Throughout my time at Universal I had the opportunity to patent several of my attraction and theme park concepts. Below are a few of those patents that have been publicly approved by the US Patent Office.

An amusement park system in accordance with present embodiments includes a ride vehicle configured to move along a path, an aquatic portion of the path defined by a water flow path, and an aerial portion of the path defined by a track configured to support a bogie. The ride vehicle is configured to freely float and move along the water flow path in response to currents of the water flow path. The ride vehicle is configured to be carried along the track by the bogie.

A ride vibration system includes a rider support feature coupled to a ride vehicle and accessible to a rider positioned in the ride vehicle. The system includes a vibrator with a motor that rotates an eccentric mass to generate vibrations. The vibrator is at least partially integrated with the rider support feature and transfers the vibrations to the rider support feature. An input device receives a vibration intensity selection. A controller couples to the vibrator and to the input device. The controller receives the vibration intensity selection and controls the motor to control an intensity of the vibrations.

A ride system includes a first ride vehicle having a first magnet exposed along a first exterior side of the first ride vehicle and a first additional magnet exposed along a first additional exterior side of the first ride vehicle. The ride system includes a second ride vehicle having a second magnet exposed along a second exterior side of the second ride vehicle and a second additional magnet exposed along a second additional exterior side of the second ride vehicle. The ride system includes a control system configured to control maneuvering of one or both of the first and second ride vehicles to: establish a coupling between the first magnet and the second magnet in a first configuration, establish a coupling between the first magnet and the second additional magnet in a second configuration, establish a coupling between the first additional magnet and the second magnet in a third configuration, establish a coupling between the first additional magnet and the second additional magnet in a fourth configuration.

A ride system includes ride vehicles. Each ride vehicle includes a rider support configured to carry a rider, a support actuator coupled to the rider support and a base of the ride vehicle and configured to move the rider support relative to the base, and a ride vehicle movement system integrated with the base and configured to move the ride vehicle relative to a ride area. The ride system also includes a controller configured to control the support actuator and the ride vehicle movement system of each ride vehicle individually based on a choreographed routine and an input received from a selected ride vehicle. The input is indicative of an adjustment to the support actuator, the ride vehicle movement system, or both, of each ride vehicle. The input is based on a correlative adjustment to the support actuator, the ride vehicle movement system, or both, of the selected ride vehicle.