Wallpaper pictures of the former "The Flying Unicorn" junior 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!

When Islands of Adventure opened on May 28, 1999, the park offered many thrilling rides for teenagers and adults.  But as far as rides for the kids, that was a bit lacking especially when the park was compared to its family friendly competitors just down I-4.

A quick solution came in the Summer of 2000.  "Marvel Super Hero Island" had the opening of "Storm Force Accelatron," a spinning tea cups ride on steroids designed for riders of nearly all ages.  The other solution happened in the opposite end of the park in "The Lost Continent."  Merlinwood saw the addition of "The Flying Unicorn," a junior roller coaster designed to give those people 36" and taller a taste of roller coaster action until they are tall enough for "Dueling Dragons" and "The Incredible Hulk Coaster."

"The Flying Unicorn" officially opened to the general public on June 29, 2000.

Like in the neighboring "Dueling Dragons," Merlin is once again part of the storyline with this smaller roller coaster.  The story here is that a wizard found a unicorn's horn, and he used it to construct the ride.  We ride along in unicorn themed cars, and as we travel up the lift hill, the wizard uses the magic from the unicorn's horn to make the cars fly.  The trains crest over the top of the lift hill and race along the 1,099 feet of track, reaching a top speed of 28.5 mph before braking and returning to the station.

"The Flying Unicorn" was manufactured by Vekoma just like "Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster" in next door's Universal Studios Florida, and also "The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm" in the Magic Kingdom.  The same small cars and cramped seats for adults.  Out of the three, "The Flying Unicorn" is the tallest, longest and fastest of the junior roller coasters.  For me, "The Flying Unicorn" is the best ride while the Barnstormer has the best theming.

"The Flying Unicorn" closed to the general public on July 7, 2008 to help make way for the new land, "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter."  Universal removed it completely from the park's guidemap.  Fortunately, the coaster was to be included in the new land but with different theming and a different story that fits into the Harry Potter books and movies.  The bad part was that "The Flying Unicorn" was closed for nearly two years during the construction of the new land.  It was hard walking past the ride and not being able to take a ride.

On June 18, 2010, the newly themed "Flight of the Hippogriff" opened to the general public along with the rest of the brand new "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" island in Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park.

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, The Flying Unicorn, Dueling Dragons, The Incredible Hulk Coaster, Storm Force Accelatron, Marvel Super Hero Island, Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster, Flight of the Hippogriff and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter are (c) Universal Studios.

The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm is (c) The Walt Disney Company.

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.

- Islands of Adventure - "The Lost Continent" - "The Flying Unicorn" - entrance sign - 01 - regular, widescreen

- "The Flying Unicorn" - warning sign - 01 - regular

- "The Flying Unicorn" - ride - 01 - regular, widescreen

- ride - 02 - regular, widescreen

- ride - 03 - regular, widescreen

- ride - 04 - regular, widescreen

- "The Flying Unicorn" - on-ride - 01 - regular, widescreen

- "The Flying Unicorn" - closed for conversion into "Flight of the Hippogriff" - October 2008 - 01 - regular, widescreen