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Players: Gayle & Eugene, Heather (22), Bryan (20) and Amanda (4)
We had a 8 AM flight out of Kennedy airport in NYC on Delta Express and were picked up at 5:15 AM. I was up until after 2 AM packing
(nothing like leaving everything until the last minute). The local car service we used did not send a big enough van for us and it was
very squished going to the airport. We arrived there about 6 AM and did curbside check-in. We ran into a slight snag. My son's picture
college ID was not sufficient for them. As he doesn't have a drivers license yet or non driver's ID they didn't want to let him through.
Thank goodness I brought copies of all our birth certificates. He wasn't thrilled that it was a copy but he finally accepted it. Our
flight left on time and by 10:30 we were in Orlando. We were met at the baggage claim by Berkley of Tiffany Towncar and he was
wonderful. He helped us with our luggage and we were off. As it turned out he was a transplanted New Yorker (from White Plains) and
he pointed out all the hot spots on the way to the resort (CBR). We made our grocery stop and were at the resort by about 11:45 AM.
Check in was no picnic - quite a long line and the CM we got had some difficulties with our check-in but finally we were on our way to our
room. We opted for the length of stay passes and had them drop the last day. We were put in Martinique, Building 22, Rooms 2257/58.
The location was great - a short walk to the food court, pools and the bus stop. The rooms were a good size, tastefully decorated, and
clean. After we unpacked we went to the food court to eat and then explored our surroundings a bit. It started to rain so we rested in
our room a few hours and were then off to the Magic Kingdom.
The look on Amanda's face as we entered was worth the cost of the whole trip. We proceeded to do the Haunted Mansion, Small World,
Toontown (waited on line 45 minutes for a picture with Mickey) and then headed to see the Spectromagic Parade. It was beautiful and
Amanda had such a look of wonder on her face it brought tears to my eyes. She had the best seat in the house on dh's shoulders. We
stood by Casey's to watch. A better place to watch is in Frontierland where the crowds are less. After the parade we headed
back to the resort as we were all pretty tired by this point. It took a little while to get back to the resort as it seemed the line
for the CBR buses was the longest.
We had our wake-up call at 6:30. It was a beautiful morning. Despite having cereal in the room to eat my big kids wanted the food
court so off we went for breakfast. Amanda had the childrens pancakes - they give you 2 with 2 bacon strips, Eugene had a big
breakfast platter, both big kids got an egg croissant and I had a fruit bowl and the pancake and bacon Amanda didn't eat. We used our
refillable mugs and by 8:45 we were at the bus stop.
MGM had very light crowds and there was virtually no wait for anything. The guys got a Fast Pass for Rockin Roll Coaster and went
to do Tower of Terror while us girls went to the House of Disney. Amanda loved the show as we all did. We met up with the guys after
that - I shared a Mickey ice-cream with Amanda - and we were off to conquer the rest of the park. We did the Great Movie Ride and when
we came out so did the characters - the Winnie the Pooh Crew - Amanda had to have pictures with all of them and then we were off to the
Little Mermaid show. It was wonderful and even dh appreciated the special effects. We then went to catch Muppetvision (one of my
favorites). Amanda wouldn't keep on the 3D glasses but seemed to enjoy it anyway. We stopped for lunch at Pizza Planet, which was
very god, checked out some of the stores and then they all went on Star Tours while Amanda and I walked around and took in the sights.
It was a very warm day and thank goodness for our Brita water bottles. We found the water in Florida awful compared to NYC and
used these all through our trip.
Since we had been to MGM on our last trip the big kids didn't feel the need to do everything again. The fast passes for Millionaire
weren't until much later in the day so we decided to pass on it for now ( we never did get back there to do it but there is always the
next trip) and to go back to the hotel and swim. When we returned there was suprise waiting for Amanda from Cherylann - a stuffed
Mickey and a princess balloon. She was thrilled. Amanda had a great time in the pool.
In the evening we headed to Downtown Disney for dinner. We ate at Wolfgang Puck's Espress. I had a bbq chicken sandwhich which was
delicious, everyone else had pizza. Amanda rode the carousel and we walked around exploring and checking out the Disney Store. By now it
was close to 9 and Amanda was becoming very cranky and uncooperative to say the least. She started to have a total melt down and I
decided to take her back to the hotel and the rest of them went on to the Westside to Disney Quest and then on to see Pleasure Island.
