Trip Report Step Right UP! for the Main Event. Did we Blow Niece and Nephews Minds on their Very First Trip to the World?

As Many of you know, We are on a multi year project. This project is to make sure our 4 Niece and nephews get to see the world. For many years, they have been told " you will get to go to Disney" and it never happened for one reason or another. Finally we were in a spot financially, that we could do it. Lets just say this was a very special trip for all of us, not just to see it through the eyes of a first timer, but due to restrictions etc. We will get into that much more later, on why i feel that this may of been my best Disney experience yet. On this trip we had My oldest niece at 17 years, and about to graduate in 2021. and my oldest nephew at 13. They have heard of our trips, seen some photos, but never got to go for one reason or another.

We live in Tennessee, and they live in Maine. If you read my Pre Trip, nothing went to plan on this one ha! There was covid, then my wife's Nana passed away, and the kids came to stay with us far longer than we had originally anticipated, so it made the big countdown actually better, as they were here with us from June, through now. They will go home this weekend, When my daughter goes home to visit family for her birthday.

To say they were excited doesn't even begin to describe it, as they got to be with us through all the final planning, final shopping, and watching our favourite podcaster weekly.

The time finally came, and we were to get on the road! Where we are about 11 to 11 hours with the time change back to EST away we tend to leave pretty early to get settled on arrival day. MY daughter and her fiancee had come over earlier on Saturday and got settled ,as they would be here to watch the dogs, and feed the fish and keep the pool going etc. Wheels up was to be 12:00 AM CST Sunday the 9th. I took a quick nap, as i am the driver, and we got on the road about 11:45 CSt on saturday, and got the wheels on the truck rolling Mouse Bound.

My Nephew had found this cheesy joke card deck on one of our prior adventures this summer, and kept them aside for the ride to keep me awake. This really did help, and the 4 of us laughed and Laughed the whole way through the night.

We do our best to avoid Atlanta, so we go down through Alabama, then in through the panhandle over to where I 10 meets 75, and go in that way. it adds just a few minutes to the drive, and honestly to not deal with Atlanta is nice.

We took our truck this time for the extra room for cargo, and room for people, so it was a new experience from the beginning as we had no idea how many miles to the tank we would get, and how many stops we would have to make. Turns out y thoughts of at least 300 miles per tank was spot on, and could likely do 350 before we have to really get gas. We timed it so we could stop and get breakfast one one stop, so we don't loose too much time. All in all we lost about 15 minutes total in food and gas stops.

On this trip one of the changes was our Hotel. We were booked at ASM family Suites, and well Thanks to Covid, they did not open that resort. Disney stepped up and delivered the upgrade of a lifetime. We got moved to Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village, in a 2 bedroom Villa!!

We had not told the kids where we were staying for the ultimate surprise, but the GPS as we got there, ruined part of it, but they were still super surprised once we got to our room.

Our room ready text had come while we were still a couple hours out, which was super nice so we could get unpacked before we went to the pool for some lunch and some relaxation. We always spend the day at the resort on arrival day, as after driving all day i cant enjoy a park day.

Once we found parking, and a map to our room, we headed up stairs. We were in The Timon Section, 3rd floor, literally on top of the bus stops, but we drove all week, as it was just easier. More on that to come. Here are some photos i took of our home for the week. First silver lining of a Covid world was this amazing upgrade!
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We were a standard view, and had asked to be as close to a Savannah view as possible. We had a great viewing window right outside our door, to the left, and got to walk by it any time we went anywhere. Ive got some great photos to come of that for sure.

My nephew said " this is already more than i expected" and this was just the suite. We had not gone to view the Savannah, or gone to the pool yet. That would be next.

Being an arrival day, we unpacked out suitcases into the dressers, and got situated for the week. Next up we were off to view the Savannah, hit the pool, and relax before we went to the springs for our first dining reservation of this trip.
 

