Math and the Mouse by the Numbers

As we reflect on our time in Florida, we, the professors, thought we would pass along some data on the types of experiences we’ve had during Math and the Mouse.  We have one final reflection blog post after this to wrap up the course, but for now we’ll give you a look at our May Experience by the numbers.

• 14 Furman students
• 3 Furman professors
• 3 vans
• 11 math courses’ content
• 13 majors/programs/minors represented (Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Mathematics-Economics, Data Analytics,  Computer Science, Chemistry, Business and Accounting, German Studies, Japanese Studies, Vocal Performance, Educational Studies, Biology, Neuroscience)
• 16 guest speakers (including one Math and the Mouse Furman alumna and two more Furman alumni) 

• 
  1 considerize
• 17 Kermits drawn
• 17 Disney friends plushes (plus three as bonus art prizes) 
  
• 6 Harris magic instances
• 1 forgotten transpose
• 2 formula derivation offers (0 formula derivation requests)
• 1 belief that YOU believe
• 2 evacuations from the summit of Everest
• 17 trips Soarin' across America
• 17 flights Soarin' around the World
• 34 Annual Passholder previews
• 21 blog posts written by students
• 1 table flipped 
  
• 2 correct suits identified out of 20 cards
• 14.7 expected rides on Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind to hear all six songs
• 2 day in the life posts
• 2 confused people staring at Connor on Tower of Terror 
  
  
  
• 2400 pictures in the Photo Circle
• 1 Maleficent testing observed
• 
  5 friendly Brunos spotted
• 1 frog who rode with us to the Magic Kingdom
• 1 Furman spotlight in Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor
• 1 visit from 8 Dickinson College students and 2 Dickinson professors 
  
• 72 collective hours spent on a backstage tour
• 
  12 unique group projects
• 15 learning modules led by faculty
• 80 dice used in the Liar’s Dice example
• 0 students with ESP
• 77 workers needed to staff ‘Ohana in the workforce scheduling project
• 70 points accumulated by the winning Knapsack Problem team
• 2 trips to Buc-ees
• 115 cosmic rewinds (average of 3.5 different songs heard while riding)
• 46 L.I.M.O. rides (average of 3 different songs heard while riding) 
  
• 68 Target runs
• 16 homemade cookie experiments eaten
• 120 Mickey-shaped treats eaten
• 4 naps on “it’s a small world”
• 5 naps on Carousel of Progress
• 46 naps on van rides to and from Florida
• 644 games of Heads Up played while waiting in line
• 109 Gartic phone games played while waiting in line
• 
  4,773,819 steps taken
• 12,453 steps per day on average (5.55 miles/day on average)
• 5 cold brews consumed after 8pm
• 28 uncrustables eaten
• 829,070 max score on Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
• 303,000 max score on Toy Story Midway Mania!
• 92 ride breakdowns
• 5 ride evacuations
• 25 ponchos worn 
  
• 154 trips to the fifth dimension
• 
  24 stomach aches (2 caused by a 6-minute dash from Rise to Tower of Terror)
• 294 times the Touring Plans app was used
• 3 times Dr. Hutson turned off the radio
• 10 times Dr. Hutson deemed a song unlistenable to
• 20 minivan singalongs
• 3 big van singalongs
• 1 time Della met Mary Poppins
• 14 t-shirt purchases 
  
• 20 cuddly stuffed animals bought 
  
  
  
• 16 stickers bought (5 ground stickers picked up)
• 56 appearances of mouse ears 
• 20 loads of laundry
• 11 run-ins with people we knew
• 2 times Mara got cheated out of Mickey waffles
• 1 time students went to the wrong hotel for breakfast
• 41 AI-generated pictures
• 630 0.5s
• 475 times Tram put on her glasses to hear better
• 19 times people were locked out of their hotel room
• 7 appliance repairs
• 8 jumps into the pool fully clothed
• 41 coffee purchases at Starbucks and Joffreys
• 
  19 donuts enjoyed from Joffreys 
• 50 monorails surfed
• 1 claw clip broken (1 Buc-ees claw clip purchased)
• 1 pair of mouse ears lost (then found)
• 1 wallet lost (then found)
• 1 slow elevator ride due to “keep feet on the floor” warnings
• 20 presentations delivered
• 1 rebel spy 
  
• 7 consecutive times "experience" has resulted in losses in the Traveling Tourist Problem
• 24 minutes between the first and last place Traveling Tourist teams
• 4 fantastic student presentations to Disney
• 34 opportunities to uh, fly
• 153 Lightning Lanes purchased
• 11 chicken dances (including a retirement celebration) 
• Infinite memories made
  

Day 21: The Last Parade Down Main Street

This morning marked the final full day of our time at Disney World. It was jam-packed, but we wouldn’t want to spend our last day any other way! Because of this occasion, we all made sure to enjoy our last breakfast at the hotel (unfortunately meaning the last breakfast with Mickey Waffles). Shortly after breakfast, we broke off into our final project groups to get some last minute preparation on our last presentations of the trip. While our presentational skills are far from being perfected, they are certainly better than they were at the start of this trip. The presentations went very well as we were more confident this time around on our 4th and final presentations of the trip. We especially loved getting to present on projects that were interesting to us! In addition to showing off our hard project work, we enjoyed incorporating some Disney fun into our projects, including Tram’s Tower of Terror recording and the occasional AI generated group photo.

