Busch Gardens is launching a new website soon, and we’re letting you, our awesome social media fans, be one of the firsts to check it out. We’d love for you to visit the website, look around, and tell us what you think.

It’s finally time … our 2nd annual Spare Wolves Bowling Fundraiser is here. Come out for a night of bowling, animal ambassador interactions and a silent auction. Last year this event was wildly successful and we were able to raise more than $2,500 for wolf conservation projects supported by the SeaWorld Busch Gardens Conservation Fund. We want to top that number this year and we need your help. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for children 12 and under.

We want to help ease your back to school blues by inviting you to our annual Wild Days event.

Jack Hanna and our friends from the Columbus Zoo will be here to help us celebrate this great event. They’ll be joining Julie Scardina and trainers from Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and the SeaWorld parks in San Antonio, San Diego and Orlando.

This Throwback Thursday we are honoring our dedicated and diligent employees. Joanne Tyndall, one of the eight seamstresses at The Old Country, Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Va., puts the finishing touches on one of more than 400 flags that were to be displayed throughout the park. Did you know that each flag was hand sewn?

Three years of research, strategic planning and guest feedback all culminates this spring with the debut of new rides at Busch Gardens and Water Country USA, and we couldn’t be more excited. Plans for Busch Gardens’ Mach Tower and Water Country USA’s Vanish Point were announced Sept. 18, 2010 in front of 2,000 park fans inside Das Festhaus. At the time, fans also heard details of a completely rejuvenated Oktoberfest area that will feature a new restaurant, a beer garden-style seating area and performance spaces designed to complement Mach Tower.

If one of your new year’s resolutions is to get your financial house in order, you’re not alone. I spent a good part of this past weekend paying pending bills, balancing the checkbook (well, almost) and working on a household budget for 2011. As I add up the costs for necessities like utilities, food and home repairs, the amount left for family entertainment is getting smaller and smaller.