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Spent Christmas Day in Magic Kingdom, after having already spent 9 days in Orlando. We'd come to MK last week a few times to do rides and basically had our kids prepared for the idea that this would be a hellish dreamscape and there was a decent chance no fun would be had. That said, we had a great time today but I think we played it different than most by sticking to our fastpass+'s and playing a ton of Sorceror's of MK. We tried a pirate map, but Adventure Land was just too crowded. The one mistake we made was standy-by'ing a 65 minute Haunted Mansion. I've never been in a line our by the dock before but boy howdy we were today. Before we even got in the building I was kind of praying for death but doubly so once we got inside because then it was like an anthill got kicked and everyone had to fight their way into a buggy. Craziness. A few funny memories from this trip: * The some-kind-of-Spanish guy who got picked during the Laugh Floor who didn't have any English at all under his belt and just stared happily at the camera while being asked to cover an eye or poke himself in the eye or anything at all. I don't think he got much from that event. * The cast member explaining to room just before entering the theater for Voyage of the Little Mermaid that no video recording or video lighting is allowed...while being video recorded under an iPhone torch light by a jackass directly in front of her, it was like a news broadcast (the guy spoke plenty of English, but just figured it applied to everyone else I guess). * No one EVER moves to the end of the row, and trying to prod them along doesn't make friends very well  Pro-tips that may or may not be pro: * VIP passes or things that sound exclusive like candlelight processional, Mickeys Magical Christmas Party and stuff are but just not to the scale you probably thought. Roughly 5000 people are ahead of you in line for all of that. * if your kids are on your dining plan as adults, make sure your server knows (remind while ordering), otherwise they might assume wrong, bring a kids meal and it's a pain in the rear end waiting on ticket to be corrected. * Some Epcot world showcase dining locations take themselves way too drat serious. La Hacienda and Tutto Italia come to mind. I don't think I'm a big jerk or uneducated by saying it, the food seemed over hyped and the service generally difficult (but, Christmas, I guess). Some are amazing, Le Cellier props are deserved and service was super nice all around. * Get a dole whip early in the day and avoid the ridiculous lines. The dole whip you want is called, "Pineapple float with Pineapple". Don't end up the rear end in a top hat (like me) who walks away with a cup of vanilla ice cream. * A 75 degree high may be iffy where you're from, but it's freakin hot here. That said, you'll freeze your butt off if you don't bring a coat for when it hits 55 later that night.
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Dec 26, 2013 03:59
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Campbell posted:* No one EVER moves to the end of the row, and trying to prod them along doesn't make friends very well  Especially if you are a chubby dude who people have been eying as "the weird guy" for the entire pre-show. Just doesn't do any favors.
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Dec 26, 2013 06:47
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The worst are the people that think their backpacks and purses get a seat in the row. No, no it does not. If it doesn't have an rear end, it doesn't get a seat. Move. Over.
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Dec 27, 2013 03:24
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Just booked a trip for my girlfriend and I with the dining plan and reservations for some places! So pumped! We were able to get Be Our Guest dinner plans and a character breakfast at Askerhaus. Is there anything to do at night after the parks close past 11-12? We'd like to get out and have drinks/dance at night but it looks like things may close early. Should we just resign ourselves to calling it a night at midnight?
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Dec 27, 2013 03:53
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First off congrats! Second, when are you coming down? You can go to Downtown Disney and there is the Irish pub but otherwise you selections are limited. It is not what it used to be when Pleasure Island was open and we would party at Mannequins until 2 AM. Oh the memories.
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Dec 27, 2013 03:56
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demonR6 posted:First off congrats! Second, when are you coming down? You can go to Downtown Disney and there is the Irish pub but otherwise you selections are limited. It is not what it used to be when Pleasure Island was open and we would party at Mannequins until 2 AM. Oh the memories. We'll be coming in Feb 7-12. Sort of a quick trip but our vacation days and convenience with work is what we came up with. We're also doing a day at Universal if any one has any recommendations for restaurants there. From what I've seen online, it doesn't look too promising!
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Dec 27, 2013 04:51
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Universal: Captain America and the place in Jurassic Park were good quick serve places. We had table serve lunch at Jimmy Buffet years ago and it was good and not ridiculously priced like Emeril's.
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Dec 27, 2013 16:48
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KabukiJoe posted:We'll be coming in Feb 7-12. Sort of a quick trip but our vacation days and convenience with work is what we came up with. We're also doing a day at Universal if any one has any recommendations for restaurants there. From what I've seen online, it doesn't look too promising! At Universal, nothing worth it but Citywalk you have some damned good selections as well as other locations at the hotels like Emeril's Tchoup Tchoup.
