Our Fall Getaways Section helps you plan for family fun!

Dear Family Travelers:

Got your witch's hat? You're going to need it long before Halloween!  

That's because everyone-camp grounds, museums, theme parks and hotels-- has Halloween festivities all October long, especially this week. You'll find lots of ideas for places to wear your witch's hat and let your kids show off this year's costumes in the Taking the Kids Great Fall Getaways section. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

• Head to a zoo like The Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, Rhode Island, draws thousands to see its 5,000 illuminated jack-o-lanterns, with more than 125 displayed in special scenes.
• Consider a museum like the Children's Museum of Indianapolis with its enormous haunted house.
• Take the tweens on a ghost tour like the one we did in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, which featured the soldier who accidentally shot a young girl in a house during the Battle of Gettysburg - the only civilian casualty of the epic Civil War struggle.
• Opt for a theme park with teens. The Fright Fest at the 18 Six Flags parks requires you to fend off 200 zombies out to play. There are also ghoulish scare zones and much, much more. During the day, come in costume for the Spooky Kooky Magic Show and the Monster Maze. For younger kids, there's SeaWorld's Spooktacular in San Diego and Orlando and Disney World's immensely popular Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and Mickey's Halloween Party at Disneyland.
• Pick your own pumpkins and apples. PickYourOwn.org can help tell you where to go near your home. You'll find corn mazes, hay rides and more. And when you get home, you can make caramel apples and have a pumpkin-decorating contest!
• Team up with another family and go camping when you can tell ghost stories by the fire! Many of the 400 KOA campgrounds in the US and Canada also have RV space or rental cottages - so you can go as rough or as rustic as you want.-and plenty of seasonal fun f you're taking a toddler, check out these tips for camping with little ones.
• Play at the indoor pools, day and night, at the dozen Great Wolf Lodge waterpark resorts, even if it's cold outside. In addition to the daily story time, waterplay and crafts activities, the not-so-scary Howloween (October 9-31) features a Trick-or-Treat Trail, costume parades and spooky evening stories starring the mascot Wiley the Wolf.

Happy Halloween!