Harrison, The Anh, and Connor

Annmarie, Dylan, Tram, and Cassie

Luke, Ashton, Isabella, and Aidan

Della, Mara, and Julia

We then had some final course wrap-up talks before heading to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort for dinner at ‘Ohana! While our 4:00 reservation was a peculiar dinner time for the students, it seemed to be par for the course for our professors, who are getting on in their years. We explored the resort’s many gift shops while our table was being set up. Many students bought Hawaiian-themed souvenirs while waiting. Eventually, our tables were ready, and the food did not disappoint! Dinner fan-favorites included potstickers, steak, and bread pudding.

Once again, this was a family style restaurant (meaning it was all you could eat), and we DEFINITELY took advantage of this. Because of this, heading straight from dinner to Magic Kingdom to ride Space Mountain was definitely a gamble, but it ended up being the perfect start to our free time in the park. Tonight was definitely our latest night in the park (we didn’t leave the park until after 11), but that gave us plenty of time to fill with our favorite rides and try out some new ones.

Despite passing by teacups countless times throughout our time at the Magic Kingdom, some of us realized we had never ridden them before. Since tonight was the last night, we decided to give it a try along with some other newcomers, like the Magic Carpet ride and The Carousel of Progress. Some perfectly timed Lightning Lanes from the professors allowed us to skip through some major lines and maximize our enjoyment for the evening! Our late stay also allowed us to enjoy the incredible park finale fireworks show.

As we reflect on our time during Math and the Mouse, we are so thankful for the incredible opportunities and experiences we were provided. We couldn’t have asked for better professors to be our fearless leaders, and we will hang on to the new friendships we have had the joy of forming long after our drive home tomorrow! From the long nights working to the even longer days at the park, we have enjoyed every last moment of this wonderful trip. While it may be coming to an end, the skills we learned and friendships we made are ones that we will carry into the rest of our time at Furman.

“See ya real soon,”

Harrison and Mara

Day 20: Dropping in on the Data

    This morning we all woke up super excited to collect our last bit of data. We left for Hollywood Studios at 8:00 a.m. to get in line for Tower of Terror. When we collected data on this attraction earlier in the trip, we focused on figuring out the possible drop sequences a rider may get. This time, we focused on how our random drop sequence affected our level of enjoyment and whether some drop sequences are more enjoyable than others. After we collected all of our data, we headed to Star Tours to fight the Empire and deliver a spy to the Rebel Fleet.

    

    Once we finished up on Star Tours, we were all done with attractions for the morning. However, before we left Hollywood Studios, we completed one more activity that the professors had just introduced to us. This was called the agent model activity. The purpose of the activity was to visualize how introducing new rules or guidelines to a model changes how it operates. We did this by each receiving a random list of two names from other students in our group. In the first simulation, we had to place one of our assigned names between ourselves and the other name on our list. We noticed that this caused us to stay very far apart and constantly move around. In the second simulation, we had to place ourselves between the two names on our list.

    Once we got back to the hotel, groups got right to work on their projects. Every group was at a different stage at this point. Some were putting together their slide decks, others were working on data analysis, and some had already started practicing for our presentations tomorrow.

    Once groups started to feel comfortable with where they were in their projects, we had visitors from Dickinson College. Dickinson runs a program similar to Math and the Mouse, but they spend all of their time at Universal Studios rather than Walt Disney World (this is also Dickinson's inaugural year running the program). We had the opportunity to hear from their cohort about the projects they have worked on so far. Interestingly, many of our projects have overlapping components, and we have done a lot of similar work. Notably, some students in our Math and the Mouse cohort have worked on a Knapsack problem, and the Dickinson students presented on that very topic. This collaboration between out two groups was particularly impactful to Dr. Bouzarth, a Dickinson alum. Acting much like a crossover episode, it was quite special for Dr. Bouzarth to see her two math worlds colliding and to see how Math and the Mouse as her brainchild got to influence Dickinson's creation of a similar program.

    After listening to their presentations, we headed straight back into Hollywood Studios for the last time on this trip. We were able to use several Lightning Lanes throughout the evening at Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania!, and Smugglers Run. Some groups also chose to spend their time at Slinky Dog Dash, Rise of the Resistance, or the Frozen Sing-Along Celebration.

    To end the night, some students headed back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep, while others stayed to watch Fantasmic! and cap off the evening with one final show.

     Stay tuned for the final blog of the trip tomorrow before we head back to Furman University!

    This blog was written by Luke Brownlee and Cassie Larsen. 

