WDW: Not just for kids!

We did a few really cool things during our trip to Walt Disney World in mid-June (aside from eating the best food ever, of course). 

Over in Disney Hollywood Studios:

We got ourselves frozen in carbonite, like Donald:

But what really happened is that we sat in a little chair while someone took 3D pictures of our faces.  It looked something like this:

Then we made a variety of expressions, which looked something like this:

Then we got to choose the expression we liked the  most so that it can be made into an action figure-- something like this:

but with our own heads. They are made into 8" action figures and we should be getting them in a few weeks. I'm not sure where we'll put them, but I'm sure they will be displayed prominently.

We also went to this really cool Walt Disney museum, which was kind of off the beaten path but well worth visiting. It includes:

Walt Disney's office

Mr. Lincoln without his clothes on

It also included much more memorabilia-- more than I can include in this post. So if you are randomly in Disney Hollywood Studios, make sure to visit this museum.

In the Animal Kingdom, we made sure to get the obligatory "in front of the Tree of Life" picture;

And then a picture in front of Expedition Everest:

We also went on the safari and saw zillions of giraffes (among other animals):

At Epcot, we wore matching sweatshirts:

And rode on Spaceship Earth (the golf ball):

which they have revamped, so it now includes a portion where you answer a few questions and you get a video of what your life may be like in the future:

It made me laugh so hard, I was crying.

Finally, we went to the Magic Kingdom a few times:

It was really, really, really crowded and the only fun we had there together was during Magic Hours when the park was open until 2am for those staying at the Disney resorts. 

We made sure to visit the Haunted Mansion, which recently re-did their graveyard to make it more interactive. This includes an organ you can play, musical instruments on the wall that you touch and they play a tune, and this sarcophagus:

which sprayed water at passersby.

And took a picture here, which makes us look pretty wilted:

I'm glad that we chose to do some nontraditional, non-ride things because there were just way too many people and the lines were usually 45+ minutes long.

We didn't get to spend much time with my family, which was unfortunate, but none of them really wanted to spend time in the parks when we were there and  I had to go home earlier than others because of work. But, of course, wherever the ShepAlders are, there the fun is also!

I'm getting prepared to write my many posts about our road trip east, but I have to overcome the denial that I'm going to be living in North Dakota for the next year first.