Amanda calmed down and was fine by the time we reached the bus stop. We had a long wait but were finally on our way. I gave her a snack
and a bath and she was ready for bed. They came back after midnight and we all went to sleep.
Tomorrow on to Epcot
After a quick breakfast in the food court we were off to Epcot. The day was sunny, hot, and very humid. We got to the park by 9:15 and
the crowds were very light. Heather and Bryan had a professional picture taken when we came in which came out very nice so Heather
bought it before we left that day. We started at Spaceship Earth which we all enjoyed. The guys then ran over to Test Track to get
Fastpass. Next we went on to the Living Seas. When we finished this the guys went to do Test Track and us girls went to do The Land
building and did Living With The Land. Amanda, suprisingly, really enjoyed this and was interested in all the things growing. Our next
stop was the World Showcase. We started at Mexico and walked all around from there. Since we had done the Mexico ride on our last
trip we skipped it and went to Norway and did Maelstrom. Amanda at this point fell asleep so we walked from country to country exploring
the buildings. She woke up when we reached America so we stopped for lunch. Not very exotic but adequate food and cool to sit inside and
eat. After we ate we continued our walk around the World Showcase and caught a show outside Morocco. We completed the countries and
walked back towards Innoventions. We went into Ice Station Cool and, of course, I told everyone to taste Beverly. I actually liked the
Israeli drink the best. We went to Innoventions, as the storm clouds gathered and made a postcard, and then Amanda spotted the childrens
computers and sat down. We had to literally tear her away when we were ready to leave. By the time we finished the thunderstorm was
about to begin so we left the guys to watch some Home Entertainment System demonstration and went to look at the professional picture
they kids took when we came in. Heather decided to buy it and it took about 20 minutes to get it by then the storm was in full force
so we decided to wait it out some as this was the one day rain was not forecasted and we left the ponchos behind. Finally it let up and
we went back to get the guys. By now it was close to 4 and we had to be back by 5 to meet my sister who was joining us so we decided to
head back to the resort. Epcot is the only park that has no overhang where you get the resort buses so we got wet and went back to the
hotel. By the time we got back the rain had stopped. My sister came late and then had a problem with doing her length of stay pass and it
got too late to meet up with Monaca and others at Beaches and Cream so we decided to just eat at the food court. I had a childrens pasta
with sauce and a side salad which was pretty good. My sister and Heather had pizza and the guys had fettichini (I know spelled wrong)
alfredo with broccoli. They said it was ok. As Amanda was tired at this point Eugene decided to keep her back and I went with my sister
and the big kids to Disney Quest. We had a blast - there is so much to do that you could spend days there. We made our own CD, designed
and rode our own roller coaster, played some games, did the Nascar racing, the Buzz Lightyear bumper car thing, and the Raft trip that
had us laughing so hard we were in tears. We then walked over to Pleasure Island, got some ice-cream and headed back to the resort.
Tomorrow - breakfast with the princesses and Magic Kingdom.
Just as an aside we had a wonderful housekeeper who made animals out of washcloths the first few days we were there and they would be
waiting for us when we got back from the parks. Amanda loved it.
We had our wakeup call at 6:30 and got ready to go see the Princesses for breakfast. Amanda wore her Cinderella dress. We were at the gates at 8:45
and while we waited for 9 AM opening Amanda got to take a picture with Jasmine and Alice in Wonderland. At the Castle we only waited a few moments
and we were sent upstairs to our table. For those who don't know it is an all you can eat breakfast - we had juice, fresh fruit cups, eggs, bacon,
sausage, french toast stuffed with cheese, croissants and chocolate chip muffins. The childrens breakfast was 2 pancakes with bacon. Amanda ate a
1/2 of a pancake. The princesses were circulating the room and we got pictures with all of them. Unfortunately most of those pictures are on a
roll of film that got ruined but my sister was videoing it.Somehow Mary Poppins was there also, not sure how she fit in, but Amanda was happy. After
breakfast Amanda changed out of her costume (it was too hot to keep it on) and we were off to conquer Fantasyland. We rode the carousel, did Dumbo,
Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh (my new favorite), The Teacups and Small World.
