Trip Report The Cold Never Bothered Us Anyway - December 2024

k8einwdw · Jan 16, 2025

Minnie1986 said:
So happy to find your newest trip report! Can't wait to keep reading! The look on Lincoln's face like "Hey! What are you doing back here?" was adorably hilarious

Glad to have you along!

Minnie1986 · Jan 16, 2025

Tuvalu said:
Wanna know how close we were? We arrived at HM at 9:45 am!

@k8einwdw I feel like we both need t-shirts that say "I just missed Tuvalu!"

k8einwdw · Jan 17, 2025

Minnie1986 said:
@k8einwdw I feel like we both need t-shirts that say "I just missed Tuvalu!"

Thankfully I'm lucky enough to have one of these exclusive cards - @Tuvalu is a popular lady!

k8einwdw · Jan 17, 2025

Tuesday, December 3rd - Magic Kingdom Day - Continued

After abandoning the line at Joffrey's, we made a beeline to Haunted Mansion, and made it just in time for our LL. We were excited to see the Hatbox Ghost, as he'd appeared a few days after we'd visited MK in 2023.

Nailed it.

While playful spooks kept us detained for a few minutes, I grabbed some additional LLs for J and myself. I also mobile-ordered some coffees from Sleepy Hollow.

After we made it out of the mansion, we picked up our coffees from Sleepy Hollow, along with a popcorn refill, and sat on a bench in Adventureland, leisurely enjoying our snack. Our next LL was at Pirates, which Lincoln really enjoyed this time around.

After Pirates, L was asking to ride the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. Pre-Lincoln, J and I rode this ride one single time in our 13 trips together. Now, it's become a must-do for our family. Thankfully, it usually doesn't have much of a wait. I think we waited about 10 minutes this time around.

Up next: It's a joyful celebration!

k8einwdw · Jan 17, 2025

Tuesday, December 3rd - Magic Kingdom Day - Continued

Once we had gotten off of Magic Carpets, it was time for our Tiana's Bayou Adventure LL. Lincoln was not quite tall enough to ride, and J was not feeling a water ride in the cold temps (can't say I blame him), so I went by myself while the boys strolled around Frontierland. It was practically a walk-on through the Lightning Lane, so I didn't have time to grab pics of the queue, but I really appreciated all of the cute little touches they added. Having something interesting to look at would definitely make the wait more bearable if you're in line on a crowded day. I was up to the loading area in no time, and quickly donned my rain jacket.

I absolutely love all of the greenery that they added to the exterior.

And I love the animatronics for this ride - these look so much better than the creepy projected faces on the Frozen animatronics over in Epcot.

Before the big drop...

And after.

When people tell you you're going to get soaked on this ride, believe them.

I was wearing a tennis skirt, and my skirt was damp for hours afterwards. As much as water rides are not my favorite, I would definitely go on Tiana's every time we're in MK. "Princess and the Frog" is one of my favorite movies, and this was such a fun ride. And "Special Spice" is almost as much of an earworm as "Nothing Can Stop Us Now."

The boys were waiting for me at the exit when I got off, and we were all ready for some sustenance, so we mobile-ordered some lunch from Pecos Bill. Since our QS credits had gotten off balance from Casey's the night before, I opted to order a kids' meal for my lunch to balance it back out. J got the adult Beef Nacho Bowl, I got the kids' Beef Nacho Bowl, and our picky 3yo got the kids' Cheeseburger. Imagine my surprise when my entree comes out with a different meat from Jason's - the beef on the kids' nacho bowl is a sweeter Barbacoa-style beef, rather than the seasoned ground beef that is served on the adult entree. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't what I was expecting - next time, I'd opt for the adult version.

After lunch, we headed next door to check out the newly reimagined Country Bear Musical Jamboree. I'll admit, we were skeptical going into it - we had seen some YouTube videos of the new show, and had not been impressed. But we were pleasantly surprised to find that we really enjoyed the new show. It keeps the spirit of the original Country Bear Jamboree, with Disney songs that the whole family will know. Lincoln really loved it, and was singing along in some parts.

