This is the best and most convenient quick service spot in Animal Kingdom Resort. It's located on the lower level of the Jambo House. The restaurant is bright with plenty of seating. You order your food at a counter where they give you a receipt and pager. You pay for it at the cashier and when the pager goes off, pick up at the food counter. The food selection is pretty good. Lots of different menu items for kids and adults. You have your standard quick service foods like burgers, nuggets and fries. But then they have different choices like African Potjie or Vegetable Falafel bites. I had the Braai chicken flatbread and it was tasty. The ribs were a good choice too juicy and tender. They serve various desserts that are appealing. Especially the cupcakes. Prices are pretty reasonable with great quality food. Overall and quick, convenient, and well organized restaurant before hitting the park or when coming back. By the way, this place gets crazy busy when the parks close and everyone comes back feeling the munchies. read more

This is one of the better quick service restaurants in any Disney resort. I really like the breakfast here, they have a ton of options, including some more unique African dishes. Their dairy-free selection is particularly good, and you can get everything from Mickey Waffles to pap and chakalaka without any dairy in them. They also have a good grab and go selection, including the famous "Zebra Domes." The inside dining area is nice, and there is some particularly pleasant outdoor seating by the pool. read more

The Mara - Pap and chakalaka, plus two eggs, all dairy-free (must speak to the staff to get it diary free!). - American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

This place sits in Jambo house in Animal Kingdom lodge area and is the quick service option only offer here for both lodges. The food is mediocre at best and is burgers, salads and assorted bowls. The service here is slow and for the amount of staff they have I would expect better and faster service. The options are few and for the price tag I would of expected better quality food options since Captain Cooks is much better at Polynesian. Id skip this place. read more

The same food as sambo and more than 80% off. Do not go to sambo beuffet. Come here and I guarantee you can eat the same amount if not more at less of the price. Just ordered same meal as yesterday for $40 rather than $200 at the buffet. It's literally the same exact food at cafe prices for breakfast! read more

Very convenient place to eat, located right next to the resort's swimming pool. The food is okay and there a good number of healthy choices. A menu that includes a variety of flatbreads and a few interesting sandwich options (mostly chicken varieties), including a pulled-pork barbecue and at least one type of burger. If you're on the Disney Food Plan, the Mara is your soft drink (plastic mug) filling station and you'll go there and dodge the folks who bought the mug and are now committed to getting every drop of value from that bottomless mug program. Some people will station themselves at the machines, fill up their mugs and then sneak outside the restaurant to pour that fifth or sixth soda of the day into another receptacle so they can go back in for more! It's funny in a way. Overall the Mara is a good place for a quick meal or a snack. read more

If you're staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and need a quick bite to eat or a snack, Mara is the place to dine. It's right next to the pool so perfect to pop into for a cool treat on a hot day. If you dine inside, it's pretty cool because it's as if you are seated under a giant tree. Of course you can take your food outside to sit at one of the tables by the pool or a nice lounge chair even! On my last trip to Disney, my friend and I hung by the pool for a few hours. We got some snacks & drinks from Mara and were perfectly set for the afternoon! Dessert-wise they have Zebra Domes (this is the only hotel you can get these in), tons of cupcakes, tons of brownies, just about everything you could want for a sweet tooth. I had a Zebra Cupcake for $5 and it was just perfect with a chocolate cake base and vanilla frosting with some chocolate trimmings. Loved the extra crunch the chocolate balls gave to the cupcake. They serve breakfast, lunch, dinner and even have a late night menu! Foodwise they have some special items like African Stew, Falafel, Chicken Pita and flatbreads. But if you aren't an adventurous eater, no worries! They have burgers, pizza hot dogs and salads, as well. Late night you can find their flatbreads and desserts until 1:30am! That's just madness! Honestly I feel like The Mara is one of the best quick service food spots at any of the hotels as it has so many unique items. Prices aren't offensive to me at all. And everything I've ever had meal or snack wise has been very tasty! read more

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Enjoyed the food and happy it has healthy alternatives. Price weren't bad for a disney resort.