During this time the guys went to get fast passes to Splash Mountain and were suppose to meet us back by Winnie The Pooh - well they never came back and we
were doing the other rides and kept checking back for them and they were never there. We decided to continue doing things figuring we would either
bump into them or meet back at the hotel later. The girls were hungry and hot (it was getting to be a very warm and humid day) so we went into Cosmic
Rays - the girls had chicken fingers which was pretty good and mashed potatoes -which by the way were delicious. Amanda had passed out in the
stroller at this point and took a nap. After lunch we were off to Adventureland. We did Pirates of the Carribbean and came out to a torrential
downpour. We waited it out and decided to head towards the Share A Dream Parade. The girls decided to try a few more rides on their own and would
meet me back at the hotel. As I reached Casey's Corner who is standing there but Eugene and Bryan. To make a long story short we must of just kept
missing each other in Fantasyland. We decided for the duration of the trip we would make a meeting place in each park in case we got separated again.
Amanda loved the parade (so did I) and we headed back to the resort for a swim and rest before going out in the evening for a game of miniature golf.
We ate in the Food Court and then went to get the bus to get to Fantasia's Miniature Golf Course. This in itself was a project - we had to go to
Downtown Disney and switch for the Swan/Dolphin bus. When we got to the golf course it had a 1 1/2 hour wait. Knowing Amanda would never tolerate that we
decided to check out some of the other resorts instead. We walked over to the Boardwalk, saw the Fire Works from Illuminations from the bridge there
and then walked around the Beach Club, which was beautiful. My sister and I are already planning on buying a time share there, hopefully, in the that not
too distant future. Then we went back to the Swan to wait for the bus. At Downtown Disney the girls left us to go to Pleasure Island and we went back
to the Food Court for ice cream sundaes and then to bed.
Tomorrow: Animal Kingdom
Today was another up at 6:30 day. We had a quick breakfast at the Food Court and were off to Animal Kingdom. Our first stop was Africa, we got right on
the Kilimanjaro Safari. Most of the animals were out and about and our driver was very informative. From there we walked on the Pangani Forest
Exploration Trail. My sister had been looking for a particular Goofy Pin she had seen a day earlier. She doesn't collect pins but does colllect Goofy
things. She saw a CM wearing it and asked where she could get one. It turned out it was one of those limited edition resort pins. The CM just gave
it to her which was so nice of her. My sister was in Goofy heaven. Next stop was the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch. The highlight for Amanda was
the Affection section (an animal petting area). She also got to take pictures there with Pocahontas and I think one of the Monkeys. From there we
went to catch the Festival of the Lion King Show. It was wonderful and I could have sat through it another time. It was pouring when we left the show
so we headed off to Dinoland (thank goodness for our 89 cent Walmart ponchos). Amanda did the Triceratop Spin with the girls and the guys went
to get fast passes for Dinosaur. The passes were for much later in the afternoon and we knew we couldn't stay that late so they skipped it. We then
ate lunch in Restaurantosaurus which was suprisingly very good. The burgers were made to order and they even did a grilled cheese for Amanda even though
it is not on the menu.
The rains continued and the girls decided to catch It's Tough To Be A Bug - it would of scared Amanda so we skipped it. We went to Camp Minnie and
Mickey and did pictures with all the characters - Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy. Amanda was thrilled. Since we had 6 o'clock reservations
for Mama Melrose we decided to head back to the hotel to rest and change.
We arrived at Mama Melrose at exactly 6 and waited less than 5 minutes for our table. The portions were large and it was a nice change from all the
fast food we had been eating so far. We had done the Fantasmic dinner package so that was our next stop. We got center left seats and then had to
wait an hour. Amanda was not very cooperative for waiting but graham crackers, and a lollipop later the show started. What can I say - it was one
of the best shows I have ever seen. Once the show started Amanda didn't move from her seat and was totally mesmerized. We went back to the hotel and the
girls went back to party on Pleasure Island.