Mainahman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Alright! Sorry for the delay.. Kids are now home. Spent a couple days getting them sorted, packed and on the road with my daughter. Back in their mothers hands in maine now!

Next up this fine day at the MK was to be Tomorrowland!

First Stop was a bit of a competion. I do believe my wife won. Something about the inside seats always score better or something. Hogwash is what i say. She got lucky! Space Ranger Spin is a Must Do like multiple times a trip!

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My wife rode with my Nephew

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I rode with my niece.
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We rode this many many a time on this trip! Tomorrowland seemed to have the lowest waits all day.

After some lovely family competition, we decided we needed a chance to get a break, and expose them to something classic.

It was time for a slightly different type of carousel!
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I had read an article about a few things in this attraction that cast had put in to say welcome back. It was cool to get to see this.
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They enjoyed this, and really understood what was happening etc. I was really impressed how everything registered and the deeper attractions they got first try.

After this, it was time to blast off! Space Mountain it was! My nephew was scared at first as it was in the dark, my niece is an adrenaline junkie so she was ready!

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We learned to pose better on future blastoffs dont you worry!

Once we got off, they wanted to get on the astro orbiter, and its the only attraction i wont do. Its a big pile of NOPE for me. My wife and I did some window shopping while they rode.

After this, we had time for another ride before we did more window shopping on the way out.

Back to pirates for my nephew, and well i love pirates so i was not complaining.

After Pirates we did some window shopping and took some photos on Mainstreet.
Here is one of my favourites.

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The sky was getting angry so we made our way out of the park to head back to Kidani after a successful first day.

We had planned to take the ferry again, but they were having issues with them, so Monorail it was! Another first!

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Mainahman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
As we rode the Monorail we discussed dinner. Original Plan was to get Mcdonalds on the way back, but since i had given up my Bread Service Reservation for Boathouse, we decided to get some pizzas to cook in the room and an order of bread service if we could get in.

Now when we arrived to the TTC, the sky was pretty angry. We got to the Truck just as it let go.

my nephew took this shot. This turned out to be the lightning strike that took out Rise of The Resistance the week we were there for a day from blown power equipment. He was proud of himself!

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Now When we got to Kidani, my wife went to use the soaker tub, and the kids and I went down to Sanaa to try to get a lounge table,

Come to find out, you can get one after 10:30 and it was like 9 and we were tired, But.... wait for it.... you can get bread service to go!!!

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We placed our order, headed to the shop to get the frozen pizzas and Milk for the morning. At that point i got the text from mobile ordering that it was ready.

I headed downstairs, got the Bread Service, and went back to our room to try it all with the kids and my wife.Got this cool photo too, Kidani Is gorgeous at night!

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All in all Loved bread service like i knew i would. One heck of a first day in the parks for sure! It was so strange for my wife and I. We really did do pretty much everything but Big Thunder as it was down in one day. We saved some shows for later in the week when we came back.

After this we all headed to bed to get a good night sleep. EPCOT was on the docket next! Thats my Jam, My home! Im an EPCOT kid!
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Alright! Sorry for the delay.. Kids are now home. Spent a couple days getting them sorted, packed and on the road with my daughter. Back in their mothers hands in maine now!

Next up this fine day at the MK was to be Tomorrowland!

First Stop was a bit of a competion. I do believe my wife won. Something about the inside seats always score better or something. Hogwash is what i say. She got lucky! Space Ranger Spin is a Must Do like multiple times a trip!

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My wife rode with my Nephew

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I rode with my niece. View attachment 492872

We rode this many many a time on this trip! Tomorrowland seemed to have the lowest waits all day.

After some lovely family competition, we decided we needed a chance to get a break, and expose them to something classic.

It was time for a slightly different type of carousel!
View attachment 492869


I had read an article about a few things in this attraction that cast had put in to say welcome back. It was cool to get to see this.
View attachment 492870

They enjoyed this, and really understood what was happening etc. I was really impressed how everything registered and the deeper attractions they got first try.