As a guest of the Animal Kingdom Lodge, we came here a lot. Mostly for quick breakfast bites and coffee. The food is cafeteria style, and very average. The good: The place is pretty big with plentiful seating. Coffee is unlimited! If you're not getting hot food, you can get in and out fairly quickly. Otherwise the line for the hot food can get long. The not so good: The food is very average. It would have been cool if it was more Disney/Animal Kingdom foods. We ordered the sausage croissant sandwich on our first morning and was confused when it came out with a sausage link, rather than a sausage patty. It made it kind of awkward to eat (do it eat it like a hotdog or like a sandwich??). We noticed that the bacon sandwich looked so much better. read more

The Mara - Croissant sandwich with sausage.. maybe go for the bacon lol - American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

We returned to the Animal Kingdom Lodge late one night from a full day at Epcot. We had spent nearly all day sampling small bites and flights of beers at the Flower & Garden festival. Dehydrated and craving something we could classify as somewhat "healthy," we found The Mara. Bottle of Dasani. Caesar salad. They don't skimp on the portion size. Braai Chicken Flatbread. Disney is not known for quality quick service pizza.; in fact, most of them are pretty terrible. Our low expectations were demolished! This pie was de-lish! We anticipated taking some of the flatbread back to our hotel room to share with our adult children. Alas, the kids had to fend for themselves. read more

This is an excellent dining option. We were visiting this resort to check out the animals around dinner time and chose to eat here. The main reason was that a couple of the members are gluten free. This place had great options for them. One enjoyed a cheeseburger and fries the other loved the Marinated Sun-dried Tomato and Herbed Ricotta Flatbread. Also GF and loved was the Chermoula-spiced Shrimp Bowl. They just wished it had more rice and less greens. I ordered the Tamarind Barbecue Pork Sandwich. The pork sandwich was delicious as were the slaw and fries that were served with it. I think the prices are very reasonable. There is a great toppings and condiment bar as well. I would definitely eat back here if the opportunity presented itself. I almost forgot the zebra domes. We had both the regular and gluten free. Everyone enjoyed. They are a mousse dessert. Small sweet treat. read more

A great option if you are looking for a quick bite at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. They serve the famous Zebra Domes dessert in the grab-and-go section - highly recommend if you are looking for something sweet to top off your meal that is different than your typical cupcake or cookie. They also serve something called the Nyala Brownie which combines a brownie with whipped peanut butter topping - yum! read more

The Mara - Nyala Brownie - American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

Not great food that is really expensive. Honestly, I would order Uber Eats and have it delivered to you vs eating here. It would be cheaper an better value. Chicken FingersChicken Flatbread read more

I've had some good meals at the Disney resort, but The Mara is the most convenient and surprising part about Animal Kingdom Lodge. I grabbed breakfast here the other day; I kind of expected a McDonald's-like breakfast sandwich, but the egg and ham on a brioche bun hit. the. spot. Tonight I stayed out a little later than I expected, so I missed my shot at getting into Boma. I figured The Mara was convenient and offered takeout, so why not? Now I can eat in my pajamas while watching HGTV and being judgmental. I asked the attendant for his opinion between the chicken flatbread and the half-rotisserie chicken; he said the former was more snacky and the latter was a meal. MEAL IT IS. Guys, I literally just finished eating this ten minutes ago and I cannot stop thinking about it. Collard greens: not normally my favorite, but damn well-seasoned and tasty. Rotisserie chicken: great skin and flavor, generous potion. I added the free honey mustard they have and it was just all-around good. But the real star was the mash--great on its own, AMAZING with the chicken sauce. SO GOOD. I normally eat my starches first, but I had to leave it for last so I could get all the sauce. TRY IT! I just tossed an entirely empty box away. Money well spent. Pluses: open late, snack and convenience items, takeout, very reasonable price ($10-15/entree), tasty! Cons: probably the worst coffee I have had in years, cafeteria atmosphere cheapens the place. Would definitely recommend checking The Mara out if you're staying around Jambo House. read more

The Mara - Half-rotisserie chicken with mash and collard greens (to go). - American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

