Hello to
@Spash007,
@Katiekitten,
@dclfan, @I’mwatchinguWizowski,
@Dave Ber,
@WDisneyW,
@Ceejayzvan and
@PacNWTigger! You’re all caught up and just in time for......
The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Evacuation!!
After disembarking It’s a Small World we splish-splashed back through Frontierland again. Kelly had been unable to obtain a FP for the wildest ride in the wilderness and she said she would wait for us at the exit.
“Absolutely not!” Em declared. “Take my band and ride with my mom.”
Kel attempted to protest but Em was firm. It was raining harder now and I knew our ride might be a bit painful, but also expected to laugh along with Kelly for the duration.
Street rats? Drowned rats!
I was surprised how lengthy the standby line was considering the weather. We breezed by the poor folks still standing outside and were seated on the train in just a couple minutes.
Our train pulled away from the platform, rounded the curve and began the lift hill climb. I noticed a loud grinding noise as the train continued upward.
Suddenly the train came to a full and complete stop. I turned to Kelly and grinned. “This can’t be good.”
Kel whipped out her phone. “Let’s take a picture to show Em we’re trapped!”
No sooner had she clicked the button and this happened:
I don’t know who was more excited ~ Kelly, or the little boy in front of us.
Actually it was neither of them. It was ME!!!!! I was about to experience my first evacuation from BTMRR! (It wasn’t my first ride evac though.....that honor goes to Test Track.)
A CM made an announcement apologizing for the interruption and asked us to remain seated (as if standing up while constricted by a lap bar was an option) until help arrived.
I wondered how many trains were on the track....2?...3?....and was thankful we were in the cave and not stuck out in the rain. My next thought was to text Em and let her know what was going on.
But there was no cell service or wifi signal in the cave. Oh well!
Soon CMs appeared to assist us.
They began by asking if everyone was okay (we all were) and then explained they were going to evacuate us from the train, one car at a time.
They would start with the front car and make their way to the back. Once the safety bar was released, we were to climb out and remain on the steps next to our car. When all the cars were empty the CMs would lead us in a single file line to the exit.
Climbing out of a car on an incline isn’t as easy as it looks!
As we made our way down the stairs and walked along the track, Kelly commented how bummed she was that we’d been cheated out of a ride.
But I knew that wasn’t the end of our story.
I told Kel to have her MagicBand ready, and that a CM was going to scan it and restore the Fastpass we had used for BTMRR. When Kelly lifted her sleeve, the CM noticed Kel was wearing two bands and scanned them both “so your other family member can join you.” Yay for Pixie Dust!
When we reunited with Em, she was surprised to hear we were evacuated from a train. She thought we were part of the big crowd that was exiting the indoor queue, since it hadn’t been that long since we parted ways. And she was excited to learn that the FP she’d given Kel had been gifted back to her!
and 
.
it this time.
Most people wouldn’t have room for 3 hitchhikers let alone 4. 
Apparently she wasn’t maimed for long.