Tomorrow - our rest day
Today is our rest day, well sort of. Eugene and Heidi got up at 4:30 AM. They were being picked up at 5 to go hot air ballooning. They helped blow
up the balloon, took a 45 minute ride, and then when they came down had a champagne toast and a buffet breakfast at a Days Inn. They both loved it. In
fact the morning before at a little before 7 I saw the balloons going over the resort. It was really a beautiful sight. When they returned we were
just waking up. By the time I had gotten dressed it had started to rain. It continued for about 2 hours and then cleared up. Eugene decided to do some
laundry while it rained and Amanda watched some television. As soon as it cleared we put on our suits and went to the pool. We had lunch at the food
court, outside on the deck - I got Amanda a childrens grilled cheese which came with a bag of chips. It was a triple bread sandwich and we shared it.
It is very pleasant to eat outside but you can not leave your food unattended or the resident birds will have a feast. They do not bother you while you
eat but we noticed if a whole table got up to do something thinking they would come back in a minute, the birds would sometimes decide to finish their
food. After lunch we swam some more and then went back to the room to relax and decide what to do with the evening.
We ended up going back to the Magic Kingdom and ate at Pecos Bill. This is just another fast food place - I actually did not eat dinner that night. I
had just had my fill of fast food and could not tolerate anymore grease. Everyone else had chicken fingers and burgers and Amanda another cheese
sandwich. (Amanda doesn't eat anything and feeding her was a challenge. She lived on pancakes, pizza, and grilled cheese sandwiches.) After dinner we
separated - my sister went with the 2 big kids to do Alien Encounter and Buzz Lightyear and we took Amanda on Aladdin's Magic Carpet and to see the Country
Bear Jamboree. We stayed to watch Spectromagic again at Amanda's request. After the parade I went with my sister and Heather to Downtown Disney while
Eugene and Bryan took Amanda back to the resort. We stopped at Ghiradelli's for ice-cream. My hot fudge sundae was heaven. Then we went to Pleasure
Island. It was pretty quiet there. We watched the fireworks there and went into 2 of the clubs to listen to music. I had wanted to go to see the show
at the Comedy Club but I was outvoted. We stayed to about 1 AM and then headed back to the resort.
Tomorrow back to MK/Universal/IOA
Today Amanda and I are going to be on our own. Eugene and Bryan are going to IOA and Heidi and Heather are going to Universal. I chose to pass with
Amanda as I did not want to overdue the theme parks with her for her first trip. They were picked up at 8:30 by Tiffany and off they went. Amanda had
her pancakes in the food court and off we went to the Magic Kingdom. The crowds were very light again and we had very little wait for any ride. I did
get a Fastpass for Peter Pan as the line there was quite long. We redid all the rides in Fantasyland except for Snow White. For some reason Amanda did
not want to do that one and I didn't push her. I am in love with the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride. It is just too cute. After that we
walked around a bit and caught the live character show at the castle. It is really quite nice. It is your typical good against evil scenario but not
only do you have the Mickey and Minnie bunch but you get the princesses, Peter Pan, Captain Hook, and evil queens. There is music, special effects
and after the show is over the characters do pictures with the children. After the show I walked over to Tomorrowland and we went on the Tomorrowland
Transit Authority. I had wanted to do Timekeeper next but Amanda was a little put off by the dark theater so I passed and instead got Fastpasses for
Buzz Lightyear and took Amanda for lunch. We went to the Plaza Pavilion for lunch - we shared a pizza which came with a parmesian breadstick. By now it
was nearing 2:30 and it looked like it was going to rain. Amanda was getting cranky (nap time) so I decided to pass on Buzz and head toward the buses
before the afternoon parade started. I did, however, give my Fastpasses to 2 young men walking by. It was a shame to let them go to waste. By the time
we reached the bus stop it had started to rain. We got lucky this time and by the time we got back to CBR the rain stopped and the sun came back out.
After a quick snack in the room we put on our suits and went to the pool. By the time the rest of the crew came back at 6 we were back in the room getting
ready for our dinner at Chef Mickey's. The girls enjoyed Universal and Heather was happy she was able to go on all the things she didn't have time
for 6 years ago when we were there. The guys loved IOA and went on some of the coasters 4 times. They also reported light to moderate crowds there and
very little waiting time. They also said the staff was very pleasant there and things seemed to be very well run.