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Dec 27, 2013 16:56
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Campbell posted:Universal: Captain America and the place in Jurassic Park were good quick serve places. We had table serve lunch at Jimmy Buffet years ago and it was good and not ridiculously priced like Emeril's. We're prolly looking to keep it on the cheap at Universal and then go get a nice dinner outside the park and likely even outside the theme park areas. We're renting a car for that portion so we'll be able to trek out a bit. May just check out Yelp and scope out some nice dinner spots.
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Dec 27, 2013 18:54
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KabukiJoe posted:We're prolly looking to keep it on the cheap at Universal and then go get a nice dinner outside the park and likely even outside the theme park areas. We're renting a car for that portion so we'll be able to trek out a bit. May just check out Yelp and scope out some nice dinner spots. Chef Eddie's Soul Food cafe.. chicken and waffles.
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Dec 27, 2013 19:02
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demonR6 posted:Chef Eddie's Soul Food cafe.. chicken and waffles. Are you stalking me? one of my favorite drunk foods is a chicken and waffle sandwich!
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Dec 27, 2013 19:12
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KabukiJoe posted:Are you stalking me? one of my favorite drunk foods is a chicken and waffle sandwich! Were you that drink guy that was always at the Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles?
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Dec 27, 2013 22:24
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If you get a chance, go to 4 Rivers Smokehouse for the most amazing BBQ ever. http://4rsmokehouse.com/ It's probably about 25/30 min away from the Disney area, by I4. Closed on Sundays. Don't be intimidated by the line outside the building, it's worth the 15/20 min wait. Also, try one of their signature cupcake milkshakes. Holy god.
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Dec 28, 2013 23:53
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Cryosleep posted:If you get a chance, go to 4 Rivers Smokehouse for the most amazing BBQ ever. http://4rsmokehouse.com/ It's worth noting that the Winter Garden location is probably closest and they don't have to traverse I-4 to do it. I haven't been there before but I've heard nothing but good things. I'm only about ten-fifteen minutes from the WG location so maybe I ought to check it out.
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Dec 29, 2013 00:33
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Oh yeah, you're right, the WG is definitely closer. I've never been to that location, but I should go the next time I go to WDW. Just got annual passes for my (18 y/o) daughter and I this year. We're huge Disney fans. 
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Dec 29, 2013 00:38
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One thing to remember is 4Rivers isn't open on Sundays. Hash House a Go Go (imported from Las Vegas) on I-Drive has really good chicken and waffles and massive portions. For clubs downtown Orlando is about a 15-20 min drive up I-4.
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Jan 1, 2014 00:40
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Cryosleep posted:If you get a chance, go to 4 Rivers Smokehouse for the most amazing BBQ ever. http://4rsmokehouse.com/ This, hands down best BBQ in central florida, maybe florida. The line moves quickly, it's no different than waiting 30 minutes for a regular restaurant. I always get either the pulled pork or the texas sausage. Don't forget to hit the sweet shop that's attached to it for some awesome desert!
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Jan 3, 2014 13:55
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mattfl posted:This, hands down best BBQ in central florida, maybe florida. The line moves quickly, it's no different than waiting 30 minutes for a regular restaurant. I always get either the pulled pork or the texas sausage. Don't forget to hit the sweet shop that's attached to it for some awesome desert! The wife and I go to the Winter Garden location monthly four our Four Rivers Friday date night.. we heart 4 R.
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Jan 3, 2014 14:25
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Headed to 4R tomorrow for lunch. Always worth the wait.
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Jan 3, 2014 19:44
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Got a kick out of this: "Soarin' was all out of FASTPASS by 9:35am and had already reached a standby wait time of 3 hours. Similarly, Test Track FASTPASS distribution was cleared out by 10am, and standby wait times have hovered around the 220 minute mark ever since. Even the high capacity and less popular Mission: SPACE has been running a 3 hour standby line for most of the day. Attractions such as Spaceship Earth, Journey into Imagination and Maelstrom currently have waits over an hour. "The longest wait time we have seen so far today is at Epcot, with Soarin' peaking at over 4 hours standby. "Despite all the crowds, the park has not yet reached any phase of a capacity closing, although the Magic Kingdom did close just a few hours into the day." The kicker is that Epcot didn't even come close to reaching capacity. I think I read somewhere else ITT that Epcot has never even sniffed capacity crowds before. What in the world could that number be? Four-hour waits, and nowhere near capacity crowds?
