Wallpaper pictures of the "Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges" raft ride in the "Toon Lagoon" section of Islands of Adventure in Universal Orlando - presented in 4:3 regular and 16:10 widescreen formats!

Opening with Islands of Adventure in 1999 and being one of the two water rides in "Toon Lagoon," "Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges" quickly achieved fame and high honors as one of the premier family-style raft rides in the world.  Over ten years later, the ride is still considered by many to not only be the best, but also the wildest and wettest raft rides of its kind.

Despite having a bit of a weird name, this is a highly themed raft ride that takes you straight into the Popeye the Sailor cartoon.  The ride starts out calm and you float under a couple of bridges until it's time for the first rapids section.  After some swift action and major splashing, the raft slows, gets drenched under a waterfall, and then enters the calm section around the "Me Ship, The Olive" boat.  We round another curve, bounce under another waterfall, and then float through a cave where Popeye is fighting a giant octopus.  After leaving the cave, Bluto is waiting for us at the infamous boat wash / lift hill.  The raft riders are helpless as they slowly climb the giant hill and Bluto gives the raft a thorough soaking.  At the top of the hill lies the second rapids section and epic conclusion as Popeye eats his spinach, battles Bluto, and once again saves the day!

In the summer, expect to encounter long lines during the peak of the day.  Oh yeah, and you will most likely get drenched.  Not soaked, but drenched so much that your clothes cannot possibly retain any additional water.  So drenched that you could go swimming in the lagoon and not get any wetter.  Yeah, you can get that wet on the ride.  Hang out near the exit and watch as people walk away smiling, laughing, and many of them completely soaked.  Thankfully, the hot Florida sunshine will have your outer layer of clothing dry in no time at all.

The best ways to handle getting soaked are to have a change of clothes handy for after the ride, and to leave wallets, electronics and other items with a non-rider.  Universal does provide free storage lockers, but if you're not back within a certain amount of time you have to pay to retrieve your items.  That itself can be a bit of a challenge since people tend to crowd around the rental machines, and it could take some time before it's your turn to retrieve your items.  Personally, I would only use the free lockers as a last resort and to only use them when the park isn't busy.  Otherwise, bring a plastic bag and wrap up your most prized possessions, and store them in the container on the middle of the raft.  It isn't completely waterproof, but it's better than nothing.

Many people opt to wear rain ponchos on the ride.  One time a long time ago, I even saw a person carrying an umbrella to protect themselves from the water.  How the workers missed that safety hazard, I'll never know.  Remember people, if you're going to wear a poncho on a water ride and look silly in the process, remember to have it also cover your shorts.  The poncho isn't going to so jack squat when big waves wash over the sides of the raft and soak the seats.

As a whole, "Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges" is a highly themed and just as entertaining raft ride.  It's easy to see why it's such a huge draw in the hot weather.  It's also great to see the classic Popeye characters brought back to life for new generations of children.

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 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 - "Toon Lagoon" - "Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges" - 01 - regular

- Popeye & Bluto - 02 - regular, widescreen

- Popeye & Bluto - old Universal Express distribution center (extinct) - 01 - regular, widescreen

- old Universal Express distribution center (extinct) - 02 - regular, widescreen

- Popeye & Bluto - 03 - regular, widescreen

- Popeye & Bluto - warning sign - 01 - regular

- Popeye & Bluto - entrance area - 01 - regular, widescreen

- Popeye & Bluto - ride start - 01 - regular

- ride start - 02 - regular, widescreen

- Popeye & Bluto - person with an umbrella - 01 - regular, widescreen