"Your focus determines your reality" - Fall 2025 Travel Adventures - Update 1/7 x3 (Completed)

[Dis_Yoda]

Monday December 7th 2025
Gideon’s & AKC National Set Up

I was antsy and had some time to kill before I could set up my crate and such at the convention center – so I decided to head to Gideon’s – the one in the East End Market. There I ended up getting myself a couple treats for the week. The limited cookie for Christmas, Cookie Vom Krampus and a slice of the Cookie Butter Cake.










The East End Market was cute – I looked at some of the other shops as well.

Then it was off to the Convention Center!

The show at the Orlando Convention Center is HUGE. 35 different Conformation Rings, 3 Agility Fields, Dock Diving Pool, 8 Obedience Rings along with the big Group Arena for the TV special. You also had reserved grooming, free grooming, and all the vendors you could imagine.




I brought my crate and supplies in and figured out where my friend had her reserved grooming set up so that I could plant myself for the show week.



I ended up helping my friend finish her more extensive set up. Setting up grooming tables, bringing dogs in from her van, etc. It took most of the afternoon. I also ended up helping some of my other friends or rather they stole my cart for moving things, so I had to stalk them to get it back.​

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Monday December 7th 2025
EPCOT – Festival of the Holidays

Around 5PM, I headed to EPCOT as I was starving (legit, only had eaten the Gideon’s cookie so far) and I really wanted to check out the Festival of the Holidays options.



The entrance was so festive!



As well as Spaceship Earth



And the Tree

The first booth I stopped at was the Shanghai Holiday Kitchen for the Beef Noodle Soup Bowl & I got a cocktail from the Joy of Tea but I don’t remember exactly which one it was.





This was exactly what I needed. It was warm and filling.

I headed to Germany for the Bavaria Holiday Kitchen where the line was long – especially for a Monday night! But eventually I got my Cheese Fondue in Breadbowl.



I decided to go to Italy which I know isn’t always the best choice at any festival. The Tuscany Holiday Kitchen had Montanara – Fried Dough with Pomodoro, Parmesan, Basil which seemed like just the right amount of food to finish off my evening meal. It was ok. The fried dough was kinda soggy and chewy but I liked the flavors. It did its jobs of filling me up.



The line for Living with the Land was much longer than I was willing to wait in at this point of the day, so I headed out past Spaceship Earth and worked my way back to Saratoga Springs.

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[2xcited2sleep]

Sorry if I missed this but did Belo stay with you at Saratoga Springs? Thanks for sharing all the Disney Springs decor. I didn't make it over there this year. Wow all the Championship stuff sounds incredible. This is a whole new world to me and very interesting! Someday Italy will hit a homerun at a festival. Someday...

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Sorry if I missed this but did Belo stay with you at Saratoga Springs? Thanks for sharing all the Disney Springs decor. I didn't make it over there this year. Wow all the Championship stuff sounds incredible. This is a whole new world to me and very interesting! Someday Italy will hit a homerun at a festival. Someday...

I avoided putting those details so you didn't miss it. Belo has been task trained just like Gantu is but its not really something I like to advertise especially with the culture around it all with Disney and people really going too far with it all and calling way too much attention to it. I remember someone once at Peter Pan putting a bark collar on their dog so it could be crated? Like what? Do you really need your dog in the park? You still need to not overwhelm your dog while also being respectful of the general public. I'll stop there as I could rant a ton.

One day Italy will, I hope. At least its been edible as there were the years where that wasn't the case at all!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Tuesday December 9th 2025
AKC National Dog Show – Day 1 & Animal Kingdom

I was up around 6AM and headed to the Convention Center to handle all the fun morning dog chores. Our ring time was at 8AM. My breeder wanted Belo on her handler which is fine with me and this was going to be his first time with her. They showed well for their first time together and meeting all of 10 minutes before ring time but no ribbons for us today! I took him back to the set up before coming back to watch more.



I ended up meeting up with my friend from California and meeting her dog, Stark, an Icelandic Sheepdog. He’s well accomplished – having won a National Specialty, Westminster and the AKC National Championship before. Her dog was showing in the same ring as mine after the conclusion of Rhodesian Ridgebacks so I stayed around to watch. She ended up taking Best of Breed with her dog.