I loved the girlies' sparkly, Barbie-pink outfits.

Up next: A Magic Kingdom Afternoon

k8einwdw · Jan 21, 2025

Tuesday, December 3rd - Magic Kingdom Day - Continued

After clapping our hands and stomping our feet at the Country Bears Musical Jamboree, it was time for J and I to take turns riding Big Thunder. L was not quite tall enough to ride, and it will be closed all this year, so he'll be FIVE when he finally gets to ride Big Thunder for the first time!

We had done everything we wanted to on the Adventureland/Frontierland/Liberty Square side of the park, so we started making our way back to Fantasyland. As we were walking, we heard the familiar intro to Festival of Fantasy, so we decided to find a place to stop and watch the parade. This was Lincoln's first time seeing Festival of Fantasy - he had slept through the entire parade twice before!

He enjoyed waving to all of the characters!

As Maleficent/the dragon went by, I kept telling him to watch for it to breathe fire - I guess they stopped doing that after it caught on fire a while back?

After the parade, we finally headed to Seven Dwarfs to use our anytime LL from that morning. Lincoln was a little unsure in a couple parts, but overall, he decided that he loved it! It became his new favorite ride...until a couple days later.

After Seven Dwarfs, we headed over to Tomorrowland. I had gotten us LLs for Buzz Lightyear, and we had some time to kill before we could scan in, so we took a spin on the Peoplemover...

And then poor Jason got whiplash on the Tomorrowland Speedway.

There were still a few minutes left until our LL window, and L was getting agitated, so we let him play with the ~~big germ ball~~ water globe for a few minutes. He loved it, of course. We all sanitized thoroughly afterward.

Finally, it was time for our Buzz LL. J happened to notice that Space Mountain only had a 10-minute wait, so he headed over there to ride while L and I rode Buzz. I'll let you guess which one of us took it seriously, and which one of us spun the vehicle around the entire ride.

Up next: Wrapping up our time in MK

k8einwdw · Jan 22, 2025

Tuesday, December 3rd - Magic Kingdom Day - Continued

It was very evident at this point that Lincoln was in desperate need of a nap. We put him in his stroller, and walked up and down Main Street USA until he finally conked out.

While he napped, J and I meandered through the Emporium, as well as the other shops along Main Street USA. We got ourselves some treats from the Confectionery, and got some cotton candy to surprise L with later. We eventually ended up in that little courtyard area by Crystal Arts, where we people-watched until L woke up from his nap. It was nearing 5:00 pm at this point, and we had a 6:00 pm dinner reservation at the Contemporary, so we decided to start making our way out, rather than trying to fit in another ride. We stopped first in the Fire Station, so Lincoln could see "Patchy."

For context, this is Lincoln’s beloved “Patchy,” who sleeps in his bed every night, and goes on vacation with us. We got him this plushy on his first trip to WDW back in December 2021. And we bought a backup on this trip, just in case.

On our way out, we stopped to take a couple "last look" pics of Main Street USA and the Christmas tree.

While we were standing there, we noticed some CMs roping off the area around the flag, and remembered that they do the flag retreat ceremony at 5:00 pm. J and I hadn't seen it in several years, and L had never seen it, so we decided to stay and watch.

This ceremony always tugs at my heartstrings, and reminds me of my late grandfathers, who both served in the US Military (Marines and Air Force). I attended a military college where Reveille, Retreat, and Taps were played daily, so this also provided an opportunity for me to explain to Lincoln what those mean, and why the flag is raised and lowered every day.

Up next: Dinner at Steakhouse 71

k8einwdw · Jan 23, 2025

Tuesday, December 3rd - Magic Kingdom Day - Continued

We made our way out of Magic Kingdom around 5:15, and made the short walk over to the Contemporary. We stopped to admire the Christmas tree - this one is a lot simpler than some of the other resort trees, but it has always been one of our favorites!