Day 19: A Perfect Day for Points Problems

Remember the Traveling Tourist Problem? Well, it’s back, but we’re looking at a different problem today. For one of our final projects, Connor, The Anh, and Harrison started to ask, what attractions should a person ride in order to have maximum fun at Magic Kingdom? This is something called a knapsack problem. Basically, if you can only put so many things in your knapsack, what are the best things to put in there? In this case, our knapsack is a day at Magic Kingdom! Each attraction was given a score based on its ratings and average wait time, which was used to rank attractions on which would be the most fun. More points means more fun! So, given four hours, what attractions should someone ride to get the highest score? The group who is working on the project needed a way to find out if their solution was the best, so we were broken up into groups of two to three people to try to maximize our points. We started bright and early as we all headed to Magic Kingdom for rope drop. 

Harrison, Connor, and The Anh on The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Julia, Mara, and Della at the finish line

Annmarie and Cassie at Cinderella's Castle

Tram and Dylan at Main Street

Luke and Ashton on Tiana's Bayou Adventure (third row)

Aidan and Isabella hanging out with Mickey

Professors on Haunted Mansion

Each group had to decide the best place to start off their four-hour adventure. Some groups, including Dylan and Tram, Luke and Ashton, and Della, Mara, and Julia, rope-dropped Jungle Cruise, while the rest of the cohort headed to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Unfortunately, the ride opening ended up being delayed, prompting Cassie and Annmarie to switch their sights to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Big Thunder eventually opened back up, but it was not the last problem to plague us during our activity.

Throughout the morning, we all tried our hardest to minimize our wait times and maximize our points. From riding Tron (20 points) to meeting Cinderella (5 points), every group plotted their way across the Magic Kingdom until our ending time of 1pm, with varying degrees of success. For example, Aidan and Isabella lucked out with a five minute wait time for Peter Pan, while Della, Mara and Julia stuck out a 45 minute wait at Big Thunder before being kicked out of line for technical difficulties. Good news, they were able to get Lightning Lanes to ride later!

As an end-of-activity celebration, the professors treated us to lunch at Columbia’s Harbor House - just what a bunch of hot, tired, and sweaty college students needed! The weather was even kind enough to cool us off with a short period of torrential downpour - a perfect ending to a long day at Disney. 

Once we got back from our exhausting trip to Magic Kingdom, everyone took a well-deserved shower (even though we had the rain shower from before lunch), and got to work on our final projects. We also tallied up our points for the morning’s activity - with a total of 70, congratulations goes to Aidan and Isabella!! (The best and coolest group if this author says so herself). 

It was a long day for Dr. Hutson

After a few hours, most of us packed back up to go to EPCOT! It was extra special, since the group thought we’d all ridden Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind for the last time. So, straight to Guardians for this group. We were able to ride it twice, getting in line just before the park officially closed. Between rides, we stopped by Joffrey’s Coffee for “dinner” (or in Ashton’s case, a cold brew after 8pm). Still singing the Guardian’s soundtrack, we all left Epcot for the last time with the professors who kindly waited to drive us home. 

Everybody's favorite ride!

The group rocking out to September on Guardians

Today’s blog was written by Della and Isabella!

Day 18: Safaris, Slushies, Splashes, and Science

Today, we woke up at 9:00 AM and started the day with an overview about how physics is applied in Disney attractions, learned about concepts such as force, motion, and energy transfer, and explored how these principles are used in the design of Disney’s roller coasters. From Dr. Bourzarth, we learned how electromagnets are used in attractions such as Expedition Everest and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. She explained how electromagnetic technology helps control ride vehicles and create a smooth and unique experience.

Animal Kingdom

After class, we had a lot of time to make progress with our project three presentations. Each group spent time brainstorming ideas or using their data to get insights to their projects. This allowed us to make significant progress and prepare for our upcoming presentations.

Group posing while riding Everest

Group collecting empty seat data on Everest

We had plans to leave for Animal Kingdom at 3:00PM for our last visit to this park for our trip. Once we arrived, we were given free time in the park until dinner at 6:00PM at Flame Tree BBQ. Our group went on the Safari first, hoping to see different animals than we had during our first visit, while the other group headed to Everest to start their afternoon. After that, the two groups each got sweet treats in between rides and before dinner. Our group got cookie dough brownie ice cream sandwiches, and the other group got slushies.

Della and Mara getting slushies

We all met up again for dinner, which was super yummy, even the birds agreed! Shout out Luke for sharing your meal with our new flying friends.

Luke sharing his food with a bird

While the other group hurried to try their luck at the Safari, we convinced the professors to go on the Cali River Rapids. While Dr. Harris and Dr. Bouzarth weren’t too hard to convince, getting Dr. Hutson agreed proved to be more difficult than we anticipated. But with much perseverance and a lot of persuading we got him to join us and look at how happy he was!

Group that rides three times

Dr. Hutson thoroughly enjoying the water ride

We decided to ride the River Rapids two more times while the professors and Dylan headed to Everest. Lastly, we all had Lighting Lanes for Avatar Flight of Passage, so we headed there for our last ride of the night.

Dylan and the professors on Everest

Finally, we headed back to the hotel, and the professors introduced us to a fun activity tomorrow, the Knapsack problem. Each group will have four hours in the park to earn as many points as possible by completing certain rides. These points were created by one of the groups because they are using this data for project three. The challenge will help them think strategically about how to maximize scores while working within a limited amount of time.

Today's blog was written by Annmarie Henderson and The Anh Nguyen!