If it were possible to give this place negative reviews I absolutely would. Rude staff. Cold coffee (not iced just cold) that tasted like the bitchy barista washed her feet in water and called it a latte. It h and they'll tell you off if you mobile order. Antelope horn was stale, mocha was undrinkable. Worst quick service in Disney. read more

The half chicken meal is enough to split, and provides a good value for something quick if your hungry. The zebra Domes are delicious and definitely the highlight of the food selections at Mara. Breakfast was mediocre. Typical eggs that taste like they're made out of a milk carton instead of out of an egg, bacon pieces too thin and kind of skimpy. read more

We came here for breakfast on our last day at the parks when we planned to go to Animal Kingdom and I'm glad we chose this location over waiting for Boma or Sanna. My husband is from Africa so he knew what all the dishes were so I didn't have to ask. I was pleased to see all of the plant-based options offered here but I also wanted to make sure that he didn't have to eat vegan our whole vacation. This is a Disney Quick Service so you just walk up and place your order and pay at a register. They bring you the food when it's done. When we walked up to order, we were directed to the manager to take our order since we were considered 'food allergy'; it's nice they take it so seriously. I explained that we wanted to place two orders, one of which would only be half vegan. She said it was no trouble at all and they can plate the vegan items separately. So we ordered the Bounty Platter which comes with Scrambled Eggs, Potatoes, Bacon, Sausage, Pap (Grits), Chakalaka (African Salsa) and a Mikey Shaped Waffle. We also ordered the Safari Bobotie which is served with Chakalaka and is one of the Plant-Based options. As I mentioned, we split the Bounty Platter in half Vegan; the manager made sure the potatoes, Mickey waffle and grits were plated separately and indicated vegan. The Bobotie was pretty good, it's more like a tiny omelet with plant-based sausage crumbles and greens inside. It was a little dry but I'm sure that's just the substitue they use; which I think is JUST Egg. After we ordered I walked around to see what else they offered and there was a whole cooler with vegan options. We also go coffee and I was able to ask for non-dairy milk from the espresso/baked goods counter. When we checked out, the cashier was a little grumpy but that didn't phase our trip. We prepared our coffees, sat outside and enjoyed our breakfast. This location is a vegan win for sure! read more

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We stayed here from December 1st - December 7th and had the quick service dinning plan and wow were we impressed. While we were at the lodge we got the Cheese Burger, Crispy Chicken Sandwich, Rotisserie Chicken, and African Stew. Everything was delicious and hot and made when ordered. We were very impressed by quick service food in general throughout Disney as it was not just chicken fingers and fries but the Mara in general we were very impressed as it was delicious! I think our favorite was the chicken sandwich as it was so tender and juicy and not too much batter but crunchy! We suggest that you add American cheese to it as it makes it even more delicious! read more

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Tried the cheeseburger (okay/fair)-nothing special. Chicken tenders- amazing! Flatbread pizza (usually not a fan but had this twice during my stay-Awesome!). Loved the convenience but selection was limited. About 10 options and about half will be African themed. The do have a well stocked fridge/cold selection as well. Nothing like at the value resorts where there is a large cafeteria with tons of options. Price was on par for WDW. 10-20$ per item. read more

If you are in Orlando, by Disney world area and want to have an amazing breakfast, please come to this buffet for breakfast, you are not gonna get disappointed! The food is simply the best is type of African-American and you'll find a lots of options to eat or simply eat a bit of everything! read more

Mara is a quick service restaurant located in Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. My fiancé and I stayed at the Animal Kingdom lodge for a couple days for Valentine's Day so we decided to see what vegan options they may have for us. The chief came out to speak with us to find out what we liked and we agreed on a Modified vegan Bounty Platter. This consisted of a tomato, asparagus, grits, a mickey waffle, tater tots, sauce and planktons. It all tasted great and we are happy we decided to stop by! Great customer service, and very clean environment! 10/10 Highly recommended. read more

The Mara - Modified Vegan Bounty Platter - American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

