Disney, The Dream...and WHAT?!? Disney AGAIN!?! *Updated 2/20*

melmar136

melmar136

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
WELCOME!

To our very first trip report! (with some dining reviews included. Everyone loves food!) :lmao:

Our trip began on August 20, and lasted...well, you'll have to read along to find that out. We had a few unexpected bumps along the way, but it turned out great.

The trip was to start off at WDW and then we were cruising on the Dream. Stay tuned to see what happened after that!

But first, let me introduce you to the CAST:

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Here we are, on the Dream on Pirate Night. Me, Mum (or Melissa) and Meg.

I am a single, divorced mom to my one and only child. (thankfully, the only one, or else I'd REALLY be broke!) I am now the proud owner of a DVC! Read more about that in our PTR

This was our 1st stay as official owners, and it was great!

Meg is a huge Disney fan, and loves Pooh pooh: ,cruising, nice hotels, and being waited on. We have determined on this trip that she hates quick service meals, and now is also a pizza snob (she was already a hotel snob!). :lmao: I tell her she better get a really good job, or find a rich guy, or both!


Stay tuned for much more to come!​
 
"It's the castle...I mean the hat!"​


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Epcot Part 1​
best. lunch. EVER.​
Epcot Part 3​
Leaving EPCOT​
Illuminations and the Lost Pearl​


Wednesday, August 24, 2011​

MK Morning​
Pooh the Poop :)​
MK Afternoon​
Hot Dogs and Wishes​


Thursday, August 25, 2011​

Boma and off to the Dream!​
Boarding the DREAM!​
Let's Sail Away...and check out our door!​
Royal Palace and FEs​


Friday, August 26, 2011​

Breakfast and NO relaxing.​
Shake it up Betty!​
Meg explores while I am ummm...busy...Part 1​
Meg explores while I am ummm...busy...Part 2​
One of us was being pampered and dinner Part 1​
Part 2: Dinner​
Arrrgh! Part 1​
Arrrgh! Part 2​


Saturday, August 27, 2011​

Enchanted Garden Breakfast​
What a big ship and who knew seagulls have good taste?​
No money! :(​
Flight stress and more​
Where did my sunglasses go?​


Sunday, August 28, 2011​

If you have to get stuck somewhere, it may as well be WDW!​
Our room at...​

Monday, August 29, 2011​

A Morning at the Boardwalk​
Biking and Browsing​
Ducks and Dinner​
DTD, again!​


Real life updates:​

Pumpkins and snowstorms!​
Le Cellier at home, and work​
.
 


Our flight was leaving from Boston's Logan airport at 1:30 pm. We arrived in plenty of time, and figured we should grab some lunch before sitting and waiting at the gate. We saw an Earl of Sandwich, and thought that would be a great place to start our trip, since there is also one at Downtown Disney.

I got the Original 1762, with roast beef and cheddar cheese, but I passed on the sauce.

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I should have had them include some lettuce and tomato for some crunch. It was a little boring, and the roast beef was a little fatty. So, I give it a 3.5 out of a possible score of 5.

Meg got Earl's Club, with turkey, bacon, swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, and "sandwich sauce". She thought the sauce was a little sweet, so it scored a 4.5 out of 5. What's in that sauce anyways?


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The menu wasn't nearly as extensive as the "real" Earl of Sandwich, but it was a pretty good start to our trip.

After we ate, we went to sit near our gate, and I pulled out my netbook. Free Wifi! I have to say, Logan was the only airport where we were able to pull up free Wifi. Not that I'm biased or anything! :laughing:

I checked out Facebook to waste time, and saw some VERY good news! My company had been on strike for 2 weeks, and I really hadn't been all that excited about our trip because of it. Worrying about money, etc. was taking up more of my time. BUT, when I checked out Facebook, I saw that the strike had ended! And although we did not have a new contract yet, everyone was going back to work. Well, not everyone, because I was going on vacation! :lmao: But, now I could ENJOY it! So, here I am, doing the happy dance!
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I couldn't WAIT to get to Disney after that great news. We boarded the plane soon after, and had to stop in Baltimore to change planes. Our next flight left around 4:30 and we arrived in Orlando, finally, around 7pm. We had to take the "fake monorail" as Meg calls it to the baggage claim area.