We still had a few minutes to kill before we could check in for our dinner reservation, so we headed out to the Mickey sculpture to take some pics. I had told Jason in 2022 and 2023 that I wanted to take this picture every year to see how Lincoln grows and changes between trips, but it had completely slipped our minds. This time around, I was determined to make it happen. There was a large family in front of us that offered to let us go first - we should have taken them up on their offer, because they took

They had to get multiple shots of the whole group, then shots of each household, then each couple, then the grandparents with all of the grandkids...they were apologetic about it, and thankfully we weren't in a hurry. These pics were worth the wait, and Lincoln was thrilled to death that we let him sit in one of Mickey's ears.

Once we were done, we headed inside to check in for our dinner reservation. Almost immediately, we were called back to our table. J and I enjoyed looking around at all of the artwork and photos on the walls. Jason ordered some cocktail I don't remember the name of. For our meals, J got the 10oz. New York Strip with the Steakhouse 71 sauce and the Au Gratin Potatoes. I got the 6 oz. Filet with the Whipped Horseradish Cream and the Macaroni and Cheese. We had planned on ordering Lincoln the kids' burger, but as soon as he heard our server say that they also had chicken nuggets, he decided that was what he wanted. We should have stuck with the burger, because he barely touched his nuggets, and instead ate grapes and most of my mac and cheese.

Jason and I both really enjoyed our meals - we will definitely be back, and I'd like to try their breakfast as well. On our way into the restaurant, L had noticed the little kids area near the check-in desks with kid-sized chairs and a tv. We had promised him that he could spend some time there after dinner.

He was loving it, moving from chair to chair while he had the area to himself. Then some other kids came over, and I warned Lincoln - if you get up from your chair, someone else is going to sit in it. Sure enough, he got up, and an older girl quickly took over the spot. Of course, he wanted me to make her get up, which I did not - natural consequences, kid. He became very upset, so I took him on the escalators to cheer him up. We popped into Bayview Gifts to look around, and he made a beeline for this:

It's a little metal mailbox that came with peppermint bark. He cared nothing about the peppermint bark, he just wanted the mailbox. Rather than hitting me with the usual "I don't have one of these," it was "Mommy, this would make me feel better...

" Well, Mommy's a sucker, so he got the mailbox. Jason was not too thrilled when we came down the escalator with a shopping bag in hand.

Up Next: Hopping to Epcot

fractal · Jan 24, 2025

What a great day at Magic Kingdom!

k8einwdw · Jan 24, 2025

Tuesday, December 3rd - Magic Kingdom Day - Continued

A few weeks before the trip, I had made a crazy suggestion to Jason. We knew we wanted to see the Epcot fireworks, since Luminous had premiered a few short days after our trip in 2023. But, Epcot was to be our last park day, and it's always a struggle being out late the last night of the trip, having to pack up the room super late at night, and then wake up early to drive home the next morning. With that in mind, I suggested that we try to see the Epcot fireworks on our Magic Kingdom day. We knew that we would need to leave MK early since it was a party day, and it would be easy peasy to hop on the monorail after our dinner at Steakhouse 71, and transfer to the Epcot line at the TTC. But the entire plan hinged on Lincoln taking a nap, because Early Entry to Park Close with a 3yo who has not had a nap would not be fun for anyone. Thankfully, L cooperated, so after we wrapped up our time at the Contemporary, we made our way over to Epcot.

When we walked in, L exclaimed, "Look! The Epcot Ball is a candy cane!" We stopped to watch the show on Spaceship Earth for a few minutes, and I finally changed out of my tennis skirt and into a pair of leggings, because it was cold.

While we were over by Spaceship Earth, we noticed that it was a walk-on, so of course we had to ride.

Always have to take a picture of this fashion icon.

Lincoln sat with Jason for this ride, and their pictures turned out so cute!

Meanwhile...

