Packages Close the Generation Gap

Plenty of energetic grandparents love theme parks, and Walt Disney World has noticed, offering its first vacation packages for grandparents traveling with grandchildren. Disney’s Grandkids and You Getaway, which runs through September, includes three nights’ lodging at any of the park’s resorts, admission to all Disney attractions, breakfast with Disney characters and a pre-arrival Magical Memory Box with a stuffed toy, autograph book and Birnbaum’s official Disney World guidebook. Prices start at $424 per adult (based on double occupancy), $220 for kids 3 to 9, $267 for kids 10 to 17.

At Disney’s new 1,293-room Animal Kingdom Lodge, families can watch giraffes, wildebeests and gazelles on the savanna--from the balconies. More than 200 mammals and birds live in this 33-acre habitat.

The huge lobby features a mud fireplace. There’s an extensive collection of African art (one Nigerian ceremonial mask is 16 feet tall), African folk stories are told around the outdoor fire pit, and the elevated rock area just outside the hotel puts guests within 15 feet of the animals. You can buy authentic African crafts at the marketplace. At the restaurant Jiko, maize tamales and roasted papaya stuffed with beef are among the specialties, and there’s a long South African wine list. At Boma, the big buffet restaurant, try African soup and blue cornbread.

Kids can be junior chefs or safari researchers, talk to young staffers from Africa or make masks alongside an artisan.

Rates at the Animal Kingdom Lodge start at $199. Call (407) W-DISNEY (934-7639) or visit https://www.disneyworld.com.

Those who want to inject a little learning into their theme park fun might try a Williamsburg (Va.) Flex Vacation. You get a discount hotel room and unlimited admission to five attractions. The kids can make bricks out of mud at Colonial Williamsburg, hit the roller coasters at Busch Gardens Williamsburg (which now features Ireland, the first new country area to hit the European-themed park in 20 years), visit the world of Pocahontas and John Smith at Jamestown Settlement, rocket down the flumes at Water Country USA or be “recruited” into the Continental Army at Yorktown Victory Center.

You can tailor a Williamsburg package to your family’s needs. Through Sept. 16, families can book five days of unlimited admission to the attractions for $123 per adult, $98.25 per child under 18. From Sept. 18 through Oct. 29, the same package--minus Water Country USA--is $101 for adults, $76.25 for children. With the package, rooms at more than 60 area lodgings start at around $60 per night. Call (800) 400-2851 or visit https://www.williamsburgfun.com.

Taking the Kids appears twice a month.