After, I had some items I needed to handle for work and a meeting I had to be on for so I headed to Publix to grab a sub to make sure I actually ate food today before I made my way back to Saratoga Spring to handle that fun.

After my mandatory meeting, I went back to the convention center to cheer on my friend in the group ring and make sure Belo was cool in his crate before I headed over for a little late afternoon fun in Animal Kingdom.

By 4:30PM, I was heading through the gates and getting to see their Christmas Tree!



Kevin was also out at the entrance saying hello to people. BTW, I absolutely love the new photoshop feature on Iphones as it makes it so much easier to remove people from photos.



My main goal was to go watch the Merry Menagerie interact with everyone. I headed to the Tree of Life and watched the performers. They were having so much fun flying their birds around people not paying attention. The bears were a hit as were the penguins. This was my first time really getting to sit and just observe and I’m so glad I took this time.









Eventually, I wanted to get another ride of Dinosaur before it closes forever as I also wasn’t sure if our January trip will have a visit to Animal Kingdom or not. I’m truly going to miss that ride!





Next up, I headed to Zootopia: Better Zoogether.

Can I just say, blah? We lost It’s A Bug Life for this? It felt very rushed, without much story telling to it. I’ll give it another go on a future trip but it may just not be for me.

At this point, it was nearing park closing so I headed out and went back to the Convention Center for a bit to make sure all was ok before heading back to Saratoga Springs for the night.​

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Wednesday December 10th 2025
AKC National Dog Show – Day 2

I was up and at the Convention Center not long after 6AM this morning. After our morning business attended to, I gave Belo a bully stick I got from a vendor and helped my friend with some of her morning chores.



Our ring time was again at 8AM and today Belo did alright. He ended up going Reserve Winners Dog which means he was deemed 2nd best of the class dogs. He showed better for the handler this day as well. My husband likes to call Reserve Winner's - 1st Loser.





My breeder and I headed to brunch after the Ridgebacks were done showing. We went to First Watch which was a nice safe bet. I had a roast beef sandwich which was enjoyable. She was heading back to her hotel after as she was getting over being sick still and wanted to just sleep the afternoon away and I headed back to the convention center.

I ran into my normal handler I use for my Saluki as she was there with her Belgian Sheepdogs. I ended up helping her hold some dogs for a bit as she needed an extra set of hands due to her ring times among the various breeds she was showing. I was happy to help!



My Icelandic sheepdog friend was showing next and she was hoping to lose as she wanted to head to Animal Kingdom herself this afternoon and wanted to hitch a ride with me if possible. She got what she wanted. We dropped her dog off at her hotel and I took her to Animal Kingdom to save her the Uber fee.

Then it was back to the hotel for some work before I went back to the Convention Center to head to dinner with my friend and her clients as they wanted to get some seafood.

The clients told me they wanted to eat at the Atlantic and I agreed to drive them all there. The address had us going to the Helios hotel so I parked and uh, apparently that is the restaurant inside EPIC. Oops. Luckily, I somehow got out of having to pay the ridiculous parking fee at the Helios as they felt bad for us.

As they still wanted seafood, we looked on our phones and decided to try King Cajun Crawfish as it had what everyone was wanting.
I got a lavender martini which was well deserved at this part of the trip.



There is a long going joke in the dog showing community about bucket ‘female dogs’ aka a person that assists a handler with all the unfun tasks. The term comes because you can usually identify them by their handling of a grooming bucket, dog food/water bucket, etc. So when one of the clients who does that role a lot for my friend got his bucket for his seafood – we had to call him the Ultimate Bucket *blank*



I didn’t feel like peeling seafood this evening so I went with fried shrimp and onion rings along with a house salad. It was ok. I’ve had better and I’ve had worse but it at least was filling!

We headed back to the convention center afterwards before we all headed back to our respective hotels for bed.​

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Thursday December 11th 2025
AKC National Dog Show – Day 3

I was up around 6:30AM and headed over to the Orange County Convention Center.

I apparently failed at getting any photos of my dog in the ring this morning, but we did not have a good day. Belo went 2 of 2 in his 12 to 15 month class.