We were off SSE around 8:45, and the fireworks were at 9:30, so we decided to go ahead and grab a spot. We ended up in the same spot we were at in 2023, in between the Odyssey Building and the Mexico pavilion. It's not the *best* view of the fireworks, but it makes for a quick and easy exit if you're leaving via the front of the park. Lincoln was a good sport about waiting, partially because we had surprised him with his cotton candy from the Confectionery...

And also because he had himself a little dance party once the pre-fireworks music started. I wish I could embed a video here without uploading it to YouTube - he was really breaking it down.

Up Next: Luminous: The Symphony of Us

k8einwdw · Jan 24, 2025

fractal said:
What a great day at Magic Kingdom!

It was the perfect MK day! We’ve really grown to appreciate the low crowds on party days, it makes for easy park touring!

k8einwdw · Jan 24, 2025

Tuesday, December 3rtd - Magic Kingdom Day - Continued

As for the fireworks, we really enjoyed the show. Nothing will ever top IllumiNations for us, but Luminous was definitely a step up from Epcot Forever, which we had seen the year prior. I did lament the lack of a holiday tag at the end of the show - the old "Let There Be Peace on Earth" holiday tag from IllumiNations would have fit perfectly with this show.

After the fireworks, we made a quit exit to the monorail to get our car at the TTC. We all crashed pretty much immediately once we got back to the hotel room.

Step count for the day - 26,785 steps - 10.15 miles.

Up next: A Character Meal to Remember

Minnie1986 · Jan 27, 2025

k8einwdw said:
Thankfully I'm lucky enough to have one of these exclusive cards - @Tuvalu is a popular lady!

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I will get my hands on one of those if it's the last thing I do (definitely not still bitter about narrowly missing @Tuvalu multiple times last summer)

Minnie1986 · Jan 27, 2025

k8einwdw said:
Monday, December 2nd - Animal/Magic Kingdom Day - Continued

We left Animal Kingdom shortly after 2:30, and headed back to Pop. Lincoln is in the process of dropping his afternoon nap, but we knew he'd still need one during the looong days at Disney. He had not taken one yet this day, and honestly we were all in need of a nap, so we all did just that. I set an alarm for 4:30 so that we wouldn't accidently sleep for four hours. When I woke up, I felt something weird in the sheets...it was those tiny rocks from the Dig Site in Dinoland. We had gotten them out of all of our shoes/socks earlier, but Lincoln must have had some lingering in his clothes - y'all, it was a comical amount of rocks in our sheets.

We all quickly changed out of our AK clothes and into our MK clothes (obviously not going to wear a Tree of Life shirt to Magic Kingdom), and we headed out of the room around 5:00. At 5:45, we were here. Hello, Beautiful.

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Hello, Beautiful.

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Hello, Beautiful.

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I just love this time of the day at Magic Kingdom - it's not quite dark outside, but all of the lights on Main Street have turned on - it's just magical. We wanted to try to get in one or two rides before dinner and fireworks, so we headed back to Fantasyland. We did not purchase LL this day, so we had to wait in the standby lines with the rest of the riff-raff. Lincoln was really excited to ride Barnstormer again, so we headed there first. It was posted at a 35-minute wait, but I think it was closer to a 20-minute wait. Longer than I'd care to wait for a 30-second ride, but it made Lincoln happy.

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After we got off, we knew we only had about 45 minutes until we'd need to find a spot for Happily Ever After, so we decided to go ahead and mobile order dinner. We decided on Casey's, since we hadn't eaten there since I believe 2019. Upon placing our mobile order, I was shocked to find out hat Casey's doesn't have kids' meals...so strange at Disney. So, we ordered 3 adult meals, and since we were on the dining plan, that messed up the number of kids/adults TS credits. In hindsight, L and I probably could have/should have split a meal. ANYWAY, we all got corn dog nuggies, and of course paid the $1 extra to each get a cup 'o cheese. The seating at Casey's was, unsurprisingly, completely packed, so we ended up sitting on the cub on Main Street USA. Not super comfortable, but at least we had spots secured for HEA.

