Disney has filed a patent application for an artificial intelligence (AI) system that detects mechanical faults in ride equipment by listening to it.
The filing, spotted by patent-tracking service Patentlyze, describes two AI models working together.
The first isolates the sound of the machinery from background park noise, while the second compares those sounds with a record of normal operation and flags anything unusual.
The aim is to catch worn parts before they fail, much as a driver might notice an odd noise from a car engine before it breaks down.
The application was filed in March 2025 and published on 24 September, and there is no public sign yet that Disney has used the system on any ride.
It follows a related Disney filing for "visualization-based anomaly detection for predictive maintenance", which compares images of physical parts against their normal condition to flag repairs.
Disney also filed a patent for personalised ride preferences in February 2025.
Together, the filings suggest Disney Parks, the Walt Disney Company's theme park and resort division, is moving from fixing faults after they happen to predicting them in advance.
Laughing Place, the Disney fan site, noted that the system is not generative AI, because it creates no new content or images and simply sends an alert when it detects a problem.
