Whistle While You Work

Mary Lib (left) and McKenna (right)

Hey everyone! Mary Lib and McKenna here. Welcome to day 5 of our Math and the Mouse trip!

This morning was filled with some super cool graph theory lessons courtesy of Dr. Harris. Some of the topics covered included networks models, chromatic numbers, domination numbers, and digraphs. We were able to tie these concepts back to what we learned from Drs. Bouzarth and Hutson about linear and integer programming, as graph theory has applications in areas such as scheduling and resource placement. As a company seeking to make a profit, Disney is concerned with these types of issues. They would like to schedule Disney employees in the most efficient way possible so as not to waste time or money.

We also had some time before lunch to work with our groups on the project that Molly and Alyssa mentioned yesterday. Each group has a similar problem, but with different objectives. My group (Mary Lib) is working a workforce-scheduling problem in which we want to minimize the number of time periods that are over-scheduled at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Café. My group (McKenna) has the same workforce-scheduling problem, but instead, we are trying to reduce the number of employees needed to cover the workload across all shifts. 

The Amazing Race

After a break for lunch, we reconvened and the professors told us about a new challenge! This challenge is similar to the Hollywood Studios Integer Knapsack problem on Thursday, but this time we are attempting to solve a problem similar in style to the “Traveling Salesman Problem,” a famous math problem in which the salesman must find the shortest route between several points.  Tomorrow we’re headed to Magic Kingdom for what we’ll call “The Amazing Race – Magic Kingdom edition.” Groups are to design and implement a strategy that will lead us through a total of 17 attractions across all lands of Magic Kingdom. So be sure to stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog to see how it all went down.

Next stop on the fun train: Magic Kingdom for the afternoon! We had some free time, so we broke into smaller groups to hit our favorite rides.

McKenna's group

My group immediately went straight for Space Mountain. It broke down right before we had the chance to ride it the other day so it was at the top of our list today. I had never ridden it before, and I absolutely loved it. Up next was another personal favorite: the Mad Tea Party, more commonly recognized as the teacups ride. It was just as fun as I had remembered, except the teacups seemed much smaller than I was remembering! As we were leaving the teacups, I spotted Tigger and Pooh leaving the autograph area. I (with my bum ankle) hobbled off after them as quickly as I could. You see, when I was a toddler, I decided that I would just skip the entire line of people waiting to see Tigger. I attached myself to him, and no one could get me to let go. I’m sure that I am in the photo albums of families across the world because of that little stunt. Since then, it has become a tradition that every time I go to Disney, I have to get a picture with Tigger. I didn’t catch Tigger tonight despite several attempts, but don’t worry, I’ll get my picture with him (after waiting in line, of course)!

Mary Lib's group

Lines were surprisingly short this afternoon, so my group was able to hit several high-quality rides (not to say that all Disney rides are not high-quality) in a short amount of time. We too headed to Space Mountain first, along with McKenna’s group, but we weren’t the only ones with that bright idea. Clearly, Space Mountain is a favorite of the professors as well, as seen below.

Drs. Hutson, Harris, and Bouzarth on Space Mountain!

Next up, we crossed over into Frontierland, where we rode Splash Mountain and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. 

We met back up as a whole at Jungle Cruise, where we are pretty sure a record was set for the number of puns a Disney cast member could throw into a 10-minute ride – shout out to Skipper Whitney for those zingers. Before dinner, we hit some more great attractions like Mickey’s Philharmagic, the Mad Tea Party, and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train!

And of course, no day at Magic Kingdom would be complete without seeing a few familiar faces, particularly princesses. I (Mary Lib) met Ariel, my personal favorite, while I (McKenna) met Rapunzel and Cinderella.

Time is really flying by if you ask us, so be sure to keep checking the blog so you can stay updated with all things mathemagical!

P.S. Happy birthday to McKenna's mom, Terri! Hope your day was magical!

Written by: Mary Lib Saine and McKenna Luzynski

Day 2: Modeling and Epcot

Morning:
Hi, everyone, Caroline and Jamie here! Today we had our first full day in Florida, and we began bright and early exploring some of the math aspects of Math and the Mouse. We spent the morning learning about the basics of Operations Research (OR) Modeling. This form of modeling seeks to accomplish a main objective under a certain set of constraints. For example, a bakery would seek to optimize profits with the constraints of limited ingredients or time. At Disney, OR Modeling is used to design incredibly detailed schedules for the cast members in the parks, who often are moving every 15-30 minutes. After looking at several examples of different OR Modeling problems, we split into groups to solve some problems on our own. One of the problems we examined in detail was the Knapsack Problem, which seeks to fit as many items as possible, with the greatest utility, or usefulness, in a set space. Later in the day, we learned that this problem would be a critical part of tomorrow's activity. After working through and presenting the problems, we set out for Epcot.

The required photo in front of the Daisy Duck topiary

Epcot:
Our first stop at Epcot was in the big sphere itself, as we experienced Spaceship Earth. Soon, we moved to the much more exciting Test Track. We were a little parched after Test Track, so we went to the Coca-Cola Club Cool, where Dr. Harris and Dr. Hutson convinced several unsuspecting students to try the infamous drink Beverly. Luckily, the Flower and Garden Festival is going on currently, and there were many great exhibits and unique stops, including a Butterfly Garden.

Some of the beautiful flowers in the Butterfly Garden

Our next stop took us to the relaxing and almost sleep-inducing Journey into Imagination and The Seas with Nemo and Friends rides, though we did enjoy the air conditioning and seeing a dolphin. Following our time at the rides, we received our assignment for tomorrow, and split into our groups to formulate plans. From here, our smaller groups split up to see more of what Epcot had to offer.

Caroline:

After quickly finishing our project, my group decided to take advantage of the dinnertime short ride lines. Johanna and I had a great time on Mission Space and then enjoyed the quick wait for a second run on Test Track. After we had our fill of rides, we set out for the World Showcase, but not before I had my very first Dole Whip. We slowly made our way through all the pavilions, and ate our way through quite a few of them. We ended up enjoying teriyaki beef at Japan, gelato at Italy, and funnel cakes just in time for Illuminations. Even though Dr. Bouzarth assured me that the pavilions had not been renovated recently, I couldn't help but feel that they were so much bigger than when I last visited Disney! I could easily spend an hour in each pavilion, exploring the various shops and restaurants. Illuminations was just as exciting as I remembered, and was a great way to close out another day in Disney.

The Italy Pavilion, home to gelato and delicious food 

Jamie:
After a more tedious attempt at strategy, my group also went to Mission Space. While I was a bit queasy afterwards, it was quite fun.  Following that, we began our tour of the countries. We stopped for fish and chips in England, Bratwurst in Germany, and churros in Mexico. The national pavilions are fantastic with a variety of sights and tastes unique to each one. Following our walk, we regrouped with the others to watch Illuminations, a spectacular display of laser optics and pyrotechnics that left our ears ringing and our eyes dazzled. After so much excitement, we took the long slow walk back to the van to get some much needed beauty sleep.

The Illuminations Finale

Written by:

Caroline

Jamie