My Icelandic Sheepdog friend wanted to use the Dis_Yoda Uber Service again so I took her to EPCOT once her dog took Best of Breed again (based off the group order and timing – she knew she wouldn’t have to be back until around 7PM that evening for his group time)

I had some items for work I had to address and headed back to the hotel where I spent the next few hours working.

Yeah, that wasn’t fun.

Belo’s breeder wanted to head to a dog park in Winter Park called Lake Baldwin Park to let Belo and her other dog get some time to run free. We ended up meeting up around 4:15PM there hoping it wouldn’t be too busy.

We ended up running into two other Rhodesian Ridgebacks while we were there so they all had fun enjoying the ridgeback style of play (aka rough)








They got to spend about an hour running around with one another around the trails and sandy areas. They definitely needed that!

We headed to a local Italian restaurant nearby, Il Pescatore, where we met up with two other Rhodesian Ridgeback club members. We ordered a bottle of wine and I had the tortellini alla panna with chicken added. I was continuing my bad habit of not eating enough during the day so was catching up. I’ve never been this bad before about eating during a trip but there was just so much going on.

I ended up skipping my park reservation as I was too exhausted when all was done.​

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Friday December 12th 2025
Sunshine State Rhodesian Ridgeback Specialty & AKC National Puppy/Junior Stakes

I got to sleep in a little bit this morning, an extra 15 minutes as we didn’t show until 8:15 instead of 8:00AM. We would have two shows today – the Sunshine State Rhodesian Ridgeback Specialty as well the AKC National Puppy/Junior Stakes.

I said hello to Pyro as he was getting his finishing touches on before his show.



Belo and I then headed to our ring for the specialty show.

He ended up going 2 of 3 in his class (12 to 18 months) but truly – he moved and show like a dream. Just wasn’t that judge’s style of dog based on what he was putting up.



When class dogs were done – I headed back to the set up to let him relax in his crate as he would be showing again in a couple hours and returned to finish watching the rest of the ridgebacks in the ring. I did grab a Nutella banana crepe from one of the food vendors to make sure I had food this day.

The specialty took a long time and didn’t wrap up until almost noon. Towards the end – I had to leave my seat and go get Belo as he needed to get a walk along with waiting for his time to show in AKC Puppy Stakes. That ring was running late – there was a slight issue where a puppy got loose and escaped the ring which also didn’t help the delay.

Like the delays were bad. We should have originally been showing around 12:15PM and I don’t think he was in the ring until almost 2PM.



Turned out to be worth it! He took Best of Breed out of the 17 Rhodesian Ridgebacks competing! He won $50, and I had a form I had to fill out as he would be on AKCtv later that day when the group competition would start.



My breeder and I headed back to my set up to let Belo relax and so I could fill out the AKC form online – while she grabbed something to eat as well since she was finally getting a chance to eat something.

Hounds were the last group to go in for the Puppy Stakes so to kill time – my friend showed off some of her dogs holding skills.



And I looked at the vendors and got some new chews for Belo to enjoy.

Once the group prior to his was about halfway through, I got Belo from the set up for another short walk and handed him off to my breeder’s handler other team member. Because of the timing – she was needing to be in the other ring for her Golden client so Larry would be showing him instead.

The Hound Group started and Belo did so well! After all the puppies were examined, the judge pulled out a handful of dogs to narrow down his selections for Group placements. Belo was one of those dogs! I’m so proud. He ended up not making the final placement but it sure was thrilling to make it that far.









The dogs that made the cut.



If you want to see the hound group video, here is the link:
https://akc.tv/event-video?id=20954
His exam starts around 8:52 and the final cuts are towards the end.

As I was getting my dog back – my friend I was in the set up with was reminding me we needed to be at our dinner reservation for the Melting Pot in about 10 minutes! Oh no. We all were going to be running late.

I haven’t been to Melting Pot in years – last time was during one of my trips back when I still lived in Florida and was staying at the Ritz with my mother. I think that might have been a Universal trip instead of Disney. They’ve apparently changed a lot since then. No more rye bread for the cheese. They have a grill option for meat now?