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We decided to grab our own luggage and bring it to the Magical Express. It was after 7pm at this point and we were afraid it would show up in our room really late. So, we found it all (we had one whole suitcase filled with mostly 3 days of FE gifts for the cruise!) and got in line for our bus.

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Here we are on the bus.

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We were the very last stop (we told the bus driver he saved the best for last!) after 3 other hotel stops. We fianlly got to Kidani around 8:30. Whew, what a long day! We were starving at this point, since we only had some little bags of peanuts on the planes. Well, Meg didn't. She can't eat nuts with her braces, and told me she was "jealous of my nuts...honey roasted that is!" :rotfl2:

Unfortunately, next, we had the worst meal of the entire trip.....​
 


DBF is obsessed with sandwiches. Quiznos is like his idea of Mecca. But can you believe he has only just tried Earl of Sandwich a few days ago! Yeah, his family is kinda like your daughter... they don't like QS and want to be waited on ;) So he never got the opportunity to try it.
And I'm sorry to hear your worst meal is coming up so soon! :scared1: At least you got it out of the way quickly!
 
So, when we left off, we were headed to get something for dinner. We were starving, and at 8:30 at night, at Kidani, there aren't many options. So, we took a walk over to Jambo House. It took about 10 minutes to get there. We wandered around for a few minutes and looked for their quick service place. We wound up seeing a few people carrying the refillable mugs and figured they would lead us there, so we followed them to Mara.

I knew I had to get some Zebra domes after reading about how good they are, so I picked up a package. We decided to split a cheese flatbread, and Meg got a chocolate chip cookie. We added 2 drinks, and let's just say the drinks were the best part of this meal. :rolleyes1

To start off this horrible dinner, here is the cheese flatbread:


013 by mlm313, on Flickr

It actually doesn't LOOK that bad. But, really, once you bite into it, it is like frozen pizza....the bad kind the school used to give you at lunch, that is barely warm, and really gross. The crust was really, really crunchy (burnt almost, on the bottom). We rate it a 1.5, but I think it could have gotten a lower score if we weren't so hungry!

After that, Meg and I were really looking forward to a good dessert. Too bad it wouldn't be tonite!
I had the zebra domes:


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And they, too, looked really good. But looks are deceiving. :lmao: I don't know if it was an off night or what, because I have read such great things about these. They had a weird texture, and were good, but not great, and not at all what I was expecting. :sad1: They get a 3 out of 5.

So, I was anxious to try a bite of Meg's cookie. I mean, how can you go wrong on a chocolate chip cookie?


015 by mlm313, on Flickr

Again, looks good, right? Oh, I wish! It really had no taste. Maybe a little like cardboard. Blah. We gave it a 1 out of 5.

Mara was an EPIC FAIL!

So sad. :sad2:

We walked back over to Kidani, and luckily when we checked in, we got a great room! 5th floor, 1st room once you got out of the elevator, room 7901. It's a studio room, and was our first time using our DVC. We booked only 3 months before, because we hadn't know we'd be able to use the DVC at that point, and our options were Kidani, SSR, and OKW. We chose Kidani because of the animals, even though we didn't get a savannah room.
Here is what our room looked like:

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(those were all taken the next morning)

So, like I said, luckily our room was close to the lobby. Because on our walk from Jambo back over to Kidani after "dinner" I started to feel really sick. :sick: I was actually thinking, "oh no! I am coming down with something on the 1st night of our vacation!". I really just wanted to change, and get into bed, which I did, after taking some Tums.
Thankfully, the next morning I felt totally fine. But for the next few days, every time Meg would mention the word Mara, I would feel sick. So, of course she had to keep doing it!!! Brat.