After this, it was time to blast off! Space Mountain it was! My nephew was scared at first as it was in the dark, my niece is an adrenaline junkie so she was ready!

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We learned to pose better on future blastoffs dont you worry!

Once we got off, they wanted to get on the astro orbiter, and its the only attraction i wont do. Its a big pile of NOPE for me. My wife and I did some window shopping while they rode.

After this, we had time for another ride before we did more window shopping on the way out.

Back to pirates for my nephew, and well i love pirates so i was not complaining.

After Pirates we did some window shopping and took some photos on Mainstreet.
Here is one of my favourites.

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The sky was getting angry so we made our way out of the park to head back to Kidani after a successful first day.

We had planned to take the ferry again, but they were having issues with them, so Monorail it was! Another first!

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I love love love Carousel of Progress! Did you sing along? "There's a great big beautiful tomorrow...." Or is that frowned on now with covid? I think my daughter and I rode that at least 5 times on our last trip. The birds on the tree in the one scene are from the movie Mary Poppins. We had to ride until we found the perfect spot to see them.
 

Mainahman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I love love love Carousel of Progress! Did you sing along? "There's a great big beautiful tomorrow...." Or is that frowned on now with covid? I think my daughter and I rode that at least 5 times on our last trip. The birds on the tree in the one scene are from the movie Mary Poppins. We had to ride until we found the perfect spot to see them.
We always sing as we chance scenes. Its a must do!!
 

Mainahman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Like a grand and miraculous spaceship, our trip has sailed trough the universe of time... and for a brief moment, YOU have been among its many passengers...

Thats rights folks its EPCOT TIME!!

My Deepest and first Disney Memory is as a young kid at EPCOT for the day. Wide eyed ad bushy tailed i approached this very attraction, got in my car with my grandfather. The rest is history and my Mind was Blown.

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To get to share this attraction with my Niece and Nephew brought some tears to my eyes. Im an EPCOT Kid trough and through. Even with all the Construction i felt the tears. I was HOME.

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Epcot just resonates with me much more than anything else. I love MK dont get me wrong, but EPCOT is my speed. My Style.. Plus FOOD!!!!

Could we really start anywhere else? I did notice on the way in, the New Pylons had been installed, and man they are beautiful! Can not wait to go back to see it without walls!

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Spaceship earth is my spirit animal. Its where i feel most at home.

Getting off, my nephew couldnt stop going WOW.. His mind was blown! it really warmed my heart being able to share my home with them.

From here we made our way to the right hand side, and headed off to see NEMO and all of his friends!

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No Lines No Waiting! It was super nice, but thats the silver lining to all of this.

After this we kind of took our time looking around the tank, and the different areas. I love this part as i keep salwater tanks at home, so its nice to see what Disney is up to, and i get to point at fish and i know what they are!

Heres a cool Dolphin shot for you!

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From the Seas, We headed for the next likely place!! The Land!

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We Did Living with the Land first, as it was an attraction we could all do together. My wife isnt OK with soarin unless she can guarantee the bottom row, so she didnt risk it.

I took the kids on Soarin,and again Minds blown!! They kept talking about that for the rest of the day for sure.

As you can tell, i was wearing my Favourite characters shirt. Im a FIGMENT Fan, and its the best thing in the world. We were off to see Figment next!
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No matter the condition of the ride, or whats missing... it still gets me. I sing along to one little spark and all!

We looked down and saw that there must of been something up with Test Track as the wait time was 45+ we decided that was to be later in the day. So we headed across the way, and started in Mexico! IT was time to EAT!!! So i may of been a tad excited.....
 

Mainahman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Are you really at EPCOT if you dont Eat around the world? Like in my world, not doing it are fighting words! I was super happy we were here for a festival too!

We of course stopped for Snacks !!