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After we finished eating, we still had a good bit of time to kill before the fireworks started. Thankfully, I had prepared for this very moment, and had stashed lollipops and some small toys for Lincoln in my bag. And of course, the bubble wands are always a hit.

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I don't think I'll ever be over the loss of the Dream Lights.

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Before I get to the fireworks pictures, a short soapbox moment. We got to our spot over an hour before showtime. We knew other people would fill in the empty space on Main Street USA, no problem. But if the fireworks have already started, it's rude to squeeze your way in to the middle of the crowd, making everyone move to let you in and interrupting the show for everyone around you. And it's even ruder if you do it again because you don't stay for the whole show. If you want to leave before the fireworks are over, stand closer to the front of the park. Soapbox moment number two - for the love, can we stop putting kids on shoulders? No one can see around your kid. Hold them at eye level. I promise they can still see if they're not towering seven feet in the air. Soapbox moment over.

Now, let's get on with the show! Lincoln was enthralled with the fireworks, and perhaps even more so with his Magic Band's interaction with the fireworks. Note how Jason is holding him at eye level.

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We had not watched the show from inside Magic Kingdom since sometime in 2019. We were passholders from 2017-2021, so we always had the mentality of "we'll just do it next trip" if we missed out on experiencing something on a trip. Little did we know, a pandemic would take fireworks from us for a long time, and then HEA would be retired shortly after returning. We had missed this show, and seeing it again with our son made it all the more special.

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Is my face red because of the cold, or because I'd been crying? I'll never tell.

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It was so special seeing this show again with Lincoln. Well worth paying the extra $ for park hoppers. After the show, we headed out of the park - we had picked a spot just outside an Emporium entrance so we could cut through and avoid some of the crowds on Main Street USA. We managed to get back to the room around 9:15, which is not bag for a Magic Kingdom night. I bathed L and got him down to bed around 10:00, and then J and I followed not to long after.

Step count for the day - 23,976 - 8.95 miles

Up next: Magic Kingdom on a chilly party day

These pics were beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing!!

k8einwdw · Jan 27, 2025

Minnie1986 said:
These pics were beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing!!

Thank you

It is so special getting to share new Disney experiences with our boy!

Spash007 · Jan 27, 2025

k8einwdw said:
Tuesday, December 3rd - Magic Kingdom Day

I was up at 5:30 am again, and Lincoln woke up with my alarm. Our goal was to be out of the room at 6:30 - the whole process of getting to MK takes longer than the other parks, so we knew there was not much wiggle room if we wanted to make it in time for Early Entry. Thankfully, we were out of the room around 6:35. Upon our arrival at TTC, the monorail was not yet running, so we took a chilly ferry ride over to MK. At least one of us was warm and cozy.

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We were walking into MK at 7:25 am, and headed straight for the mass of people rope-dropping Fantasyland. We parked the stroller by the carousel and rope-dropped Peter Pan - this ended up being about a 30-minute wait, so Early Entry was over by the time we made it out.

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After Peter Pan, we headed across the way to It's a Small World, which was a walk-on.

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Nightmare fuel.

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The real nightmare fuel - these animatronics were turned off, so the dolls were all silently staring at passersby.

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After Small World, we headed to one of Lincoln's favorites - the carousel. I know it doesn't look like it, but he was having a great time.

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After our ride on the carousel, L and I were ready for breakfast. We always have breakfast foods to eat in the room/on the way to the parks, but we had been in a rush that morning and had not had time to eat. It was so cold outside, so J suggested sitting inside of Pinocchio Village Haus. They are only open for lunch and dinner, so we were pleasantly surprised that the door was unlocked - maybe they figured that guests would be seeking respite from the cold. L enjoyed his muffins and fruit and I my protein shake while we watched people float by on It's a Small World.

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Our first LL of the day was Seven Dwarfs for 8:30-9:30, but it was down during our return time, so it was converted to an Anytime pass. To pass the time, we decided to head back to Storybook Circus. We walked right on to Dumbo, followed by another walk-on at Barnstormer.

