A Magical Anniversary in the WILDERNESS *Pixie Dust Everywhere* Completed 11/19 New TR Link

I want to do a Disney Cruise so bad! Neither of us have ever been on one at all so I'll definitely be reading along for pointers. I already wrote down the lanyard idea :laughing: Your food from AP looks soooo good! Can't wait to read more!
 
While we were relaxing this guy decided to start talking to us and after a while we realized he was actually on the cruise with his wife and their two young kids. His phone had “died” and he lost them somehow so instead of looking for them he had decided to go for a dip in the adults-only pool where they would never be :rotfl2: his wife ended up walking by at one point and she was pretty ticked. I really didn’t blame her!
Yeah, seriously! I'm sure she expected him to be helping with the kids on the family vacation, not relaxing in the pool!

One of the first things we did when we got through the ears before they took our photo was pull out the lanyards I had bought us for the cruise. They were super handy for keeping track of our room keys since you need it for almost everything and I would recommend them to anyone! This was definitely a tip I had learned from my research prior to the trip. I was glad to have bought them! We were actually asked a couple times during the trip where we had gotten them to which DH was very impressed with my planning and research :rotfl:
I'm trying to decide if I should get these, or just get a lanyard from Disney? I actually already have several (meant for pins, but I have a pin board for that), so if I just get another pouch, then mom gets one too!

They had these available to buy in the gift shop and I regret not buying one because it was just too cute!
I think I will be probably buying one! I heard on the inaugural cruises people kept stealing them!
 
What a fun first night! Glad the meal was really delicious and the entertainment sounds so fun to watch!
I thought a killer whale, :rotfl:Penguin makes more sense!
 


Sounds like a great embarkation day!

That butter knife is so unique.

The MCs for the adults-only clubs are hilarious. They really make those events entertaining.

I'm not sure what that towel animal was intended to be...:rotfl2:
 
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This is so cute! And a perfect little sized treat. On our Honeymoon cruise, they gave us an adorable cake (about 4 times that size!) with a giant chocolate painted cruise ship stuck into the top. It was SO cute, but we were too full to eat it. We ended up taking it back to our room, but it didn't really fit well in the fridge, so we had to bend the cardboard plate it was on....and we forgot to get forks. It was a cake disaster!! ....this did not stop us from eating it for breakfast the next day.....LOL

Plus, the navigator app was awesome. You could scroll through the list of available activities and favorite the ones you were interested in and when they were about to happen you'd get a pop up on your phone reminding you.
I LOVE that this is a feature now!! The paper navigator is informative, but intense to look at!! I like the idea of having pop ups to remind you of stuff you're actually interested in!
 
Unfortunately, this ended up being my least favorite meal of the whole trip. To eat I went with the wedge salad and the loaded fries and both were just not winners in my book.



The wedge salad was SO bitter (is that how they are supposed to be?) and the loaded fries had almost no taste to them. I love ranch and thought they would be great but it all just tasted meh. Dan liked his steak and cheese so maybe I just ordered wrong.

Aw, that's too bad you didn't love The Plaza! It's always been one of our favorites. In fact, we just ate there this past week and I enjoyed the wedge salad. I usually get the Fried Green Tomato sandwich or the turkey club sandwich and have never been disappointed. Maybe if you ever give it another try, try one of those :thumbsup2

Plus it makes for great pictures! Except somehow a group of kids came running through right after this picture so I'm not sure how they got past the CMs at the rope (they were called back lol)!




Since we were a few minutes early for our reservation (they almost never let you check in here early!) we had to wait to check in so we went out in the front of the castle to see the masses of people waiting for the fireworks. This must be what rockstar feels like!



Those are beautiful pictures! It's crazy looking out and seeing the crowd from this perspective!

We got an awesome table next to the window, I was so excited to be able to watch HEA from there too!





There was a beautiful sunset this night.



Great luck! We've eaten in the castle a couple times and have never had a window seat :sad1:

The best part about our table was that the fireworks were right outside our window. It was so cool to watch the fireworks from our spot. The pictures make the windows look pretty dirty and they were but it was actually pretty great viewing!



Just perfect!