I would probably want to give this place more 3.5 stars, but because of the hours of operations I'll boost it to 4. This was the only place open at midnight, and at least, we were able to get some food to snack on. The chicken flatbread was very nice. The restaurant itself was big and spacious. They have your typical convenient store food items like chips, candy, fountain drinks, etc. The service was okay and we were able to go in and out pretty quickly. I'm not sure if this is the beset Quick Service restaurant, but it does it's job. read more

The Mara - Chicken flatbread - American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

We had breakfast in the Mara and it was fantastic! The staff is wonderful! I ordered a coffee and they put a coco Mickey head on it. The bacon and waffles were so good read more

The Mara - American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

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I'm giving Mara four stars for one reason and that is because it is a great resort fast food court than offers much better taste and variety than most of the other food courts. Located on the back lower side of the Animal Kingdom Lodge and near the pool area you will find Mara. If in a hurry yet you want decent food at a reasonable price then give them a try. The food is some of the best fast food I have had in Disney World. Most everything is prepared to order using grills, pizza ovens and stoves. Mind you, if you do have the time and extra money dine at Boma, also inside the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Mara is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For breakfast they have all of your usual offerings of cinnamon rolls, Mickey waffles, eggs, meats and potatoes, plus breakfast wraps or sandwiches. They also have a made to order omelet station. Pops and Gravy is a white cornmeal cake with African sausage gravy. For lunch and dinner they offer unique made to order pizzas, beer and wine, burgers, sandwiches, salads, homemade soups, grilled chicken and African stew. Awesome desserst, smoothies, mocha's, espresso and refillable souvenir mugs. Here is a link to their menu: http://allears.net/menu/menu_marald.htm & http://allears.net/menu/menu_mara.htm They also have a grab and go store with bottled drinks, pre-made salads and sandwiches, yogurts, fresh fruits and snacks and pre-made heated items to grab and go. read more

This year was the first time we've stayed at AKL. I'm always watching videos on YouTube about Disney World. So I knew when we stayed here, that I was going to make a bee line to The Mara to get their brownie with peanut butter fudge. You. Guys!! Fireworks went off in my mouth!! It was so decadent and amazing. The brownie was super thick and fudgy. And I cannot say enough great things about the peanut butter frosting!!!!! I wouldn't mind bathing in it. On to the food... I had the pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw on the top. It definitely is not your typical, American bbq sauce. I didn't love it. My daughter took a bite and said it tasted just like pho. She wasn't wrong. I love pho. But not when I'm expecting bbq sauce. The fries were standard Disney fries. Nothing to complain about there. My daughter had the crispy chicken bacon and ranch sandwich. Now that was good! The chicken was super lovely. No matter the time of day, it's busy and it's crowded. But that's to be expected. We also ate breakfast here and it was like breakfast at most Disney quick service restaurants. I always go for the Mickey waffles!! Oh!!! Get one of the strawberry lemonade slushies!! Incredible!! read more

The Mara - Chicken, bacon, and ranch sandwich. Very good!! That strawberry lemonade slushy was incredible!!! - American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

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This is the only quick service in the Animal Kingdom Lodge, so we ended up here quite a bit. It's a bit of a walk from the Kidani Village, but we didn't mind. This place REALLY depends on when you go. We were here when we had to wait in a really long line, and also when it was totally empty. It's really variable. The food is good, with a decent selection. I really enjoyed the African stew most of all. There are also good breakfast selections. There are snacks and drinks available (you don't need to wait in line for bakery items or things in the refrigerated cases). Zebra domes can be purchase here, which are awesome. We also liked the cupcakes (Giraffe: chocolate Butterfinger, or Zebra: I forgot, haha). My favorite discovery here was the Tusker!!! A Kenyan beer you don't see much in the USA! read more

Ordered the falafel platter and it was amazing. The food wasn't super fresh, but was very tasty. I would recommend. read more

The Mara - Falafel platter - American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

Surprisingly good quick service at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lounge. We ate three straight meals there- the sun dried tomato flatbread is delicious; the burgers and fries are tasty and the breakfast is decent and affordable (for Disney standards). Huge selection of fountain drinks including Sprite Zero. read more

