Vacation – Bradley Minnigan

Why I’m a Disney Fan

I’m spending my Sunday prepping CDs for an upcoming tour date, folding laundry, cleaning, and watching Disneynature: Wings of Life. I have been a Disney fan for a long time. Nearly every child, at some point, loves Disney – they have a movie they love, a character with whom they identify, or that trip to Disney World that they remember forever.

The moment that did me in was a trip, I believe in middle or high school, to WDW with the family. I remember walking down Main Street, U.S.A. with my dad when he pointed out the second story of the shops on Main Street. He told me about how the second story is designed and built to be just a little bit shorter than the first story, thus creating an effect as you look down Main Street to the Castle. It makes the Castle that much bigger – all thanks to “forced perspective.”

Since then, I fell in love with the details. Don’t get me wrong – I love the attractions too! The beauty is in the details. The bathrooms are clean. There is no trash on the ground thanks to Cast Members picking up any trash that hits the ground. Characters only refer to things inside the Disney universe. Every queue is themed down to every detail! This is what made me fall in love with the parks, and I see it in everything Disney does.

Jessie and I went to Disney World for our honeymoon (and twice in the 4 years since). While we were there, we saw a movie poster for Chimpanzee while on the Backlot Tour in Hollywood Studios. Shortly after getting home, the movie was released in theaters, and we went to see it. I realized then how much effort was put into making perfect pictures.

I can’t create perfection, especially not in everything I do everyday. I can, however, strive to create the best possible experience for others through the music we create, the way we present that music, and how we communicate with fans. Our CDs, though “home-made,” look planned and intentional. Jessie creates cool-looking graphics to advertise shows and music releases. If we create enjoyable experiences, people will return.

This is what Disney has done – they have created enjoyable experiences so that people will return. The cheapest advertising is keeping current customers happy and making them happy enough to tell others about how great their experience was.

Disney World is a beautiful example of marketing and taking care of customers. I know it costs money to go to Disney, but it wouldn’t be packed all the time if it were not worth it. This is why I love Disney.

Thanks to Dad for pointing out the details that started me on this fascination; my friend Chris for having the same love and passion for all things Disney; Lou for his WDW Radio Podcast to keep me engulfed in the details of Disney; and finally, Jessie for loving all of this with me, even if not quite to the same extent. 😉

WDW Radio

Wading Through the Weeds

Hunting for scallops – it’s one of my new favorite hobbies. You get a snorkle, get a mesh bag, and search through the bay weeds for these little things. The first time I jumped in the water, I wasn’t really sure for what I was looking. “Look for the Shell Oil sign.” “Look for neon blue eye.” That neon blue eyes thing was a little unnerving – that’s just downright creepy! But it was true. Just look for hundreds of beady blue eyes looking up at the sky.

Most of the time, when you get close, the scallops will simply close, and you have an easy time grabbing the little booger and collecting him in your treasure sack. Other times, they take off swimming by chomping – yes, chomping – through the water. It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. When this happens, I simply wait for the scallop to wear itself out and catch it as it falls to the bay floor again. Easy as pie. The best places to catch the scallops, though, are in the muddy, mirky reeds found in the shalllows. Here the water is only 18″-36″ deep. You have to swim through the reeds, trying to see these shells that blend in with the sandy floor. You get muddy and nasty, but at the end of the day, it’s quite worth it. Cleaning the scallops is a whole different story. Really, I’ll do a blog later on that. Until then, here are more pictures of the prepared scallops we ate.

Hunters and Gatherers

I am now a scalloper. I hunt scallops. It’s actually quite fun! For those who don’t know, scallops are little seafood delights. They are found in shells that look like the Shell Oil logo, but without the “Shell” name. My in-laws have introduced me to the extraveganza.

July is quite early in the season – this means the scallops are smaller but more plentiful than later in the year. We spent the first day out on the pontoon boat going from spot to spot, with my brother-in-law, Andrew, and I being the “scouts” (keep in mind – I’ve never done this before).

The daily limit is 2 gallons of scallops per person per day, or 10 gallons per boat. Day one saw about one gallon of scallops found between the 7 of us. Not good. Scallops in the shells become much less once they are cleaned.

Day two we spent at the beach. Andrew and I got the itch to go hunting for more scallops down the road, and a short two hours later, we each had 2 gallons! Four gallons of scallops! Now we’re talking!

Day three, we were back out on the boat. Where did we go? Straight to our honey pot spot from day 2, of course! This time, we had a few helpers, and only a half-day rental of the pontoon. In a short two hours, Andrew and I each collected another 2 gallons, the others found another gallon, and we went back to the marina with 5 gallons of scallops!

To put this in perspective, this 10 gallons of scallops that we had collected over a 3 day period “shucked” down to about a gallon of edibles. We took our shucked and cleaned scallops to the restaurant where they fried half and blackened the other half. They were delicious! And as a little dessert, they also said the cooks were quite impressed – our scallops were surprisingly large! Go us!

Now I have the scalloping bug – I can’t wait to go agian. Next time, I’ll tell you all about how we actually catch the little boogers.