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Jan 4, 2014 19:11
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I think it's because Epcot just has so much space. That's probably also the park that would still have the most breathing room even if it did hit capacity. It's the only park I would ever even consider going to on a peak day.
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Jan 4, 2014 21:09
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An hour wait for Maelstrom is the most insane thing I saw there.
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Jan 4, 2014 21:11
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The pics in the local news including the helicopter flyover was nuts. My in-law said watching the security cameras at TTC with the lines for people just trying to get to the MK, it was as if they were giving away free annual passes for life if you managed to make it through the gates.
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Jan 4, 2014 21:57
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I don't understand why people even go there during the holidays. Is the novelty of being at Disney on Christmas really worth 4 hour waits and not being able to move most of the day? I can't imagine anyone having a good time on those days. Do they just not research crowd levels or have any idea what they're in for and think, "Disney on New Years, that sounds so fun!"
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Jan 4, 2014 22:39
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Lincoln posted:The kicker is that Epcot didn't even come close to reaching capacity. I think I read somewhere else ITT that Epcot has never even sniffed capacity crowds before. What in the world could that number be? Four-hour waits, and nowhere near capacity crowds? Absolute capacity at Epcot is 120k, and it would be wall to wall sardine levels. They don't start their action plan until somewhere above 80k which they hit over the holiday. I've been there during some pretty busy days but never near the levels they saw over the recent days. I just saw pics my in-law showed me when he worked on New Years Eve and it was a sea of heads. The pics are from a bird's eye view looking down Main Street and people could not move. The side gates that are closed to guests where cast members access back stage were open the entire time as over flow to bypass Main Street and even that was a cluster. I would have been livid if I was a paying guest. Sounds like the other parks were equally crazy. I work adjacent to Sea World and they made the employees park at Aquatica and bussed over so guests could park and the auxiliary lot and overflow were long gone by noon.
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Jan 5, 2014 02:12
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Anybody have any pics to post?
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Jan 5, 2014 02:13
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Lincoln posted:Anybody have any pics to post? I can get pics as soon as I get home. The in-law pics he flat out won't share even with me since they are confidential and he is afraid of them getting out anywhere due to the sensitivity of where the camera locations. I don't blame him, unlike me who takes pics of one of the parks from my office.  http://www.baynews9.com/content/dam/news/images/2014/01/1/disney-magic-kingdom-line-new-years-eve-sl-VERT-123113.jpg http://assets.nydailynews.com/polop...isney2-1231.jpg This last one is the line at TTC just to get on the monorail!! demonR6 fucked around with this message at 02:34 on Jan 5, 2014 |
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Jan 5, 2014 02:22
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I don't want to risk getting in trouble but I can say that the capacity for EPCOT is insane due to its size and AFAIK it's never hit it or even gotten relatively close to hitting it. Four hours for Soarin? Amateur night.  A few years ago, NYE had a 295 minute wait.That makes me super-claustrophic just to look at it.
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Jan 5, 2014 05:14
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Roar posted:I don't want to risk getting in trouble but I can say that the capacity for EPCOT is insane due to its size and AFAIK it's never hit it or even gotten relatively close to hitting it. Yep. Same thing the in-law said was it has never been close. Way too many people for me. I will go again after this week when everyone goes home and gives us our parks back.
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Jan 5, 2014 05:48
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HPanda posted:I think it's because Epcot just has so much space. That's probably also the park that would still have the most breathing room even if it did hit capacity. For new year's eve, hollywood studios is much better than either Epcot or MK.
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Jan 6, 2014 02:32
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I was in EPCOT for New Year's. It was definitely busy but completely manageable. Really not that much worse than a Food & Wine weekend. As long as you keep your expectations in check you can still have a blast. We watched the fireworks from near the old Odyssey restaurant, barely anyone there and still a great view. Then after midnight, as everyone was heading towards the exits we worked our way to Mission: SPACE (the park was open til 1 AM) and it was a walk-on at the time. After getting out of there, we maneuvered across Future World to Soarin' which still had about an hour wait. It was about 1:30 when we finally left The Land and the park was pretty much empty at that point. Still much better than waiting four hours earlier in the day, though.
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Jan 6, 2014 03:47
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I love walking through Epcot after closing when no one is around. Totally worth just hanging out at a fountain in the countries while everyone filters out. They give a surprisingly long time for people to leave before kicking people out.
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Jan 6, 2014 03:56
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From our last visit...these are the crowds my wife & I have grown accustomed to over the years: 
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Jan 7, 2014 00:35
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Lincoln posted:From our last visit...these are the crowds my wife & I have grown accustomed to over the years: when the hell do you go?