Tomorrow we were off on our big adventure for our very first cruise! I hope you'll all stick around to hear about our experience! :sail: (I know this isn't a cruise forum but it is a DISNEY cruise so I think I'd rather just keep it all in one place!)

I am so excited you're putting your cruise report here! We have been on the Disney Magic, Dream, and Wonder. Next April we will go on the Fantasy for our grand-slam cruise and I can't wait!

We probably should have done something other than head to cabanas first thing since that’s exactly what everyone else was doing but I’m not really sure what else we could have done!

Sounds like you should have gone to one of the dining rooms. You could have a sit-down lunch with full service on embarkation day. Personally, we love heading to Cabanas on our first day but I know it's not for everyone.

While we were shopping I heard some of the songs in the hallway and I kind of wished we had watched this show (Golden Mickey’s)

You missed a great show…hopefully you'll get another chance to see it soon!

they did give us a table to ourselves which I was happy about and was my other request! I

We had our own table last time and I will always request this on future cruise. I find it very awkward to make small talk with strangers at dinner :rolleyes1

To start I had the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes

I think you mean, "Animator's Palate," and those pasta pursettes are amazing :love::worship: I ordered a full-size portion as my entree!

Can't wait to read more about the Dream :love:
 


Dinner looks like it was delicious! SOunds like a great first night!

It was so good!!

I want to do a Disney Cruise so bad! Neither of us have ever been on one at all so I'll definitely be reading along for pointers. I already wrote down the lanyard idea :laughing: Your food from AP looks soooo good! Can't wait to read more!

You definitely should! We loved it! And the food was so amazing!!

Yeah, seriously! I'm sure she expected him to be helping with the kids on the family vacation, not relaxing in the pool!

Right?? I think I even told him after she walked by that I didn't blame her! He did come to his senses not long after though and went to find her so at least he didn't keep hanging around! lol

I'm trying to decide if I should get these, or just get a lanyard from Disney? I actually already have several (meant for pins, but I have a pin board for that), so if I just get another pouch, then mom gets one too!

I collect pins too! For most trips I buy a lanyard to keep pins from each trip together. Honestly, I mostly went with these ones because they were fairly inexpensive for two and they had the fun little cruise ships on them! I actually ended up using mine to put the pins from this trip on! But the Disney ones would totally work, too! Especially if you hace some laying around!

I think I will be probably buying one! I heard on the inaugural cruises people kept stealing them!

I really wish I had! I totally believe that lol makes sense to just sell them then!i think it was pretty reasonably priced too, like maybe $13? I think I put it back thinking we don't really have many people over who would ever see it but now I just want it for me! lol next time!

What a fun first night! Glad the meal was really delicious and the entertainment sounds so fun to watch!
I thought a killer whale, :rotfl:Penguin makes more sense!

Maybe it is a killer whale! I was at a total loss haha

Sounds like a great embarkation day!

That butter knife is so unique.

The MCs for the adults-only clubs are hilarious. They really make those events entertaining.

I'm not sure what that towel animal was intended to be...:rotfl2:

We had a great first day! Yeah the butter knife really added to the whole artist theme!

He was so funny, he was at most of the adult events so that was nice. But even the mc's for the "So you think you know your family" were great too!

Right?? lol penguin was the best I could come up with!


This is so cute! And a perfect little sized treat. On our Honeymoon cruise, they gave us an adorable cake (about 4 times that size!) with a giant chocolate painted cruise ship stuck into the top. It was SO cute, but we were too full to eat it. We ended up taking it back to our room, but it didn't really fit well in the fridge, so we had to bend the cardboard plate it was on....and we forgot to get forks. It was a cake disaster!! ....this did not stop us from eating it for breakfast the next day.....LOL

Oh wow! We could barely eat this little cake with the other dessert we ordered so I can't even imagine getting a bigger cake delivered! But how awesome! It's the little stuff like that that Disney does so well. Especially when I feel like most people are celebrating something

I LOVE that this is a feature now!! The paper navigator is informative, but intense to look at!! I like the idea of having pop ups to remind you of stuff you're actually interested in!

It was truly awesome! I loved the little map too because it was easy to understand and helped us "navigate" the ship haha I'll be honest, I lost our first day one at Cabanas the first day because it was just so hectic so the app was a lifesaver! And the reminders were great!