We had an 8:45 seating and arrived about 8:30. They do a picture when you come in which we bought because it came out nice. Amanda was immediately in
character heaven. We were seated after a short wait. We were off to the side in a small seating area away from the main big room. We had a wonderful
view but it was not the best spot to meet and greet the characters. It took them a long time to get to us and a 4 year old at 9 oclock at night is not
the most patient. They did eventually all come to our table and we got pictures with all of them. The food was delicious. It is an all you can eat
buffet. I focused on the prime rib and mashed potatoes and made up for not having dinner the night before LOL. Their dessert bar was excellent and I
made my own sundae which was fun. We would definitely come here again to eat but request a table in the main dining room. Since we were some of the last
people in the restaurant by the time we finished dinner we got some extra time with the characters at the end so it made up for less than perfect
seats. In fact the characters were kinda frisky (for lack of a better word) at this point in the evening. They were doing silly things and my sister
ended up having the most fun fooling around with them. We were all stuffed and tired at this point so I went back to the resort with Eugene and Bryan
and the girls took off once again to Pleasure Island.
Tomorrow Sea World
This morning we got a treat at breakfast at the Food Court - the character caravan came. We had Goofy, Gepetto, Pinocchio, and the Fox. Amanda had to
have pictures with all of them, of course. We then had to rush to make our 8:45 pick-up by Tiffany to Sea World.
The day was very warm and rain was once again predicted so we were hoping to get as much done as possible before the weather changed on us. The last time
I was there was over 20 years ago and it really has changed. We took in the Dolphin Show, saw the Dolphin Cove and the Stingray Lagoon. Amanda had her
picture taken with a Shamu character (which we bought on the way out as it was cute) Then the guys did Kraken (a big roller coaster) and Journey to
Atlantis, another ride that is a water flume that drops 5 stories. We went to see the Penguin and Puffin exhibits while Heather and Heidi went to watch
the Sea Lion and Otter show . We met back at the Waterfront Sandwich Grill for lunch. The food was good, we had burgers and Heidi had a turkey sandwich,
but it was a bit more than Disney prices. They charged me almost $3 for a large container of milk. It started to storm while we ate. After lunch it
was still raining hard so my sister and Heather went to see Cirque de La Mer as it was inside and we went to the Midway as Amanda had fallen asleep. They
said that show was excellent. We met back at Shamu Stadium and the rain finally stopped in time for the show to begin. Amanda woke up right before
it started and enjoyed it thoroughly as we all did. From there we went to see a Water Skiing Stunt Show which was also excellent. They have a
wonderful play area set up for children which included water play and sand play but because of the rain we could not take advantage of it. Tiffany
picked us up promptly at 4 and we went back to CBR to relax and get ready for our character dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern.
We arrived a few minutes before our 8 o'clock reservation. The restaurant is beautiful in its period decor, ambiance, and architecture. We had a great
server (I don't remember his name) who happened to be from Long Island. The food was excellent. It is an all you can eat served family style. We had
salad, steak, turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, stuffing, and a mixed vegetable combo. As we finished up one bowl or platter another
one came to the table. Then we ordered dessert. I had an individual apple pie with vanilla ice cream. Eugene had a strawberry cheese cake and Bryan
had a triple chocolate cake. Far from dollarless but delicious and well worth it. Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale joined us for dinner and spent
a lot of time with Amanda and us at the table. Again the later dinner hour worked in our favor in terms of getting extra time with all the characters as
the restaurant emptied out. We weren't sitting in the main area here but it didn't matter as the characters came around frequently.
We finished dinner just in time to catch Spectro (for the 3rd time LOL) again. It was a great spot to watch the parade as it wasn't as crowded as it
gets near Main Street and the Castle. Amanda was thrilled to see it again and I must admit I enjoyed it just as much the 3rd time as the first. Each
time you watch it you notice different things that you didn't catch the time before. After the parade we headed back to the buses. Eugene took Amanda
back to CBR and the rest of us went to the big Disney Store in Downtown Disney to buy souveniers. If you are a resort guest and use your AE card you
get 15% off purchases $50 and up and 10% on $25 and up with your Disney Club Card. After shopping Bryan and I brought everything back to the resort
while the Heidi and Heather went back to Pleasure Island.
