Just a word of caution, just because Disney has patented something doesn't mean there are current plans to use it.
Couldn't agree more - especially since the articles got some important things wrong. A few thoughts:
1) Disney didn't get a patent. This is a published patent application. The application may never become a patent - and even if it does it could take years. The application is still under examination.
2) The application was published last week - but it was filed over a year and a half ago (April 2016). Doesn't appear this was a provisional application, so Disney presumably had this reduced to practice before then (likely a prototype). Given the complexity, they may have been working on this for years before filing. This is new to us - but not to Disney.
3) Agree completely that not all patented inventions see the light of day. Maybe Disney wants to develop it. Maybe they want to license it. Maybe they want to prevent someone else from using something like it (*cough*Universal*cough). Maybe they're working on related designs and needed to get this variation on file.
4) All the information in the specification and description, the drawings, the ride layout - it's all illustrative and secondary of how the invention might work. The only part that really matters are the claims. And since the application is still under examination, all of those things could still change before a patent issues (if one issues).
The TL;DR version: don't make more of this than what it is - which is that Disney is spending years to develop ride technology which it might use one day. That shouldn't be surprising.