We woke up to a great sight, right outside our window in the morning.


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018 by mlm313, on Flickr

It was right after sunrise and there were 9 hot air balloons total. So pretty! It would have been great to be up in one!

We started to get ready for the day, and ate breakfast in our room. I had ordered some stuff from Garden Grocer about a month before, and it worked out great. They had sent me a text the day before when our order was delivered, and it was all set when we arrived at bell services. Great job, Garden Grocer! :thumbsup2

We had bagels (yummy cinnamon ones with butter), and Meg had juice, while I had tea. (I brought tea bags and sugar packets from home). We didn't take pictures, because I think everyone has seen a Thomas' bagel! :lmao:

After eating and finishing up getting ready, we were off to Downtown Disney!​
 
On our way to Downtown Disney, Meg decided to stop and take some pictures of the lobby and a hidden Mickey. The CM pointed it out to us the night before, while checking us in. I couldn't see it then, because it was dark and I didn't have my glasses. Meg says it is just because I have bad vision.
Here it is the next morning:

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It was way up, on a light fixture, here:

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A few more pictures of the lobby:


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Then we went down to the bus stop. We had seen in another TR, 2 people who were staying at AKL, making animal faces while waiting for the bus. We thought it was funny, and so here we are copying them:


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Don't we look ferocious?

Here is the first of many buses we rode around on:


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We arrived at Downtown Disney to do some shopping and browsing:


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We had to take a look in Goofy's Candy Shop. Look at these apples!


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So cute!

We saw Pooh and friends, Meg's favorite, so of course she had to take a picture with them. She says this is the picture of her and her peeps!


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and then an awkward photo moment with her and Pooh!


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oh, Pooh. What a big tummy you have! It must be full of honey!

We saw a tattoo place, and right away, Meg spotted one she had to have. This was her first purchase of the trip!


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Very cute, and he lasted a week, but got really dark! I think he got a tan. :lmao:

Next, we had to go into World of Disney


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Meg saw some shirts she really liked, but not enough to spend her own money on!


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On the way by the Lego store:


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We had a 12pm ADR for lunch at Planet Hollywood. Meg wanted to try it here.


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Here is a glimpse of the inside:


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They have to take a picture of you before you enter, by a limo. They bring it over to your table later, and it was around $20 maybe. I don't really remember because it wasn't a good picture at all.

We were taken to our table, which was a squishy little 2 person table, squeezed in next to a wall. The whole area seemed really crowded. I'm not sure why they made it so squishy in there, as there are 2 more floors of seating.

Here is Meg, next to a wall, at our table:


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She couldn't get into her seat at first. The hostess had to move the table back a few inches. Good thing I stuck Meg on that side!

Here I am:


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Meg ordered the garlic shrimp.



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It had noodles, with red peppers, pea pods, onions, shrimp, and a garlic chili sauce. Meg liked it, but thought it was a little too spicy, so it got a 4 out of 5.

I got the BBQ bacon burger with the BBQ sauce on the side, and fries:


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It was huge, and the BBQ sauce was good but the burger itself was somewhat dry. The fries were good, not great. I rate it a 4 out of 5.

The server was Hunter, and he was ok. He never asked how our meal was, but did bring over drink refills without being asked, so that was good. Overall, it was better than I thought it would be.

We used the ladies room on the way out, and Meg liked the mirror:


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Downtown Disney continued in next post​
 
We didn't get dessert at Planet Hollywood, as we really wanted a sundae at Ghirardelli. We walked around for awhile, and stopped in lots of stores, to browse AND for the air conditioning! It was HOT!


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116 by mlm313, on Flickr

I just liked Minnie's disapproving look towards Mickey, on the wall of one of the stores.

We hardly ever saw the Characters in Flight balloon up in the air. But for $19 per person, I didn't think it would really be worth it. How long do you get to stay up for?


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It was getting really hot, so we figured, what better way to cool off than to get ice cream?!? We walked back towards Ghirardelli, taking another picture of a Lego creation along the way.