Tomorrow - Rain, rain go away
I had originally wanted to return to Animal Kingdom today to do Asia and see Tarzan Rocks but we awoke to rain. After a late breakfast we decided to go
back to Downtown Disney to finish shopping and then go to Disney Quest if the rain continued. Eugene decided to do some laundry and then go with Bryan to
Disney Quest. The rain did continue so after shopping we headed to Disney Quest to have lunch in their restaurant. The food was very good there - it
is owned by Cheesecake Factory. We had grilled cheese sandwhiches that were made on I think Follaccio bread (I probably spelled that wrong). They were
huge sandwhiches that were so light and fluffy it melted in your mouth. It could easily be shared by 2 (which I did with Amanda). We did a few things
there and since the weather was starting to clear we decided to go back for a swim. We only got about 3/4 of an hour of swimming when the thunder
started and another storm rolled in so back to the rooms we went. Amanda took a nap and I started to pack for our departure tomorrow. The rain
did stop in about an hour and we got ready to head out to Epcot as we had made plans to meet up with Niki for Illuminations and Heidi and Heather
wanted to try Test Track.
Once again, our best laid plans did not work out. We had to wake Amanda and she was not a happy camper and it took a long time to get her ready. My
sister ended up on the phone with her husband for a while and it took her a while to get dressed and ready. As I had left the paper with Niki's cell
number at home I couldn't reach her to let her know we would be delayed. By the time we got to Epcot there were no more Fast Passes for Test Track and
the wait was over an hour. They decided to pass on it and Heather then said she needed to eat so we had to stop for that (the rest of us were willing to
wait until later for that). Because of that I missed the Tapestry of Dreams parade but we wont go there now LOL Then of course it started to rain again
so we ducked into Innoventions to wait it out a bit. Heidi did a video postcard to her husband, Amanda and Eugene did some video game where you jump
on a mat to hit something to score points. She had a ball jumping up and down and actually did score a few. The rain let up a bit so we started to
walk towards Italy, where we were suppose to meet Niki. To make a long story short, we never made it to Italy on time and missed Niki. Her husband
left a message on my cell but since my cell phone was not cooperating it I didn't get it until the next day. We ended up near China and watched from
there. The rain started again right before Illuminations started but we stayed anyway. We enjoyed the show and then made our way back to the bus
stop. By this time it was raining quite hard and we were getting soaked despite our ponchos. Epcot does not have bus stop coverings. We stood a
good 20 minutes in the rain getting soaked waiting for the bus - and when the bus finally came it was freezing. We had planned a girls night out at
Pleasure Island for our last night but we opted for dry clothes instead. The rain finally stopped and we brought ice cream back to the room from the food
court and just talked and packed.
On Sunday we awoke to a beautiful, sunny, warm day. I had arranged a late check out (1 PM) so we had a quick breakfast, finished packing and put on our
suits and went to the pool. We stayed at the pool until noon, went back to change and by 1:30 our bags had been picked up to be held until 3 PM. We had
a leisurely pizza lunch at the food court and then took a walk to the Custom House where we were being met by our Tiffany driver at 3 PM. Berkley came
right on time and before we knew it we were on our way home. We did curbside check in at the airport and once again I had a little problem with my son's
ID but after seeing his birth certificate the guy waved us through. Our flight was delayed almost 40 min. as they needed volunteers to give up their
seats for a later flight. They had overbooked big time on this one. We considered doing it as they were offering $450 a person travel voucher, a
night in a hotel, transportation to and from the hotel to the airport and breakfast in the morning with an upgrade to first class. Heather and Heidi
had to be at work on Monday and I really did not want to really confuse Amanda so we decided to pass.
On the way down we could have taken a later flight also as they were offering $350 travel vouchers. As a dollarless tip - if you can do this you basically
can get a free trip again within 12 months. I definitely will consider doing this next time I go. Our flight was uneventful and Amanda sat quietly during
most of it and we landed in NY at 8 PM and we were in the house by 9PM.
As an aside for those with toddlers - we had been using this trip as an incentive for bathroom training for Amanda as she had been very resistant for
months. Well the Disney Magic worked. From the moment we touched down in Orlando this child has been using the bathroom on her own and has not (knock
on wood) had an accident since. She kept saying "Mickey will be so proud of me" and at Camp Minnie and Mickey at Animal Kingdom she did tell Mickey she
goes on the potty now herself.
I hope you enjoyed reading these reports.
Gayle
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