Walt Disney World isn’t the only place in Orlando where you can get fun free treats on your birthday (read up on the What Will You Celebrate? promotion if you have no idea what we’re talking about). At Busch Gardens in Tampa, the park is now offering a free Serengeti Safari if you come to the park on your birthday. Great thrill rides, fun animal encounters, and a one-of-a-kind journey into the park’s animal habitats – what else could you ask for on your birthday? Except for cake, of course.

An up-close, 30-minute-long open-truck tour, the Serengeti Safari at Busch Gardens takes guests into the wild of the park’s 65-acre Serengeti Plain, where they’ll see some magnificent animals from a perspective most guests don’t get to enjoy. Safari riders will get nose-to-nose with a giraffe, learn a thing or two about zebras, and understand exotic species like bongo, eland, and ostrich. They’ll even get to hand-feed giraffes and antelopes. Guests are guided on their trek into the wild by a Zoo Educator, who’ll help bring them closer to the wildlife while sharing their seemingly infinite knowledge.

Normally, the Serengeti Safari at Busch Gardens is only available with an extra fee of .99. But from now through the end of the year, if you come to Busch Gardens on your birthday, you can explore the Serengeti Plain for free! Simply visit the Adventure Tour Center located in the Moroccan Village area of the park to reserve your safari expedition.

If you plan on taking advantage of this great offer, be sure to bring proof of your birth date to the park in the form of a valid driver’s license, government-issued ID, or an original or certified copy of a birth certificate. The offer is valid for the birthday adventurer only, who must be five years of age or older to participate, and it doesn’t include free admission to Busch Gardens, which is still required.
Incidentally, this free birthday Safari is being offered in honor of Busch Gardens’ 50th anniversary. To kick off a year-long celebration of 50 years of fun, the park is also hosting Summer Nights at Busch Gardens, a summer-long series of nightly parties filled with entertainment, music, and food. Busch Gardens has also opened a brand-new exhibit dedicated to the history of the park, featuring a historical photo timeline and artifact displays including vintage uniforms, classic coaster cars, ride designs, and more.

To join in on the celebrations and to take advantage of a free Serengeti Safari if your birthday’s coming up soon, plan a trip to the wildest theme park in Tampa. Take a look at discount Busch Gardens tickets on DWTickets.com and have fun safari-ing!

Now that Manta is open and soaring high over at SeaWorld, it’s time for roller coasters aficionados to turn their attention to the other big attraction opening this summer, the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit (HRRR or “Rockit” for short). To the eye, this new coaster at Universal Studios might not seem as innovative as Manta, but it actually packs a wallop as big as its name with fun technological elements and never-before-attempted roller coaster maneuvers.

We’ve discussed in previous blogs how the HRRR will feature six special maneuvers, three of which have never been attempted with a coaster before. There’s the 17-story high vertical lift, a non-inverted loop (the world’s first), a spiraling negative gravity move, and much more, including a 95 degree angled swoop over the crowd as they wait in line for their turn.

Now, even more details are coming out about the Rockit’s unique design. Particularly important to the coaster is its ultra-maneuverable X-CAR passenger car, which allows the Rockit to have the moves of many different styles of coaster. Each will feature only a lap-bar restraint, which will leave the upper body less restricted, allowing for extra thrills during those crazy loops and drops.

In addition, the trains will reportedly never stop at the loading station thanks to a groundbreaking new loading area design. We’re not sure how it works, but plans dictate that the Rockit will dispatch a train roughly every 23 seconds.

And though plenty has been said about the technological elements of the Rockit, most probably aren’t appreciating how tech-equipped this ride really is. The HRRR has six on-board cameras and eight high speed special effects cameras for capturing each rider’s experience. Needless to say, that goes way beyond the one camera that most rides flash at you when you’re donning your goofiest expression of terror. With 54 special effects shots, guests will not only be able to see their ride in full, but they’ll even be able to produce their own unique ride video and buy a DVD of it, download it at home or onto their phone, and send it to their friends.

Moreover, the Rockit will feature a 55-watt on-board speaker system that will blast out one of 30 songs from 5 genres; the song choices will include both classic and contemporary artists.

Though the Rockit was originally set to open in spring of this year, the opening was delayed to summer due to what we hear were some difficulties constructing that sky-high lift. Since then, however, the ride’s been coming along swimmingly; all pieces of the track are in place, the trains have been placed on it, and they’ve already begun testing of the ride.

We’ve even heard whispers that the HRRR will be debuted on July 4, meaning that it will coincide with the park’s Independence Day celebrations and the last day of the Summer Concert Series (check out our blog on that here). If that’s true, then the 4th of July is sure to be filled with good times all around at Universal.

In the meantime, if you do happen to see the ride being tested out while you visit Universal and are surprised at how slow things are running, don’t fear – the ride’s speed will pick up significantly once it’s out of testing phase!

Crowds are sure to gather for the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit when it opens, so you’ll want to save time by getting your Universal Studios tickets well in advance from DWTickets.com. We’ll see you in line for this exciting new coaster!

There are only a handful of occasions worthy enough to cause Cinderella Castle to be lit up in colors different from its usual color scheme. But when the Orlando Magic are playing in the NBA Finals, we’d say that’s certainly one of those worthy occasions. In support of its local team, Walt Disney World has lit up the iconic symbol of Magic Kingdom, Cinderella’s Castle, in Magic blue and white.

The lights were first switched on Thursday, June 4, the date of the Magic’s first game in the 2009 NBA Finals. In California, Disneyland also illuminated its Sleeping Beauty Castle in Los Angeles Lakers colors, purple and gold.

Incidentally, the two parks even made a wager over who would win what’s become known as the Disney World vs. Disneyland Finals. Just as the mayors of their respective city’s teams traditionally make a bet on the outcome of a championship, Walt Disney World President Meg Crofton and Disneyland President Ed Grier are betting on their local teams with some very interesting terms.

If the Magic win, Grier will have to walk down Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland wearing a pair of special Mickey Mouse ears in Magic blue and white. If the Lakers win, Crofton will don a pair of Laker’s purple and gold mouse ears and walk down Main Street, U.S.A. at Magic Kingdom.

“The Lakers are going to make your team very Grumpy this week,” bantered Grier to Crofton.

“But we have ‘Magic’ on our side,” countered Crofton. “And isn’t that what Disney is all about?”

The two presidents went through their respective parks last week looking for supporters and posing with fans. In front of Cinderella Castle, Crofton was accompanied by Minnie, Goofy, Chip, and Dale as she passed out Orlando Magic hats, t-shirts, balloons, and basketballs to park guests.

If the Magic win, not only would it be their first Championship win in history, but fans would be able to expect a wild celebration at Disney World. Magic Kingdom, as it usually does with the Super Bowl and other game championships, would likely hold a spectacular parade featuring players from the team. After all, when all major sports players and American Idols celebrate a major victory, they go to Walt Disney World – just ask Kris Allen.

While everyone awaits for a winner to emerge from the Finals, fans at Walt Disney World can support their team with newly released Disney/Magic t-shirts. Available at Walt Disney World and Amway Arena, the shirts are available in three blue and white designs, with Mickey dressed in Magic gear on the front of two designs and a Magic basketball with Mickey ears on the third.

And of course, you can always bide the time with fun at Walt Disney World! Check out Walt Disney World tickets on DWTickets.com to enjoy the parks or preemptively get your passes for the Orlando Magic victory celebrations. Not that we’re biased, of course…