Aw, that's too bad you didn't love The Plaza! It's always been one of our favorites. In fact, we just ate there this past week and I enjoyed the wedge salad. I usually get the Fried Green Tomato sandwich or the turkey club sandwich and have never been disappointed. Maybe if you ever give it another try, try one of those :thumbsup2

I definitely should have gone with a sandwich! Was your wedge almost bitter tasting? I wonder if my tastebuds were just super out of whack during this meal! I definitely won't write it off forever, I liked it the time prior to this meal so I'm not sure what happened!

Those are beautiful pictures! It's crazy looking out and seeing the crowd from this perspective!

Thank you! And yeah, it was so crazy to see! Definitely a difference from when Wishes was going on!

Great luck! We've eaten in the castle a couple times and have never had a window seat :sad1:

This was a first for us too! We were close the first time but I kinda thought the tables were held for couples getting engaged haha

I am so excited you're putting your cruise report here! We have been on the Disney Magic, Dream, and Wonder. Next April we will go on the Fantasy for our grand-slam cruise and I can't wait!

I was worried people would be upset since it isn't the cruise forum but this was just easiest for me! Wow you are a cruising pro! I definitely think the Fantasy for a Western Carribbean cruise is the one I want to do next! But the Alaska and Hawaii ones both sound awesome too!

Sounds like you should have gone to one of the dining rooms. You could have a sit-down lunch with full service on embarkation day. Personally, we love heading to Cabanas on our first day but I know it's not for everyone.

I wasn't sure if we could do that on embarkation day! I will definitely remember this for the next time we cruise! It was just way too busy!

You missed a great show…hopefully you'll get another chance to see it soon!

I'll be honest, rushing to get ready for the show after a week in Disney going non-stop caught up with us this night! I really did enjoy just meandering around and shopping when no one else really was, in hind sight I think we should have skipped the last show over the first one! But for sure I'd watch it next time!

We had our own table last time and I will always request this on future cruise. I find it very awkward to make small talk with strangers at dinner :rolleyes1

I am not very outgoing and I felt the same way like how can I make conversation with strangers for two nights? I knew Dan would be fine because he can talk to a wall (probably one of the things that makes us work!) but that just didn't sound all that fun to me. We actually enjoyed people watching the tables around us more than if we actually had to sit with them!



I think you mean, "Animator's Palate," and those pasta pursettes are amazing :love::worship: I ordered a full-size portion as my entree!

Can't wait to read more about the Dream :love:

Definitely what I meant! :rotfl: I am definitely by no means a cruise expert yet! hahaha hopefully someday! I should have ordered a full size as my entree, they were SO GOOD!
 
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Glad CRT was so perfect, not a review I hear of it very frequently.

We packed a little when we got back to our room and then popped open our gifted champagne. We had been so tired the night we received it that we decided to save it. I’m so glad we did because it was the perfect way to end the Disney World portion of our trip!
Great idea

Our luggage was waiting for us once we got to our room.
They don't just leave the luggage in the hall do they?

At some point while laying by the adults only pool they blasted the horn and I swear I felt that in my soul!
:rotfl2:
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Glad CRT was so perfect, not a review I hear of it very frequently.

It was very good! I was happy that it was since my lunch had been pretty blah

Great idea

I was super glad we didn't open it after DAH, we were so tired we wouldn't have enjoyed it!

They don't just leave the luggage in the hall do they?
They did! I believe this is what they do for all cruises but I could be mistaken. You actually leave your luggage in the hallway on the last night as well to be picked up if you don't want to drag it off yourself in the morning. I suppose they figure it would be hard for someone to get away with stealing a bag? I have to imagine the hallways all have cameras.


Pretty much! lol
 
Sorry for the delay in updating! Work has been crazy and DH and I threw a Halloween party last weekend which my mind has been focused on! But I'm back!

Dan and I were Slinky Dog and Sid from Toy Story



Calista and her bf came in first with their Daenerys and Tyrion from Game of Thrones



And one of my best friends and her husband came in second with their Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip



Back to our regularly scheduled programming!


Day 10

We woke up the next morning to beautiful weather!



I'll be honest, I don't think I would ever cruise without a verandah. The views were so amazing and it was so nice to have a private place to enjoy away from everyone else!

