Wallpaper pictures of the former "Dueling Dragons" roller coaster in the now-extinct Merlinwood section of "The Lost Continent" at Islands of Adventure in Universal Orlando - presented in 4:3 regular and 16:10 widescreen formats!

Take two completely different roller coasters.

Make them inverted, seating riders in four-across rows for maximum capacity.

Put these two coasters in a highly themed environment.

Just for the fun of it, make these two coasters duel, putting the opposing riders within eighteen inches of each other on three separate occasions.

They called it "Dueling Dragons."  Fans of the ride may have well called it a work of art.  A thrilling and highly entertaining work of art.

I'll classify "Dueling Dragons" as one of the most elaborate roller coaster experiences ever created.  From walking through Merlinwood, going through the extremely long and sometimes creepy path through the castle, and taking a ride on both the Fire and Ice Dragon, this was one outstanding ride experience.

The ride experiences starts on the streets of Merlinwood in "The Lost Continent."  We're back in medieval England while walking down the streets.  Cozy little shops, a mystical aura in the air, an old castle through the trees off in the distance, and two <gulp> dragons!

Two large dragon statues (one red, one blue), frozen while in the midst of mortal combat, stand at the entrance of "Dueling Dragons."  Beyond them lies the castle, swampy battlefield, and whatever fate awaits us brave mortals.  Onward!

The path winds through the outer part of Merlinwood as we slowly make our way to the old castle.  Scattered along the path are signs by the former residents warning us not to continue.  But we do because we're not only brave but also foolish.  Off to the right we can catch sights on other dragons as they battle each other in the sky, terrifying their victims and fighting to the end!

Up ahead lies the drawbridge and entrance to the old castle.  Details about the last days of the castle are more visible as we make our approach.  The main structure has been mostly destroyed.  One guard tower still stands on the left side, but elsewhere are the signs of battle.  Stone has been crushed, wooden structures have been smashed, and eerie claw marks have been scratched onto stone walls.  It must have been a horrific last stand for the villagers as the dragons attacked.

The castle's main gate has a peculiar look to it, almost like the face of a . . . dragon.  Is it a warning, or just a harmless optical illusion?

Not being deterred by the signs of death and destruction, we proceed and enter the castle.

The castle's great hall is the first room we encounter.  On the opposite wall are several brilliant stained glass windows.  If we wait here long enough, Merlin's voice will appear, and he'll bring the stained glass windows to life, telling us a brief tale about the dragons.

". . . protect these reckless mortals' doom!"

We take the path to the left and head down a short hallway to the guard tower.  In the middle of the base of the room is a pedestal with Merlin's Book of Spells.  The old wizard reads aloud from them, casting spells to help guide and protect us against the wrath of the dragons.

". . . make these mortals fireproof!"

Leaving the old guard tower, we pass next through a room still glowing a faint red.  Charred remains of knights are found on the walls and ceilings.  It's quite evident that they were burned to a crisp by some known horror.  The next room is just the opposite.  An eerie blue light fills the room, and on the ceiling is a knight on horseback, frozen solid!  The castle corridors take on a dark and gloomy look as we venture into the dungeons.  Flickering torches light the way as we pass through an endless corridor of grimy walls and stone arches.

Two massive wooden doors await us around the next corner.  A shattered wooden beam once held the mighty doors closed, but from the sounds of things, something living may still be on the other side.  We quickly keep moving and enter the tunnel of skulls.  Hundreds of skulls and skeletons cover the walls.  Were they the original builders of the castle?  Are they the last ones to reside here?  Whatever the case, the tunnels reek of pure evil.  The only reassuring event is the voice of Merlin echoing down the halls.

". . . I'd turn back if I were you!"

At last we reach the end of the tunnels and it's time to make the decision:  Ice or Fire?

"Past this point of no return, your only choice is freeze, or burn!"

The dragons are waiting.  To the left is the Fire Dragon.  It'll take you on more of a speed run outside of the castle.  It uses its speed for hit-and-run attacks, making a strike before fleeing and turning around for another attack.  The Ice Dragon waits on the right side.  Ice prefers to fight from an enclosed area, like a wolf backed into a corner.  It'll twist and turn a countless number of times as it looks for an advantage and then strikes.  Both dragons are an equal match going into the battle.

As it was mentioned before, when the dragons battle the have three collisions.  The first one has the Fire Dragon cruising over a camelback hill while the Ice Dragon strikes from underneath in a zero-G roll.  Moments later, both dragons meet again in an almost head-on crash before each one pulls up for a vertical loop.  The dragons each turn around and battle one last time, twisting and rolling through an interlocking corkscrew.

Both Fire and Ice Dragon go through a total of five inversions throughout the ride.  After we return to the station, signs direct us back to the end of the line queue and we have the opportunity to ride the other dragon.

For me, I'll stick with the back row of the Fire Dragon and front row of Ice, though if the wait for the front is too long, the second row on Ice is still good.  My favorite between the two is the Fire Dragon.

The "Dueling Dragons" opened with the rest of Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park on May 29, 1999.  The ride closed on May 5, 2010 for re-theming and converting to the new version known as "Dragon Challenge."  "Dragon Challenge" officially opened with the rest of the new "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" on June 18, 2010.

Note - Each picture can be opened in one of two styles - regular (4:3 ratio) and widescreen (16:10 ratio). You may download and share these pictures, but please, do not modify or alter them in any way!

The above Islands of Adventure guidemap pictures are (c) Universal Studios.

The Lost Continent, Dueling Dragons, Dragon Challenge and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter are (c) Universal Studios.

The regular 4:3 pictures all have a resolution of 1600x1200 (960x1280 for vertical pictures), unless it's otherwise noted.  They can also easily fit monitor resolutions of 1280x960 or even 2133x1600 without needing any special modifications.  Just select the image and have Windows stretch and fit it to the other 4:3 resolution.

The widescreen 16:10 pictures all have a resolution of 1440x900, unless it's otherwise noted.  They can also easily fit a resolution of 2560x1600 without needing any special modifications.  Just select the image and have Windows stretch and fit it to the other 16:10 resolution.

Warning - There will be some slight variations between the regular and widescreen pictures!

To help save bandwidth for the other visitors, please open each picture only once. If you like it, save it to your hard drive. You can also right click on the link and select "save as" instead of manually loading each picture.

"Dueling Dragons" - entire line queue and loading station video Recorded in August of 2008.  This digital camera does not have image stabilization, so the image gets a little jumpy at times. 47.7 mb, 05:36 Please right-click on the picture and SAVE LINK AS or SAVE FILE AS to save the file to your computer's hard drive. If you have any file extraction or video playback problems, please check with the "Digital Videos" troubleshooting guide.

.

- Islands of Adventure - "The Lost Continent" - "Dueling Dragons" - 01 - regular, widescreen

- "Dueling Dragons" - Ice Dragon - 01 - regular, widescreen

- "Dueling Dragons" - Fire Dragon - 01 - regular, widescreen

- "Dueling Dragons" - entrance sign - 01 - regular

Prev - Next >>