Day 1: And So It Begins...

Hello and welcome to the 2024 Math and the Mouse Blog! We are Tori and Ellis, and we are going to be kicking off the blog posts for the next 3 weeks. Today was our travel day and while we were scattered through different modes of transportation to make it to our destination, most of us started the day at Furman University at 5:45 am to start our 9-hour car ride. After goodbyes to family and friends, and a quick snap of a group picture with our amazing buses, we decided which bus to ride on, the party bus or the sleepy bus. Both of us were on the sleepy bus, so we are a little biased on which on was better (the sleepy bus). On the party bus there were conversations, music, games, and singing with the rare nap time being taken. However, on the sleepy bus there were many naps taken with the occasional chatter (usually being after a pit-stop for bathroom and snacks). During our car ride we were able to make a stop to the famous Buc-ee's for lunch. After we refuelled with many pork sandwiches and snacks, we headed back on the road. Once we reached our destination of our hotel we unpacked, picked up a few groceries at a nearby supermarket, and then eventually made our way to Magic Kingdom. This first trip to the parks to introduce or reintroduce everyone to the parks and have some fun. Which is exactly what we did! 

Hi, this is Tori! I grew up going to the parks as a child and a young adult, so coming back to Magic Kingdom today was like coming back home. Looking around and seeing all the stores and rides and smelling all the delicious food was comforting and exciting. However, I was getting to experience Disney World for the first time with this MayX group. It was a lot of fun getting to talk with everyone about the parks and just getting to know each other even more. This was especially common while we waited for the different rides we rode in the evening. During our few hours at the park, we were able to ride most of my favourite rides, which was very exciting. The most exciting part for me was when were able to time things just right and be riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at the same time as the Fireworks show was going on. So, we had a beautiful view of the fireworks during our thrilling ride. Experiencing Magic Kingdom with everyone tonight was a fun and good way to end a long day of travels and a good way to kick off our Math and the Mouse MayX! 

   

Ellis here. Well, for someone who has never been to an amusement park, I will say it was quite the experience. As much as I had heard about Disney and all that this MayX had to offer, I had still severely underestimated the sheer size and content of Disney. For today, we went to the Magic Kingdom to familiarise ourselves with the park, as Tori said. We visited It’s a Small World, Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Haunted Mansion, in that order. Starting off with It’s a Small World, I started to get cocky, but then came space mountain. I can say for sure that there was a good bit of shouting, especially as I felt I was going to get flung out of the train. Pirates of the Caribbean was pretty fun, that’s for certain. There was a drop that I was definitely not expecting and a shout or two might have escaped me. And then we went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad; again, a whole lot of shouting from me. Then we finished off with the Haunted Mansion, where it was intriguing to see all the effects, and I was pondering the physics behind the illusions amongst others. I mention each of these rides, as they were each a new experience for me, some more daunting than others. One thing I will say is that I am definitely not an adrenaline junkie, and I have 21 days to fix that. Otherwise, I do not know how I will survive this trip (Help! My throat is hoarse from shouting, and they tell me we have not done the scary rides yet.) Jokes aside, there is a lot one can learn from the experience, from the Physics of the matter, optimization of tours, and the logistics of how the rides work, among other things, and is something to which I look forward. 

In a nutshell, Math and the Mouse 2024 has commenced. There is a whole lot of fun to be had, data to be gathered, math to be done, screaming to be done (probably from Ellis), and sweating to be done – Florida is quite hot. There is a vast array of experiences with Disney, and amusement parks in general, within our cohort, so we hope you will follow along with us on our trip as we do all of these! Tomorrow, we commence class, and then we will head to EPCOT and apply the Math in real life.  

 

Cheers,  

Tori and Ellis