We hadn’t made it to Nassau yet so it was cool to see us coming into land. I thought we would have made it by morning but was happy we didn’t miss it!



We were both pretty excited for today, we had signed up for the Atlantis Water park excursion.

We started our day by heading down to the meeting point on our tickets which I believe was the Walt Disney theater. The tickets had been left in our room by our Stateroom host and I had put them for safekeeping in my lanyard. They also left a waiver for us to sign in and bring down, which I forgot in the room lol So I ran back up to the room to get it. I realized once I got back down that they had extra waivers available to sign as you walked into the theater so there was no need for me to run around like a crazy person. Especially since it took forever for me to get back up to the room with the elevators stopping on every floor since everyone was trying to get where they needed to be.

Even though I ran around for the waiver we were still early for our meeting time and walked in around 8:50. I think we were supposed to get to the theater around 9. Around 9:15 they gathered us up and led us outside to wait for a representative to give us a wrist band and then lead us to the bus. I had read that if you don’t get on the first bus it can take a while for a second bus to come so I really paid attention to where the reps were and what they were doing. It felt like it was maybe fifteen minutes of waiting around outside. When they started to lead us away Dan and I were the second group in line. The bus filled up quick and off we went to Atlantis. (I am probably just not that knowledgeable when it comes to cruise excursions but for some reason I thought the bus would pull up between the two ships and we would load up but we actually had to walk out towards the street areas. Didn't make a difference but I was glad I was watching the reps too instead of waiting for some big bus to pull in!)





The bus ride wasn’t too long and soon we were pulling into the Atlantis. They had us wait with another rep to gather us all up to give us a tour through Atlantis. As we were standing there and waiting for the tour we realized there was free wifi in front of the Atlantis so we definitely took advantage of that later in the day!

Now, I had done a lot of research ahead of time so I knew what to expect when it came to getting to Atlantis from the ship. Many of the families around us must not have because they were all pitching a fit that we had to wait for a bus and then wait to be guided around Atlantis when we got there. One woman in particular was losing it over a family that was guided away from us and was given precedent over every step in the process. Come to find out, that family had booked the cabana package so they were given preferential treatment and for good reason. Had I paid more for an excursion I would want to get some advantage, too! Another mother with two young kids ran away from the group so they could get a head start on the day without the tour. We ran into them in the changing room even after we finished the tour so they didn’t really gain much time in doing so considering the "tour" took all of five minutes and was basically just walking us over to where we needed to be!

Overall the transport to Atlantis from the time we left the meeting area took an hour. I had heard it could take upwards to 2 hours so I was happy with the time frame and had gone into it with low expectations. So I really was happy with the whole process. But I guess the point is, don’t expect to get to Atlantis from the ship by 9:30 because that just won’t happen! (I mean it can take longer to get from place to place in Disney so I’m not sure why the lady was bugging out!)

After we finished the "tour" we stopped for some photos in front of the hotel before getting ready for the slides.




We didn’t really have a plan for Atlantis, we knew there were certain slides we wanted to ride but once we were ready to go we just kind of jumped into the first line we saw which ended up being for the most popular slide :rotfl: so I guess we have good instincts! I felt that the employees and lifeguards did a great job of managing the lines and making sure no one cut. So even though the line was long you weren’t worried about people jumping into line. I think we waited about 15 minutes for the first slide which I had heard can sometimes be way longer so that was totally okay with us! This was the longest line we waited in for all of the slides. We managed to hit all of the slides while we were there. Even a couple of them twice. Dan loved the rapid river (he LOVES lazy rivers which was partially the reason I even booked the Atlantis excursion). I think my favorite slide was the one where you ended up in the shark tank just floating under them, it was so cool! I did lose my voice on the slides though so the rest of the trip everyone kept asking if I was sick!