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It was around 9:30 at this point, and J and I were both in desperate need of coffee. We headed over to the Joffrey's Revive kiosk in Tomorrowland, but the line was looooong and it very quickly became evident that there was no way we'd be able to make our 9:00am-10:00am Haunted Mansion LL if we stayed in line. There are three Joffrey's kiosks in Epcot (in addition to the one outside the entrance), two at Hollywood Studios, and two at Animal Kingdom - we'd love to see them open another location in Magic Kingdom. The line at Revive is always crazy long in the mornings, I think having another kiosk in Adventureland/Frontierland would cut down on the crowds, and no doubt it'd be successful.

Up next: More Magic Kingdom fun

Couldn’t agree more about Joffrey’s in Magic Kingdom!

k8einwdw · Jan 28, 2025

Spash007 said:
Couldn’t agree more about Joffrey’s in Magic Kingdom!

There's definitely room for another location in Frontierland!

k8einwdw · Jan 28, 2025

Wednesday, December 4th - Resort Day

Since we dropped down to one Disney trip per year, we've added in another night to our trips, which has allowed us to incorporate a "rest" day. Rest is in quotations, because we're not good at resting at Disney, but it is nice to have a day when we're not waking up before the dawn and staying on our feet all day. We had a 9:30 breakfast reservation this morning, so we "slept in" (Lincoln was up by 7:00) and took our time getting ready. We opted to drive to the Poly for our breakfast, so we left Pop around 9:00. We checked in at 'Ohana, fully expecting to wait forever for our table, but we were quickly seated, and with a great view!

We chatted with our server for a moment, J and I ordered a pressed pot of coffee to split, and we jokingly/not jokingly told him to keep the POG juice flowing - all three of us love that stuff. In no time, we had food on the table. Lincoln's face in this picture cracks me up - I guess he was inspecting one of the Stitch waffles.

We go into character meals with pretty low expectations of the food, but we were pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed this meal. The pineapple sweet bread was delicious, the waffles were just the right combination of slightly crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside, and Lincoln devoured most of the fresh fruit. But we all know we weren't here for the food...

Lincoln has really gotten into Lilo and Stitch (or as he calls him, Stitchy) over the past year, so he was stoked for this meal.

The first character to come to our table was Lilo. Lincoln was a little shy at first, but as you can see, that quickly wore off. Just look at that smile.

Up next was Pluto...Lincoln thought it was hilarious when I suggested that he scratch Pluto's head.

Up next: More 'Ohana pics

k8einwdw · Jan 28, 2025

Next up was the Big Cheese himself - as you can see, Lincoln was so excited. Mom and Dad may have been a little misty-eyed watching this interaction.

And lastly, the star of the show - Stitchy himself.

It's safe to say that 'Ohana breakfast was a big hit. After our meal, we popped into the two gift shops to browse, and one of them (I think it was Moana Mercantile) was pretty empty, so we took the opportunity to kindly explain our situation with the pressed penny machines to the CM at the register, and we asked if there was any way he'd be willing to convert our quarters to single dollar bills. He was so kind, and was happy to help us out (I'm kicking myself for not getting his name and submitting a cast compliment). We ended up counting out $19 worth of quarters, which he kindly traded for 19 one dollar bills. They happened to have some pressed penny books there - we had been on the hunt for them the entire trip - so we grabbed one of those to hold Lincoln's collection. He was SO excited to finally get to make some pressed pennies!

I grabbed some pics of the Poly Christmas tree on our way out of the resort...

And Lincoln was very excited to put his pennies in his book as soon as we got to the car.

Up next: Disney Springs and Resort Hopping

Tuvalu · Jan 28, 2025

You can see L’s teenager face in this picture.

Savor this precious time because he’ll be a teen in the blink of an eye.

(And save this pic to post again in 10 years to prove me right. :happy:

)

Trip Report The Cold Never Bothered Us Anyway - December 2024

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Tuvalu