Disney Files Patent for a Floating Gadget That Makes Fog in Your Drink
Dry ice fog is gone in a few minutes. Disney's patent application describes a battery-powered, ice-cube-shaped gadget that floats in your drink and keeps the fog going long after dry ice would have run out.
What Disney's fog-making ice cube actually does
A themed cocktail lands on the table with fog spilling over the rim. A few minutes later the dry ice has run out, and it's just a drink again. That is the problem behind this Disney patent application.
Disney describes a small floating gadget, shaped like an ice cube in the main example, that you drop into a glass. It soaks up a bit of the liquid and uses very fast vibration to turn the water into mist, so your drink keeps smoking far longer than dry ice allows. There is nothing to plug in, because the battery sits inside the sealed cube.
It can glow, too. Tiny lights shine into the fog so it takes on color. The filing says the same idea could make a volcano cake smoke, a jack-o-lantern puff, or even a lake look misty.
a housing including a vapor outlet and a fluid inlet in fluid communication with a fluid source external to the housing; and a vibration generator positioned within the housing …
Translation: The device uses a waterproof shell holding a liquid intake, a mist exit, and a vibrating motor.
How ultrasonic vibration turns water into fog
The claims cover a sealed housing with two openings: a fluid inlet where liquid from outside gets in, and a vapor outlet where fog gets out. Inside sits a vibration generator, which the filing says can be a piezoelectric ultrasonic transducer (a small disc that shakes extremely fast when electricity hits it). It breaks the water into tiny droplets that drift out as fog.
A second independent claim covers the method. The device touches a liquid, a wicking material (something that pulls liquid along by itself, like a paper towel soaking up a spill) carries some of it to the vibrating part, and the fog comes out. The wicking layer can act as a membrane that lets only water through, so in a cocktail the fog is made from water. The filing says vaporized alcohol raises health and flammability concerns.
Other details the filing describes:
- A dry compartment for the battery and electronics, walled off from a wet compartment where liquid flows.
- An empty air pocket and a small weight that keep the outlet facing up above the surface.
- A baffle (a small shaping piece) that turns a jet of fog into a low-lying haze.
- LED lights aimed into the fog, which a phone or computer can control wirelessly.
- A cube under two inches per side that fits in a container holding 12 ounces or less.
… wherein the vapor generator induces vibration in a fluid received from a fluid received from the fluid inlet and generates a vapor output via the vapor outlet.
Translation: It shakes the liquid inside to create a steady stream of fog that puffs out the top.
Why Disney wants fog that outlasts dry ice
If this ever reached guests, the practical change is a themed drink, dessert or centerpiece that keeps smoking for as long as you're sitting there, instead of puffing for a few minutes and going flat. The filing covers a floating cube that looks like ice, a volcano cake, a jack-o-lantern and even a pond, so it points at restaurants, cruise ships and theme parks as the obvious homes.
Status check: the examiner's first review rejected the claims as filed, which is routine at this stage and usually followed by amendments. The claims are also broad (a housing, an inlet, a vibrating part), so the final wording could look quite different. A filing like this does not mean a product is coming.
That makes this the second battery and power filing from Disney we've tracked since June, following one on wirelessly powering objects in water.
Every engineering choice here buys something and costs something. Swapping dry ice for a vibrating disc buys fog that lasts and no freezing-cold material to handle. The price is a battery-powered gadget that has to live inside a drink and survive being wet, which means tight seals, a charging port that must stay capped, and a part someone has to rinse and recharge between guests.
The water-only membrane is the cleverest trade in the filing. A whiskey cocktail gives off fog made of water, and the filing flags alcohol vapor as a health and fire concern. The cost is that any filter can wear out, and the filing says nothing about how long this one lasts.
Verdict: in a theme park, where staff handle cleaning and charging anyway, the trade reads as worth it. At a home party, a small gadget with this much upkeep asks a lot of the host.
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The drawings
7 drawing sheets from US 2026/0335783 A1 · click any drawing to enlarge
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