About halfway through the day we used our free lunch voucher and it was actually really good. The funny thing was the family that had been freaking out in the morning had been ahead of us in line for almost every slide we did and even picked the same lunch location as us which was basically on the other side of the park! (There were I think 5 different locations you could pick from) It was funny how we were on the same schedule as them just like five minutes behind :rotfl2:









*Sorry for the lack of pictures at Atlantis! We had brought waterproof pouches for our phones but for most of the day we kept them locked in the locker because we assumed they wouldn't be allowed on the slides. Come to find out later in the day when I forgot to return it to the locker, you could bring them down the slides with you! So most of the pictures are from later in the day**

Overall, we had a great time. I think with the safe transportation to the resort, the included lunch and the use of the slides and the pools and lazy river it was worth the money for us. I have always wanted to visit Atlantis since I was a kid so to get to go was a check off of my bucketlist and I am so happy we went. But I do have to say I’m not sure you would need more than a day there so I’m happy I could enjoy it for a few hours but then head back to the ship! (Also, if you have a larger family there are ways to do the excursion for cheaper like booking a partner hotel room and getting access to the park that way. We considered this option but for two of us with the worry-free transportation and the free lunch it was a better deal for us to just do the excursion through Disney!)

We were ready to head back to the ship around 3 so we made our way back to the meeting point in front and used the free wifi until the next bus was heading out. I believe the buses ran until 4:30 so we really didn't lose any time during the "tour" earlier and felt like we had plenty of time to get everything done!

We told the rep for the bus what we were doing and she was nice enough to wave us over when there were just a few seats left on the bus. But the wifi did work on the bus too so we could have just waited on the bus! It was nice to be able to text my Mom and check in on Joy for a few minutes and post some pictures from the cruise.

When we got back to port we noticed the Harley Davidson store not too far down the street. Dan and my Dad both have Harleys and my Dad kind of collects Harley shirts from all over so I knew I had to get him one from the Bahamas! It’s one of those souvenirs that you KNOW the person will use. We unfortunately didn’t have any cash on us otherwise we probably would have shopped a little more.




When we got back on the ship we went up to our room and our pirate bandanas were waiting for us! I was super excited for Pirates night!



After getting up early and running all over Atlantis I decided to take a nice nap after I showered, the bed was so comfy and it was so relaxing. I felt no pressure to hurry up and get anywhere and it was wonderful! I also really loved the unlimited selection of Disney movies! I watched parts of Bugs Life, Up!, and Toy Story 1 & 2 during our time on the cruise!

Dan didn’t feel like taking a nap so he enjoyed some beers from the verandah and watched us leave Nassau and checked out what he could see of the other cruise ships. (We had briefly considered the Royal Carribbean since it was the same timeframe and about half the price but I wasn't willing to try anything but the Disney Cruise!)

After my nap I finished getting ready. Tonight was Beauty and the Beast night and Dan was not getting out of going to see it with me. I was most looking forward to seeing this performance and it was a must do for me! And I have to say it was amazing! I loved that it was like the live-action movie rather than the cartoon. Even Dan thought the production was mind-blowing! I only wish they would have incorporated the song Nevermore because that is one of my favorite parts of the Live Action but understand that obviously some things have to be cut! I also really loved being able to pick where you sat, we chose the balcony both nights and it was perfect!



After the show we went to the Pub and were going to try to take a stab at 90s music trivia.



The bartender paired us with a woman who wasn’t with anybody and she was amazing at the music trivia. I think I knew maybe 3 of the songs and Dan knew 1…but guessed it for the wrong song (I'm not great at music trivia but thought I would at least know 90s but it was all very EARLY 90s from when I was like 1 lol!) :rotfl2:We ended up winning the trivia because of the woman we were paired with and received a free DCL flashlight each. Dan and I offered to let her keep the flashlights since she most definitely carried the team but she said for us to keep them so it was a nice keepsake!

After the show we had dinner in the Enchanted Garden. To start I had the lobster ravioli and Dan had the tuna tartare.




And to eat I had the steak I think and Dan had two orders of the scallops (our waiter brought him the second without him asking and Dan was not mad about it :rotfl:). I think I had joked that my meal looked more like something he should be eating since it was such a large portion and the waiter didn't want him to leave hungry which was very nice!




Dan excused himself to the bathroom during dinner so I took some pictures of myself haha




We split another dessert tonight but they also brought me a Happy birthday cake. Again, very appreciated!





Before leaving I had Dan take a picture of me with the fountain. This restaurant reminded me so much of this Enchanted Palace game I had as a kid.



