moving parts and no screens at all, just angled walls and stairs. But the patent leaves room for more, too. It describes optional add-ons like video projection and set pieces that shift or change dimension as the vehicle passes, layered on top of the static illusion for a stronger effect.

Your eyes naturally create a vanishing point based on where the track itself leads. The set pieces next to the track create a second vanishing point, positioned above or below the first. That gap between the two points is what tricks your brain into sensing you're gaining or losing height, even on a level track.

Patent Images: Disney's Elevation Change Illusion

How it works

The patent breaks the trick down into a few parts:

• The track stays flat, at a fixed angle along your direction of travel.
• Set elements next to the track sit at a non-perpendicular angle to that travel direction.
• Parts that would normally be horizontal, like floors or window ledges, get built at a slight angle instead.
• Parts that would normally be vertical, like posts or stair risers, tilt away from vertical too.

A building facade with two stories is one example in the filing. Build it leaning toward the track, and as you pass, the stories appear to stack upward. You read that as the ride vehicle climbing from the first floor to the second, even though the vehicle stays level the whole time.

The patent adds a few extra touches to sell the effect. A focal point, like a lit prop, pulls your eyes forward and away from the tilted walls beside you. Painting or lighting that fades along the length of the track can stretch your sense of distance. A repeating pattern of stairs or balusters that changes spacing along the track can make a short stretch feel longer than it is. The patent gives 15 degrees as a sample angle for the illusion, with a stated range of 10 to 20 degrees off the actual travel direction.

How It Could Be Used

This kind of trick solves a real cost problem. Building a multi-story attraction inside a building that's actually flat, or fitting a new level into an existing show building, gets expensive fast if you need a real elevation change. A set design illusion like this one gets a similar effect for a lot less.

Encanto-themed ride concept art

The timing stands out, since several projects in development could use exactly this approach:

• Disney's Animal Kingdom is adding attractions themed to Encanto and Indiana Jones.
• Magic Kingdom's villains-themed land will likely have a dark ride where this kind of illusion could be effectively used .

With multiple new attractions under construction at Walt Disney World, don't be surprised if this patent shows up in one of them sooner rather than later.

Photo: WDWMAGICEncanto Attraction Model