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Jan 7, 2014 00:52
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TheBigBudgetSequel posted:when the hell do you go? We flew in on January 21 (our anniversary, which is why I remember the exact date), and stayed for 5 or 6 nights. Granted, that shot of Liberty Square/Frontierland is pretty early in the morning, but I took another pic that same week at least a couple hours after opening...it's looking back the other way, so you can see all the way down Frontierland. There's exactly two humans in the photo. Crazy.
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Jan 7, 2014 01:03
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Fish Of Doom posted:I don't understand why people even go there during the holidays. Is the novelty of being at Disney on Christmas really worth 4 hour waits and not being able to move most of the day? I can't imagine anyone having a good time on those days. Do they just not research crowd levels or have any idea what they're in for and think, "Disney on New Years, that sounds so fun!" I can answer this. It's because the average person does less than zero research. Some of the crowd is made up of hard-core Disney fans who just enjoy being in the parks at Christmas, but the other part had no freaking clue it would be so busy. I can't tell you the number of clients I have who are all "I want to go to Disney from Christmas Day to New Years' Eve! It's gonna be so fun!" I have to talk them out of it because they have no idea what they're in for. Yeah, I'm screwing myself out of money, but I cannot sell someone a trip knowing there's a chance they won't be able to get into a park due to the insane crowd because they didn't know any better.
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Jan 8, 2014 04:44
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Lincoln posted:From our last visit...these are the crowds my wife & I have grown accustomed to over the years: This is how our trip to Disney World looked like when we stayed for a week around the 2nd/3rd week of January 2012. It was amazing how much easier it was to navigate and get on rides when there's hardly anyone there. We're going again in January of 2015 and I can't wait  e: While I'm here, I've been pondering about hotels. We stayed on-site at the sports resort last time but I wanted to spend a bit more and bump it up to a higher tier. Is it really worth it in the end? I figure since the only time we spent at the hotel itself was grabbing dinner at the cafeteria to eat at the hotel, then pass out from walking all day, that I wanted to ask you guys that have stayed at the nicer hotels if the extra money was worth it - maybe better food is served or it was just a nicer area to stay in? kloa fucked around with this message at 05:41 on Jan 8, 2014 |
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Jan 8, 2014 04:54
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I would say that the mid-tier hotels are totally worth it. The other guests are more manageable than at the value ones, the themeing is nicer, the cafeterias are a bit better, there's not as much walking from your room to the buses, and things are just generally a little bit more convenient. The rate bump isn't too bad either. The high class hotels are super-nice of course. Much better food, fancy stuff like balcony rooms on the savanna at the Animal Kingdom Lodge or monorail stops for the MK loop places. The rate hike is significant though. I've stayed at AK lodge once and the Polynesian once, both times getting bumped out of mid-tier for free because we used to be frequent visitors and went at off times, and while I liked the hotels both times, it wouldn't be worth a couple extra hundred per night. The mid tier joints provide enough perks per dollar for us to use every time. Personally I'd stay away from the Caribbean (it's almost as big and sprawly as the value resorts) and aim toward the Port Orleans (easily my favorite) or the Coronado (which some people like because it has the most mild themeing). This is a matter of taste though. Functionally all the mid-tier resorts are mostly equivalent, minus their locations and thus the length of bus rides.
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Jan 8, 2014 05:28
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Nathilus posted:The mid tier joints provide enough perks per dollar for us to use every time. Personally I'd stay away from the Caribbean (it's almost as big and sprawly as the value resorts) and aim toward the Port Orleans (easily my favorite) or the Coronado (which some people like because it has the most mild themeing). This is a matter of taste though. Functionally all the mid-tier resorts are mostly equivalent, minus their locations and thus the length of bus rides. I think a lot of people like Coronado mainly because of Pepper Market, which is the best value quick service credit on property. Does anyone hate all you can eat Churros? Coronado also has that nightclub that's open until like 2 AM. Other than the obvious, the moderate resorts have small things that you probably wouldn't know the value resorts don't, like hot tubs at the pool, or bottles of lotion in the rooms.
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Jan 8, 2014 05:45
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Fish Of Doom posted:I think a lot of people like Coronado mainly because of Pepper Market, which is the best value quick service credit on property. Does anyone hate all you can eat Churros? Coronado also has that nightclub that's open until like 2 AM. I think Landscapes of Flavor at Art of Animation is aiming for that title now. I have never seen a better food court anywhere, let alone a hotel restaurant.
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Jan 8, 2014 07:34
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