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Coming into mexico we stopped for snacks Again!!

Tostata and Taco!

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The Tostata was far better than the Taco, but still really good!

We then went on Grand Fiesta, as we could use the AC, and it was HOT HOT HOT!!!

Afterwards it was photo posing time for our first time world travellers!

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As one should, We headed to Norway to see a Snowman. Now im a Classic Kid, so Maelstrom is something i still mourn.. However, i do love the new ride.

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We did some browsing around the shops, and my Nephew re lived one of my childhood photos, that i did when i was younger than him.
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Its tradition now to pick the trolls now!

Greetings from Norway!

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From Norway, We headed for China, and of course Snacks!

PotStickers

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Bao Bun!!
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Greetings from China!
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From Here, Where will the world then take us....? EPCOT WAS EMPTY!

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Mainahman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We found our way to Germany next.... You may see a trend here... but its Snack time again!!

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It was a beautiful day travelling around the world!
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Greetings from Germany!
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Over the years, they have threatened this train Garden. I could sit here forever to relax watching this. Dear Disney please leave it alone!

Yes We had been eating most of the day, but were somehow still hungry. We were on our way to Italy next. We had wanted and had a reservation for Napoli, but through Covid we lost it, and never re booked.

So we decided to see if we could get a walk up. I thought NO WAY! it will be reservation only.

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that was a big NOPE!

They had space for us as a walk up and we sat within like 5 minutes if that. We really needed the break in the AC for sure!


with 4 people, 2 being Teenagers... this didn't exactly last long!

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As always Napoli didn't disappoint. We had a salad to start, then the Pizza. We loaded up on water to keep hydrated as well. This was a great recharge for us, and gave everyone a chance to relax.

Greetings from Italy!

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From Italy, we were off to somewhere we know well!

Hello From America!!!

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It was starting to sound like it was going to rain across world showcase lagoon, so we tried to get over to Japan before it got too bad so we could shop at Mitsukoshi.

Greetings From Japan!

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We got a ton of great things at the store as always, and got my daughters birthday gift. Shes really into Ramen, and fancy Ramen.. We got her a really cool bowl and chopsticks. She loved it.

I got myself a little present too!

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Mainahman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
If there was another wonder of the world, it would be after the backside of water. This would be FROTHY RAMEN!

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Im not sure how we kept eating. It was hot, and we just kept going. I LOVED this, but i was alone. Everyone else didnt care for it. Oh Well more for me!

Next up was a walk by of Morocco.

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France Would be next, so we hit the bakery, got more treats to take back to Kidani with us and and did some posing!

Greetings from France!

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From here we headed to the UK. My niece is a huge tea fan, so my wife took her to the tea store to get some teas to take home. She was super excited. I stayed outside with my nephew, and took photos of an EMPTY UK pavilion....

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Greetings from the UK!

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by now we were hot, so we headed for Canada

We , but stopped in at the Festival pavilion for a Dessert!

This was the cake pop, and it was amazing!

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We took our time, enjoyed our treats and enjoyed the AC. When it was time it was off to Canada to hopefully see Canada Far and Wide, but we did decide that we were not into it, as the show had like a 15 minutes until next show, and it was time to do something else.

Hi canada!
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Mainahman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We headed for Test Track, and My wife hit the Relaxation Station, as she just wasn't into it this trip. The 3 of us went on the first time. The Wait time was super short, and was not the listed 30 minutes.

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Since wait time was low, we went again, but my Niece needed a break so she hit the relaxation station with my wife. This is where my Nephew and I worked on our Photo Posing game!
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Doing this at 64 MPh is harder than it looks!

After this, we grabbed my niece and wife, and the kids and I went for another first time for me!

Mission Space! I had never done it. Dont worry, i choked and did Green. Was pretty cool. Still wish that i could of experienced Horizons.
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After this we decided to do our Shopping, grab some more photos and head back to Kidani early. We ended up leaving around 8, with a 9 PM close. We just had done everything we wanted to do, and the next day was Studios, so it was going to be an earlier day.