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We arrived at the chocolate mecca:


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We settled on the Gold Rush sundae to split, since they are over $8 a piece. I ordered while Meg grabbed a table outside. There were none left inside in the nice A/C. The waitress brought the sundae out to us.


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We rated it a 4 out of 5. It had A LOT of peanut butter. Too much, actually, and the chocolate was more like dark chocolate. We are fans of milk chocolate. Of course we ate it all though! :laughing:

We decided we had enough of Downtown Disney at this point, and wanted to go to the hotels on the monorail. We like to ride around on the monorail and visit the hotels. Plus, we like to hear the "Please stand clear of the doors...." announcement. It's the ringtone on my phone! (free on Phonezoo.com if you want it too!)

We took the bus to the Contemporary Resort, and looked around in there for while. Of course, Meg had to take some pictures:


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She's trying for some artsy shots!

Then we hopped on the monorail:

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She got this shot on the way:


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We arrived at the Polynesian.


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Then, we headed down to Captain Cook's for what else? DOLE WHIPS! Yeah, I know we just had a sundae, but after all, it's vacation! :rotfl:


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Oh, if I had this self-serve machine at our hotel, I may never leave!


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I have to say, this was my first Dole Whip. It will not be my last! Sooooo good, and refreshing! :love: Meg had one before and told me I had to try one. Our rating: a 5 out of 5!

After that, we got back on the monorail and journey over to The Grand Floridian.


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Here's Meg, acting snooty because the GF is so fancy! :snooty:


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Right after this, we had some drama! Meg bought some soap for her grandmother at the Basin store and was trying to juggle her wallet, the camera, and her backpack. Well, the camera fell onto the hard floor. When we picked it up, and made sure it still turned on, the pictures were gone! The 50 she had taken before were gone. I yelled at her for dropping it, and she started crying because she felt so bad about her missing pictures. I told her there was nothing we could do about it, after I checked out the camera and couldn't figure out why we couldn't see any of the pictures, and then said if she wanted to continue using it, she'd need a strap. We had seen one in the store earlier, so we went back, and I spent $17 on a cute Mickey strap. Best investment I made. It saved the camera a few times!

We headed out to the bus stop, to take a bus to DTD and then catch one to the Wilderness Lodge. We were going to take a boat from there to Fort Wilderness for that night's dinner at the Hoop dee doo Revue!

While we were on the bus, I checked out the camera one last time and figured out that the memory card had slipped out a bit. The pictures Meg was taking after that were going right into the internal memory. I fixed the card, and the crisis was averted!!! Meg was happy once again! All her pictures were there! ​
 
Oh my so many awesome posts! I LOVE your report so far... you and Meg seem to be having so much fun! When my parents took the DVC tour they decided they liked the layout of the Kidani Villas but the aesthetics / location of Bay Lake Tower. I think Kidani looks super cute though! I do love me some Contemporary / Monorail though...

And we have another Dole Whip lover! I cannot wait to try it in October. Which type did you try?
 
BerrysGirl said:
Oh my so many awesome posts! I LOVE your report so far... you and Meg seem to be having so much fun! When my parents took the DVC tour they decided they liked the layout of the Kidani Villas but the aesthetics / location of Bay Lake Tower. I think Kidani looks super cute though! I do love me some Contemporary / Monorail though...

And we have another Dole Whip lover! I cannot wait to try it in October. Which type did you try?
Click to expand...

At the Poly, they only have vanilla, pineapple, or swirl. We both got the swirl. I'm going to have to try the orange at MK next time!

MelissaFromRI said:
Subscribing :goodvibes
Can't wait to read all about your trip :cool1:
Click to expand...

Hey tablemate! :goodvibes Glad you are joining in!!!
 
We caught a bus back to DTD, and then another to get to the Wilderness Lodge. Kind of a roundabout way to get to someplace that was practically right next door really! We could have walked faster!
We had to walk around the Wilderness Lodge of course, as this IS our home resort. We have stayed here before, but Meg doesn't remember because I guess she was too little at the time. We are going to stay here next year for sure!