Either way, I was happy with my swiss cheese and steak and chocolate. It was a late night especially with considering how early of a day it started.​

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Saturday December 13th 2025
AKC National Show

It being Day 5 of the shows was definitely wearing on everyone at this point and now it was time for the final event.

We didn’t show until 9:45AM – so I got a whole extra hour of sleep! Granted, I had made it back super late that evening before but it is what it is.

The ring went well for us – Belo ended up going Winner’s Dog – however, the major broke as two other class dogs ended up dismissed as they were unable to be examined. This show being a large and chaotic as it is – sometimes is not the best place for a dog that isn’t solid in training or temperament as it can be very overwhelming. It being Saturday also meant a lot more of the general public were out and about too.






With winning best class dog – we now had a shot at Best of Winners which means he had to stay out for the Best of Breed class to enter. We watched the females. As my breeder’s handler had to show my breeder’s girl that was entered in Best of Breed – Larry stepped in and was going to show Belo for the next part of competition. There were a ton of dogs in Best of Breed so they had everyone enter – the Males, the females, the veterans and then the winners dog and winners female then he made groups for judging. Belo was dismissed once the Best of Breed Male group was started as he would have to go back in at the end after the initial cuts. I decided to take him back to his crate for some down time as he had already been out for a while and I know it can be a lot. I figured I would go take him for a walk and bring him back once the group of females had started – so about an hour later.

There was a surprise at my set up that seemed to have been a lucky charm!



I watched the end of the male cuts then went to go get Belo and I’m so glad I did that.



He ended up going Best of Winners for the major! The boy only needs 1 more major for his championship. My breeder’s other dog entered ended up going Best of Opposite (aka Best Female) so it was a thrilling day for us all! The other dog’s owners were in town to watch and it was decided we would meet up for dinner that evening at a place called Fishbones.





At this point – it was already 1PM.

We took another walk and I was amused by this set up another competitor had. Their dogs travelled in style!




I grabbed another crepe for my lunch and then went to cheer on my friend in the National Owner Handler Series Group Finals. She ended up not placing but Stark was still a star (He did end up going Best of Breed as well for the AKC National Show and got to be on the TV special)






I decided to look at where dinner was and was kinda shocked to see that it was 45 minutes north in Lake Mary. I guess there used to be one closer to the convention center in Orlando I decided to breakdown my set up now before heading that way so I didn’t have to do it later that evening as I also wanted to get on the road by 2AM to head home the next day.

The dinner was nice. I had a lovely glass of Belle Glos Pinot Noir along with a Shrimp Scampi for my meal.

Belo's Haul from the Week:

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[Dis_Yoda]

Sunday December 14th 2025
Long Travel Home

That alarm going off at 1:45AM was not my friend. I was so glad I packed everything up the night before so all I needed to do put my suitcase & Belo in the car and hit the road.

The drive started rather uneventful but at 6:30AM – I was getting tired. I ended up stopping at a rest stop along I-10 to take a power nap for about 45 minutes until the sun was fully up. That ended up being a life saver!

We had a couple other stops along the way for gas and potty breaks so here are some photos from Love’s.





I grabbed a late lunch at Bojangles at Love’s in Louisiana. I had some chicken strips and biscuits that I shared with Belo.

I made it home around 5PM, absolutely exhausted. My bottom was hurting for all that sitting. I ended up unloading the Explorer, feeding Belo his kibble, took a shower and went to bed as I had to work the next day!

Overall – here’s how Belo’s 2025 finished in ribbons:



And with that, my Fall 2025 Trip Report is done! We’re off tomorrow to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge for my husband to run Goofy. We’re there Thursday thru Monday so a relatively short trip. Not planning on a trip report but here are our plans:

Thursday
Fly In (arrival around 11:30AM)
Pick Up Rental Car
Head to Publix for Drinks & Lunch
RunDisney Expo for Bib Pick Up & Shopping
Check Into Hotel
Dinner @ Morimoto Asia

Friday
EPCOT
Dinner @ Todd English’s bluezoo

Saturday
WDW Half Marathon
Animal Kingdom
Dinner @ The Boathouse

Sunday
WDW Marathon
Magic Kingdom
Lunch @ Beak & Barrel
Dinner @ Topolinos

Monday
Fly Home​