Disney revealed new concept art for Antonio’s Fiesta de Encanto at D23 Expo 2026 last night. One image in particular looks a lot like a patent Walt Disney Imagineering published just a few days earlier. We compared the two side by side, and the new concept art mirrors the image utilized in the patent. This gives us our first look at how the Encanto ride will use illusions to move guests through the magical Casita.
Encanto Concept Art Mirrors Disney’s New Elevation Illusion Patent
IN THIS ARTICLE:
- New Encanto concept art shows guests on a grand staircase inside the Casita
- The staircase closely resembles a forced-perspective illusion Disney recently patented
- Disney has not confirmed the ride uses this specific patented technique
Jared Bush, chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, unveiled new concept art for Antonio’s Fiesta de Encanto during a D23 Expo panel. The panel confirmed the attraction’s official name and story details. One piece of art shows riders on a staircase inside the Casita. Railings and flowering vines frame the scene. The staircase climbs toward a glowing window, where Alma Madrigal appears to watch over the scene.
That image immediately caught our attention because of a patent we covered earlier this month. Walt Disney Imagineering filed the patent. It describes a technique for making guests feel like they’re changing elevation on a ride vehicle, but the vehicle never actually leaves a flat, level track.
What the Patent Describes
Disney filed the patent on February 10th, 2025. It was published earlier this month. The inventors include Illusioneering veteran Daniel Joseph, along with Jessica Anne Klouda, Martha Patricia Gutierrez Navarro, and Jason William Monahan. This patent describes building certain set elements at a deliberate angle rather than true horizontal or vertical. In one example, that includes stair treads, support posts, door frames, and floors. This mismatch tricks the eye to create a second vanishing point next to the real one. The guest’s eye reads the resulting distortion as motion. Disney’s filing specifically calls out simulating movement between the stories of a building facade as a possible use. The illusion uses no moving mechanical parts.
Of course, this patent doesn’t name Encanto or any specific attraction. Disney regularly files patents across many projects that never end up in a finished ride.
Comparing the Patent Drawing to the Concept Art
The patent’s own illustration shows a ride vehicle facing a staircase. That staircase appears to climb away from the viewer at a steep, exaggerated angle. Angled beams flank the stairs on either side. A lit window at the top serves as a focal point. That’s the exact combination the patent describes as key to the trick: off-angle stair risers, converging sightlines, and a bright focal point pulling the eye forward.
The new Encanto concept art shows a strikingly similar composition. Riders face a staircase that appears to climb steeply away from them, framed by railings on both sides. A glowing, lit window sits at the top, where Alma Madrigal is shown. Flowers and butterflies fill the space along the stairs. That detail could double as the “repeating set patterns” the patent mentions as additional support for the illusion.
Disney didn’t mention this patent or an elevation illusion by name anywhere in the D23 panel’s Encanto reveal, but we wouldn’t expect them to have. The resemblance between the two images is evidence enough.
Why This Would Make Sense for the Casita
Antonio’s Fiesta de Encanto centers on Antonio’s gift day. Guests move through the many rooms of the Madrigals’ magical house as part of that celebration. Construction on the Casita structure reached its vertical phase earlier this year, and the ride leans on the sense of a house that shifts and grows around its riders.
An illusion like the one described in the patent would let Disney trick guests into thinking they’re climbing between floors of the Casita. With this illusion, Disney wouldn’t need to engineer an actual multi-level track to pull that off. Construction is simpler, and costs are lower. The ride would still deliver the feeling of a house full of moving staircases, a detail fans of the film will recognize from how the Madrigals’ home behaves on screen.
Antonio’s Fiesta de Encanto is under construction in the Tropical Americas section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, targeting a 2027 opening.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!