As you can see I didn’t go crazy with the pirate’s night theme. I had intended to borrow my sister’s pirate hat she bought from POTC a few years ago but I forgot to pack it. Plus, I felt silly dressing up if Dan didn’t, which of course once he saw the whole ship pretty much dressed up he felt bad that he didn’t! I should have thought ahead and just packed us outfits just in case but honestly I don’t think they would have even fit in our suitcases!

We stopped back at our room for some reason and saw our Monkey hanging from our ceiling! And some doubloons!




We got up to the deck early to get a good spot for the fireworks. Dan at some point went to go to the bathroom and I had 11 different people try to take his spot. When he came back I told him he would have to hold it until after the show because I wasn’t going through that again! :rotfl:

The pirates show was a little goofy and obviously geared towards kids but was still fun to watch. And it was so cool to watch the fireworks right off of the ship!

I have no idea where my fireworks pictures went :confused3

I thought the ship looked so cool at night.



We were both pretty tired after the fireworks so we chose to go to bed earlyish so we could wake up bright and early for Castaway Cay the next morning!

Miles walked: 4.6
 
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I'm enjoying your report. My wife and I stayed at Atlantis in September. The water slides are fun.
 
Such a cute costume!!!! :)



I'll be honest, I don't think I would ever cruise without a verandah. The views were so amazing and it was so nice to have a private place to enjoy away from everyone else!
We have a verandah on our cruise next year, too. It'll be the first time we've cruised with one, but I'm sure we will be hooked!! Also, since we have connecting rooms with my parents, I was excited to learn that they can open the barrier between our two verandahs to make one big one!


When we got back to port we noticed the Harley Davidson store not too far down the street. Dan and my Dad both have Harleys and my Dad kind of collects Harley shirts from all over so I knew I had to get him one from the Bahamas!
On our Honeymoon, we walked a little bit around Nassau before heading right back to the ship. From the pool deck, my husband noticed the Harley store, so we had to get back off the ship to go get shirts for him, too LOL
 
I’m loving seeing the Dream again! We did the Atlantis excursion through DCL when we were there and we really enjoyed it. I love that lazy river because it’s super wavy and crazy! In my signature somewhere there’s a link to my video I made and that part always cracks me up because I am literally screaming the whole time but having so much fun!

I don’t really dress up for pirate night either, it’s just not our thing. It’s fun to see everyone else dressed up though.

Can’t wait to see what you thought of Castaway Cay :love:
 
I’m loving seeing the Dream again! We did the Atlantis excursion through DCL when we were there and we really enjoyed it. I love that lazy river because it’s super wavy and crazy! In my signature somewhere there’s a link to my video I made and that part always cracks me up because I am literally screaming the whole time but having so much fun!

I don’t really dress up for pirate night either, it’s just not our thing. It’s fun to see everyone else dressed up though.

Can’t wait to see what you thought of Castaway Cay :love:

We really loved the Dream! I can't wait to do another cruise!

The lazy river was so fun! Disney definitely needs to add one of these fastpaced rivers to one of their waterparks!

I wish I would have brought my sisters hat, but other than that I probably would have felt weird haha my black dress and bandana felt like enough! haha

Spoiler alert: LOVED CASTAWAY CAY
 
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What a super fun excursion to Atlantis!!!

We had a great time!

I'm enjoying your report. My wife and I stayed at Atlantis in September. The water slides are fun.

How awesome! Atlantis was always on my bucketlist so I was happy to get there! I couldn't believe how big the resort was!

Such a cute costume!!!! :)

Thank you!

We have a verandah on our cruise next year, too. It'll be the first time we've cruised with one, but I'm sure we will be hooked!! Also, since we have connecting rooms with my parents, I was excited to learn that they can open the barrier between our two verandahs to make one big one!

The fact that they can make them bigger is so cool! I was trying to convince my family to do one together and that was one of my selling points! (I think we're doing an all inclusive instead though. Boo)

On our Honeymoon, we walked a little bit around Nassau before heading right back to the ship. From the pool deck, my husband noticed the Harley store, so we had to get back off the ship to go get shirts for him, too LOL

We were definitely excited to see it! Especially because I hate to buy things I can get at home shopping wise and I definitely can't get a Nassau shirt at home!
 

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