Hannah Vincent

I am a (very) recent graduate of Furman University! Along with another member of the group, I just received my Bachelor of Science a few short days before our departure. My major was Mathematics, and I am very excited to be heading to graduate school in the next few months.  I intend to pursue a PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech this coming fall, with my area of study in Operations Research.

OR (or Operations Research) is an area of mathematics and engineering that focuses on finding optimal solutions to different scenarios and models.  I am ecstatic to get to apply my future field to one of my other passions, Disney World.  Disney offers many different shows, rides, attractions, and demonstrates a unique scheduling and optimization problem. Thus, this MayX was the perfect storm of interests, and has pulled me out of my graduation celebration early.  I am positively ecstatic to get to spend the next couple of weeks learning and geeking out Disney style.

Favorite Restaurants

I have many fond memories of different restaurants scattered amongst the parks, after visiting them with my family.  However, a new favorite of mine is the new Be Our Guest restaurant in Magic Kingdom, which as you can guess, is Beauty and the Beast themed.  Besides being themed after my all-time favorite Disney movie, Be Our Guest is decorated fantastically and has great French cuisine.  Not to mention a photo-op with the Beast after your dinner!

But if I was to say my one favorite thing to eat in all of Disney, I have just two words.
DOLE WHIP.  This creamy, tart, delicious soft serve ice cream is only served in one place in the whole continental US, and that is Disney World.  So needless to say, I am very excited to indulge in some pineapple soft serve while perusing the park this May.

Favorite Attractions

The Disney fanatic in me is preventing me from ever picking just a few favorite attractions, so I’ll break it down by park.

Magic Kingdom is my favorite of all of the parks, as it reminds me so much of my childhood growing up in the 90’s.  Thus, this may be the longest of all the lists of attractions I give.  If I had to pick a couple of favorites, I would have to go with the Mad Hatter teacups, the Haunted Mansion, It’s a Small World, and Pirates of the Caribbean.  All four of these rides bring back fond memories, and to me, feel like quintessential Disney rides.

Epcot is a close runner up to Magic Kingdom, but provides an entirely different experience for me.  In the case of Epcot, rides are not my favorite attractions, but rather the World Showcase and the Illuminations fireworks show are.  I have never been to most of the countries in the World Showcase, so it provides a fun opportunity to see different cultures as well as enjoy some unique entertainment.

MGM (or as my mother will still remind me, Hollywood Studios) has grown on me since the late beginning of my love for roller coasters.  The Aerosmith coaster has been one of my favorites at Disney for quite a while.  However, I would be remiss to deny the nerd in me, so my favorite ride in MGM has to be Star Tours.  Now updated, it provides a different Star Wars experience every time, much to the delight of my (not so) inner nerd.

Lastly, Animal Kingdom has rapidly changed since the last time I experienced it.  However, I have gotten to ride Expedition Everest, and let me tell you, it does not disappoint.  I’m really looking forward to riding Everest with the members of the group who have not been to Disney before.  They are in for quite a surprise!

All in all, I am looking forward to my trip to Disney immensely, and absolutely cannot wait to experience Disney in a whole new way.