I took Photos of my fav of course!

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Quick Photo to say Goodnight to EPCOT!

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From here it was back to Kidani for the night, sleep, relaxation and on to the Studios for day 3! What kind of trouble will we get in next?
 

pkkurz

Well-Known Member
We found our way to Germany next.... You may see a trend here... but its Snack time again!!

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It was a beautiful day travelling around the world!
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Greetings from Germany!
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Over the years, they have threatened this train Garden. I could sit here forever to relax watching this. Dear Disney please leave it alone!

Yes We had been eating most of the day, but were somehow still hungry. We were on our way to Italy next. We had wanted and had a reservation for Napoli, but through Covid we lost it, and never re booked.

So we decided to see if we could get a walk up. I thought NO WAY! it will be reservation only.

View attachment 493637
that was a big NOPE!

They had space for us as a walk up and we sat within like 5 minutes if that. We really needed the break in the AC for sure!


with 4 people, 2 being Teenagers... this didn't exactly last long!

View attachment 493638

As always Napoli didn't disappoint. We had a salad to start, then the Pizza. We loaded up on water to keep hydrated as well. This was a great recharge for us, and gave everyone a chance to relax.

Greetings from Italy!

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From Italy, we were off to somewhere we know well!

Hello From America!!!

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It was starting to sound like it was going to rain across world showcase lagoon, so we tried to get over to Japan before it got too bad so we could shop at Mitsukoshi.

Greetings From Japan!

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We got a ton of great things at the store as always, and got my daughters birthday gift. Shes really into Ramen, and fancy Ramen.. We got her a really cool bowl and chopsticks. She loved it.

I got myself a little present too!

View attachment 493642
Why did you not do “The American Adventure”? The A/C performance Is outstanding, and the show is pretty great too. It’s also a plus if you can catch “The Voices of Liberty”
 

ferbtones

Well-Known Member
Just wanted to say I am loving your report.
What a wonderful experience for your niece and nephew to go to Disney for the first time.

Strong mask game, loving the We're all mad here, Alice is my fave.

And your niece looked very pretty in the Epcot pictures. My daughter wouldn't wear a skirt outside of school if her life depended on it. 😂
 

Mainahman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Just wanted to say I am loving your report.
What a wonderful experience for your niece and nephew to go to Disney for the first time.

Strong mask game, loving the We're all mad here, Alice is my fave.

And your niece looked very pretty in the Epcot pictures. My daughter wouldn't wear a skirt outside of school if her life depended on it. 😂
Thank you! She fell in love with that mask. We washed it a ton so shed have it to wear. We were concerned and made her pack shorts too as florida was hot, and not something they were used to, but she was a trooper and went for the dress anyways. What a time they had!
 

slipperalwaysfits

Well-Known Member
I'm enjoying reading your report! What a wonderful upgrade you got! We were to stay at the All-Stars in Nov but only got upgraded to Pop so....we will see where we end up, we are looking at other options right now for lodging. We may rent points.

That lightning photo is amazing! Tell your nephew “well done”!

WOW!!! It's so hard to get any shots of lightening! That's incredible! Yes, fantastic job! Crazy that was the lightening that knocked out ROTR.

Epcot just resonates with me much more than anything else. I love MK dont get me wrong, but EPCOT is my speed. My Style.. Plus FOOD!!!!

Epcot is one of my favorite parks, too. I just love all the different nations and like you...food! What a nice treat to get a Via Napoli walk up! That would not have happened in 2018!

so we tried to get over to Japan before it got too bad so we could shop at Mitsukoshi.

This is my favorite store on the entire property!! We spent some time in Japan so I tend to get a lot of presents for my family here. Where in the store did you find the Sake? Not sure I've ever noticed it....but definitely need to pick some up next trip!
 

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