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So many butterflies all over the flowers. It was so pretty!


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I have a picture of Meg next to this when she was little. I wish I could figure out how to get scanned pictures posted on here. We could compare then and now!


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We didn't have much time here, as we had to catch the boat over to Fort Wilderness. So, we went out to do that! Here we are on the boat!


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First stop was the Contemporary. The drivers were switching shifts, and so we waited a little bit. Then the new guy got on, asked where we were headed, and when we told him FW, he told us it was the wrong boat! We got up and started to get off, and he got a big laugh out of that, telling us he was kidding. HAHA. We did have the whole boat to ourselves though!

We went past what used to be Discovery Island. I had been there many times as a kid, and showed Meg where it was. You could still see the dock, and stuff. There were a ton of big birds circling around it, and a bunch of pelicans sitting in a tree!

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I had never seen that before!

Then, we got a great view of a rainbow!


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The picture didn't come out the best, but it was so pretty. I told Meg it was her Grammy, saying "hi, have a great trip!" That's because we were at the very spot where my favorite Disney memory took place. On Meg's first visit, at 2 1/2, we were on a boat very similar, leaving from the HDDR, headed to MK maybe. The fireworks had started over at MK, and the driver asked if anyone minded if we stopped for a bit to watch them. It was a great view! Meg looked at my mom and said, "oh Grammy, thank you!!!" Like she thought my mom had planned it just for her. She knew that my mom sure would have! :love:

We arrived at Fort Wilderness in plenty of time for our 7:30 dinner.


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155 by mlm313, on Flickr

We had to wait in line for the obligatory picture (which they brought over to the table later, and cost $30 so we didn't get it!) and then waited in line some more. Once the doors finally opened, we were led to our seats. I got category 1 when I booked, right at 180 days. It was worth it!


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Here we are, right next to the stage. Front and center. We sat here the last time we came too! Meg thinks it must be the only 2 person table in the category. I don't know, but we sure love "our" table!

Meg took a couple of pictures while we waited:

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157 by mlm313, on Flickr

Our waiter brought over the salad and cornbread for us to get started on. Yummy! I LOVE the cornbread! I ordered a sangria, but also asked for a Sprite. I was so thirsty after standing outside in the heat, I needed something to drink quickly. I didn't think it would be good to do that with the sangria! :drinking1


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Meg's half-eaten salad. We were hungry! She started eating before she remembered the camera! Shocking!

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And the heavenly cornbread! Mmmm Mmmm!


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The show had begun, but we'll get to that after a picture of this lovely plate of food! ​
 
When we left off, we were enjoying our food...the salad, and cornbread, and then the ribs, chicken, baked beans, mashed potatoes, and corn. We just love this down-home cookin'! Yee haw! ;)

The show had started, and is as corny and as funny as ever. Although the beginning song was somewhat different...


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The blonde was a riot! I love that character!


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Meg was choo-chooing like a train. Her half of the room was doing that, and my half had to whistle.

Then, it was time for dessert! Strawberry shortcake!


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We were so full at that point that we didn't have too much of it. But it was good.

Then it came time for the washboards!


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Meg sure likes to play it! Her hand is a blur in the picture since she is swinging the spoon around so fast!

Before we knew it, the show was almost over. They had the 4 people from the audience come up to play their parts. (We saw 2 of them of them on the bus when we left and everyone gave them a big cheer! The bus driver came on, from outside to tell us we were having way too much fun!)


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176 by mlm313, on Flickr


We had a great time at the show and thought dinner was tasty. We give it a 5 out of 5. I surprised Meg with this for her 6th grade graduation because she really loves it so much! She was so glad to be going again.

We headed back on the bus and changed when we got to the room, and went to bed. It was a long day!

Thoughts for today:

Weather: Sunny, and very hot!
Best thing for today: HDDR!
Worst thing today: Camera Drama!​
 
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