Used mobile ordering for a quick breakfast before heading to the parks for the day. Waited a good 20 minutes for our food, which is fine, we expect to wait at Disney. When we got our order it was bagged up even though we said we were dining in. They forgot our drinks and were directed to 3 different lines for an additional 20 minute wait. When we finally sat down to eat, it was cold and looked unappealing. I got the croissant sausage sandwich with potatoes. Clearly, they don't care about presentation. read more

The Mara - Sausage croissant sandwich - American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

I guess, with it being DisneyWorld and all I was expecting so much more from this eatery. Its located inside the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and we were unable to locate it after searching almost the whole hotel, so someone directed us to an outside door and then we went into another door and there sat Mara. It was about 10pm and one of the only UN-expensive places that were still open at this time. I guess I'm really picky about foods because NOTHING looked good to me. I orignailly ordered the Chicken Flatbread, but gave it back because it had something green drizzled over it, and four of the tinest bits of chicken I've ever seen. I then ordered the shrimp basket. I was asked if I wanted fries, hence they dont come with the fried shirmp and was orignally given cold fries that had been sitting undeneath the heat lamp for I dont know how long....but I was offered hot fresh fries since I didnt like those. My boyfriend got the Chicken Ceaser Salad (and the shrimp basket)...which he thought was WAAAAAY to much lettuce and not enough chicken. The best part of the entire meal was the seating area....Very spacious, we were able to snag a table in front of a TV which was showing, of course VINTAGE Disney cartoons, we sat there for almost an hour and reminising about how we would watch these cartoons for hours on end on Sat afternoons as a child. They are open to 11:30pm, and you have to walk past this BEAUTIFUL huge heated pool to get to the locale, but overall the food was a miss for us. Another review mentioned the african inspired foods, there was an African Stew, which I didnt eat because it has pork in it...and that was the only thing that seemed African inspired. There is a refrigerated area also with fruits, salad, soda, water and wine. read more

A semi-pool side grab and go place with a wide enough menu to keep most people interested and satisfied. I had a prepackaged chef salad on my visit that I took outside to enjoy. Plastic knives and forks, a packet of Ken's dressing, it may not be fancy but it works well. read more

This was like the quickie mart of the Animal Kingdom Lodge. They had burgers, some specials, cupcakes, drinks, and snacks. A place where you can get snacks or have a late meal and fill your soda cup. read more

The Mara - American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

I'm just stunned at the current ordering process of this "quick service" restaurant. So you wait in a long line with 1 cast member taking an entire order on paper and clip board, one order at a time! Not sure why I can't just order with the numerous cashier people eagerly waiting to take my money at the end . The overall feel of this ordering process is "lost in time", not the expectations I hold for such a high end and pricey resort. The food was hit or miss. Roasted chicken should be avoided at all costs. The BBQ flatbread was just ok. Turkey sandwich was a hit and the falafel pita was surprisingly good (but can be a stretch for people unfamiliar with this style of food) Kinda sticks this is one of the only options on property to grab a "quick bite", which takes upwards of 20 minutes to complete the order from waiting in line to food pick up? Advice: plan on waiting long lines for lower end food read more

Closed. Like everything else in Jambo House. Why they put guests here I have no idea. There is NOTHING to eat at Jambo House. So spend your money off site to teach Disney they are making a mistake. read more

It's more of the same old food from Disney just the setting has changed. They do have an African stew on the menu but when it's 90 degrees outside, who wants to eat hot stew in a bread bowl, not me. It's walk up, cafeteria style dining. The sitting area has stand alone tables and TV's playing Disney classic cartoons scattered throughout the dining area. They have Gold Peak iced tea at the soda area, which is a plus if you don't like obesity and the needless 240 calories per serving of coke products. I ordered the Mara Grilled Chicken Salad. It was just like every other chicken salad that anyone has ever had but they added pine nuts to it. It was very bland and came without dressing, so make sure you pick up a package at the cooler. They also serve burgers & chicken sandwiches in pita bread. This is okay food at surprisingly okay prices. I think Disney forgot to overcharge excessively at this place, like they do at every other place to eat. I'd go here again if I was staying at this hotel, hung over and sitting by the pool. read more

