Mapping the Fog: Bringing It All Together
This post on final service dog prep for HHN concludes the 5-part series. Don’t forget to start at the beginning, if you haven’t already! Or check out Inside the Fog to find out how it all came together.
By this time, it was early October and HHN was already well underway. We knew Lady Priscilla wasn’t ready yet, and that was fine. We developed a rhythm that consisted of putting her to bed in her crate and then heading to the event for a few hours ourselves. No matter how late we returned, she always bolted awake, tail wagging, thrilled to see us.
And for us, the event had changed somewhat. Now we were always assessing–what might spook her in this scare zone? Would this haunted house be too hard for her to navigate? Where would we stand for that piece of street entertainment that would allow us to see without swallowing her in a crowd, and what’s the least busy place to stop and decompress? Always thinking, always taking notes, always refining. Just like the Lady herself.
An Epic Journey
After HHN 2024 wrapped, we honestly got pretty sidetracked from prepping for the next one. We threw ourselves into the holidays, including a hilarious moment of side eye from Lady Priscilla when we dragged an entire tree into the apartment. In February, I gave up freelance life for a 9-5 in tech. Still working from home, but without the flexibility I was used to. And Lady Priscilla was training three nights a week. She was leveling up so fast, we could barely keep up with her!
Every bit of training was highly useful for HHN, especially agility class, but we weren’t doing anything specifically to prep for the event…though we were still keeping up with regular public access everywhere from doctor’s offices to libraries to drugstores. We were all so busy that when I got an email that AP previews were starting for Epic Universe, I actually did a double take.
Dad and I went to Epic by ourselves on the first day of passholder previews. We’re still at the point where we like to scope things out first, so we can be strong guides for her. That’s becoming less and less necessary these days, but with something huge like a brand new theme park, we figured it couldn’t hurt. So off we went, mapping it through her eyes.
From the moment we saw that they had thoughtfully provided a service dog relief spot AT the disabled parking area, we knew it was a place she could definitely handle. Well-spaced relief areas all throughout the park. Big wide walkways to minimize bottlenecks. Lots of things to look at, even down at her eye level. Not too many rides she could go on, but that wasn’t the point.
As soon as we got home, we made plans to bring her to the park…especially considering they were capping attendance at extremely low levels for previews. What better time to get her very first taste of an actual theme park?
That first Epic visit deserved its own story—and it got one.
We wrote about it in The Dragon She Chose, a reflection on bravery, pacing, and the quiet strength of a dog who walked into a brand-new world and made it her own.
This was the moment her HHN training stopped being theoretical.
This was the moment we stopped asking if… and started asking when.
The Boiler Room
As it turned out, Lady Priscilla’s most haunted-house-like experience to date didn’t come from a theme park at all.
It came from a museum exhibit.
Our recent visit to Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition started as a cultural outing—low-key, historical, a nice chance to work on quiet indoor behavior…not to mention, get out of the way of our housekeepers. But then came the boiler room.
A winding, dimly lit space meant to simulate life below deck—complete with narrow passageways, ambient machinery sounds, and a looming replica coal burner that glowed red and pulsed with sound effects. The atmosphere was thick and immersive. For a moment, even we weren’t sure what lay ahead.
Lady Priscilla?
Zero hesitation.
She paced through it like it was just another aisle in Ikea.
Focused. Balanced. Unbothered.
When we emerged “on deck,” she didn’t pull or try to run. Just wandered casually up to the window to enjoy the view.
We wrote more about that day in The Ice, the Boiler Room, and First-Class Sass—a post that started as a charming footnote in her journey and turned into yet another unexpected step toward our HHN training goal, and a surprising parallel to what she’s been learning in CGC class.
Inside the Fog: Lady Priscilla at Halloween Horror Nights
And now we’ve reached the culmination of our service dog public access prep for HHN 2025. Ready to find out how she did? Learn what happened on her very first visit here.
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