Got Those End-of-Summer Blues? Snag a Vacation After Peak Season

Everybody has the same symptoms: malaise and crankiness, combined with minor aches, pains and frustrations.

Relax: It’s not West Nile virus, just the end-of-summer-vacation blues. As eager as we may be to get the kids back in school and out of the house, we’re never quite ready for vacation to end. “How’d the summer go by so fast?” one friend demanded to know.

But just because the summer is over doesn’t mean you can’t slip away for a couple of days of fun in the sun. Those whose kids aren’t yet in school are lucky because you can snare a bargain at some resorts you couldn’t afford during the peak travel season. You’ll get better service too, without the crowds.

Here are some good choices:

* Dance the hula at the Outrigger Wailea Resort on Maui, where children get a free connecting room until mid-December and eat free. Kids will love the five pools, water playground and Cowabunga Club. Parents will enjoy the spa, and the luau is one of the best in the islands. Packages start at $425 per night.

Other Outrigger hotels in Hawaii are offering fall deals at up to 40% off, with rates starting at less than $100 a night at the Outrigger Kiahuna Plantation on Kauai. Call (800) 688-7444 or visit www.outrigger.com.

* Get up close and personal with the moose and elk at Yellowstone this winter while the kids snowshoe and learn to track animals as part of the Yellowstone Assn. Institute’s new “Yellowstone for Families” program, designed for families with kids 8 to 12.

The program, available in January and most of February, is led by a naturalist guide and includes three nights’ lodging, several meals and activities. Rates start at $383 for adults and $268 for kids. Call (307) 344-5566.

This fall there’s also unexpected room availability at some national park lodges. Xanterra Parks and Resorts is the country’s largest operator of national park lodges. Visit www.xanterra.com.

* Visit London for Thanksgiving with a $669 package from Los Angeles or San Francisco offered by Virgin Vacations. The package includes round-trip air fare, three nights in hotels, daily breakfast and restaurant discount coupons.

Ask about rates for other packages that include stays in apartments rather than hotels. Call (888) 937-8474 or visit www.virgin.com/vacations.

* Play in the leaves at Vermont’s Killington Mountain Resort, where a weekend starts at $47 per person and includes two nights’ lodging and a round-trip gondola ride. For $20 more, add a pass to the Adventure Center or greens fees and a round of golf on the 18-hole Killington Golf Course. At the Adventure Center you can enjoy mountain biking, in-line skating, miniature golf and an alpine slide. Call (877) 458-4637 or visit www.killingtonresortvillage.com; reservations must be made by phone.

* Through Oct. 15, single parents can hit the water slides, take on the kids in the latest video games or grab some R&R; while the kids are at camp at Beaches family resorts, including the newest, Boscobel Beach in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, which offers a petting zoo and free golf, without paying the $160-per-night single supplement for sharing a room with the kids. All-inclusive rates at Boscobel start at $255 per person, and $80 for kids to age 15. Call (800) 232-2437 or visit www.beaches.com.

* Use your room key to go to the front of the lines at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Fla., when you stay at one of Universal’s three hotels. Fall packages at the newest, Royal Pacific Resort, start at $99 per adult and $76.95 for kids and include two-day unlimited passes for the two parks as well as store discounts. There’s a three-night minimum stay. Call (800) 232-7827 or visit www.universalorlando.com.

Order the Orlando Magic Card, which can save a family of four as much as $500. To get it and to find other deals, visit the Orlando Convention and Visitors Bureau Web site at www.orlandoinfo.com, or call (800) 551-0181.

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Eileen Ogintz welcomes questions and comments from readers. Send e-mail to eogintz@aol.com.