As a Guest at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, the Mara is your best bet for a quick bite to eat on your way to the parks, whether you dine in or take your food to go. While on a recent trip to Walt Disney World (staying at DAK Lodge), I stopped by the Mara every morning and on one particular afternoon for lunch. Having eaten at the quick service locations at virtually every Walt Disney World Resort hotel, the Mara has become one of my favorites and yet finds itself just a hair shy of the #1 spot. As I mentioned, we came here every morning on our way to the parks at around 7:30am (our motto in Disney is "go big or go home", and we really never want to go home when we're in Disney so it's always "go big"). We would stop for a quick cup of coffee (Joffrey's Coffee is the official coffee of Disney, which is not the best coffee you'll find but certainly will do the trick) and perhaps a piece of fruit or a pastry (and perhaps a bottle of water) on the way to the car. For breakfast, the Mara offers a self-service station for coffee, as well as an assortment of pastries, fruits, granola bars, and other quick snacks. If you're looking to dine in, there is a station to order eggs, omelettes, pancakes, Mickey waffles (can't have a Disney trip without one), and more. Everything here really is exactly what you'd expect, and I find there's never really a wait for the cashiers, which really helps to keep your experience efficient. On one particular day of our trip, we also came to the Mara for lunch. My wife ordered the chicken nuggets and fries (another favorite we can't go home without having... you might think these are regular chicken nuggets but they're so much more... they're DISNEY chicken nuggets), while I ordered the pulled pork sandwich. The chicken nuggets at Disney are actually very good, loaded with juicy white meat and a crunchy coating. The pulled pork sandwich was also very tasty, complete with parsley, slaw, and a delicious BBQ/African-inspired sauce. It was a very large portion and tasted better than I expected. I also had purchased some Zebra Domes for the table (seriously Yelpers these are amazing). Seating and ambiance here are good but not amazing. You'll find a lot of seats and it seems it's never too difficult to find a table. Nevertheless, the place is a bit small and the theme doesn't extend much further than moderate decor. Still, the environment is very comfortable and pleasant, and the place is located very close to the pool, which is very convenient if you're spending the day pool-side and looking for a quick bite. Overall, very happy with the experience at this quick-service location and looking forward to visiting again on a future Disney trip! read more

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Came here late night while exploring animal kingdom lodge with my husband everyone was so nice and friendly and helped us choose the best snacks. We tried the cupcake recommend and we were not disappointed so delicious. read more

The Mara - Cupcake - American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

I ordered the wrong food this visit! I ordered the falafel and couscous. The falafel was the weirdest interpretation of falafel I've ever had. It looked like a mini fried veggie burger. It was flat and the inside was like refried beans. Just horrible. The cous cous was really sweet like candy. I did not enjoy either items. Do not order! read more

I'm somewhere between three and a half stars and four stars on this one. My husband ordered us the tomato flatbread after reading great reviews about it, and it was extremely mediocre. But then I ordered a chicken Caesar salad which was very good, and a BBQ rib entree and that was also delicious. My husband did say his morning breakfast potatoes were cold and those square straight-from-the-bag kind that aren't very good, but I wasn't there for that so *shrug*. I thought the place was pretty good, and it was nice that you could buy little snacks for the kiddos like red grapes in a bag or apple slices. read more

Came here for what I thought would be a quick dinner , I was wrong . After placing for ordered and watching everyone pickup their orders. I continued to wait ... 17 minutes later my order for a flat bread pizza and my Marrakesh Falafel Platter. (Hummus, Chickpea Falafel, Garlic Yogurt, Cucumber and Tomato Salad, Tabbouleh, Kalamata Olives and Kulcha Bread). After inquiring about the status , I was informed that my order had been forgotten about, how does this happen ? Food quality was good but really disappointed in the service since that is one thing that Disney prides itself on. If you need to grab a bite maybe look elsewhere. read more

This is a quick-serve restaurant inside Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge - Jambo House. They offer breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. They have good food and fast service. It's also where you can refill your cups if you're on the meals plan and have one of the refillable cups. Good food and good service. I'll give them four stars. read more

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