PTR: Credits in Tijuana?? You bet!!!

I've know there were credits down in Tijuana for quite some time, but never really had the time or nerve to head down there and get them. Well, my friends Sean Flaharty and Alan Conceicao came out to CA for a week and said that they wanted to head down there on Saturday and see if we can do it. They had been told by others how easy it was to get to Mundo Diverto and decided to give it a try. I figured, what the hell.

We started off a little over an hour late as a stop was made at Best Buy, where Alan proceeded to lock the keys to the rental car in the trunk. (NO trunk release!!)

Anywho, I'll let the pics tell the rest of the story. Enjoy!

The old fart who tries to look cool (NOT) by standing in two countries at the same time, thanks you for reading!

So after spending less than $60 on travel and credits for the day, my chariot was waiting for me.

Downtown San Diego looks pretty cool at night.

We had a couple of hours to kill before my train left so we ate at a Pizza Hut Express, where they also sold feminine hygiene products. Go figure.

Sunset over Tijuana.

One last look at the border crossing.

For those that have come into LAX and gone through customs, this was worse!!

When we got close to the border, these signs were being ignored everywhere!!

Another drug store. What a surprise. For those people who think that they're funny, NO. I did NOT go in and buy ANY geriatric medicine. (Jerks)

Oh the irony! We were now standing in a line, over a mile long to get back into the US.

The driver dropped us a close to the border as he could, which was right in front of this pharmacy, 1.5 miles from the border.

This guy was driving like it was a video game, but we felt safe!

We're only in Mexico for 52 minutes and we catch a taxi back to the border!!

Three credit whores (Hi Elissa!) on the wacky worm called Gusano Loco.

Thank God it was over!

Next up was the L&T wild mouse, called Raton Loco. Just like the one at Lake Winnie, sans brakes. It was brutal!!

Loop of death? No!! It was actually kind of smooth. Only one bad "chink" in the track. I'd rather ride this than Ghostrider (which I rode 2 days earlier).

Why are we doing this?

Alan is still trying to describe the woman at the parking booth.

Of course, they didn't check any restraints on the (no name) Pinfari ZL42. Sean shows his concern. I'm old enough to die anyway, so let's do it.

Tickets for the 3 coasters were about $6.25 each. Seeing the seats here almost made me have second thoughts.

They even had a stage. It was a nice little place.

They had about 20 rides in all.

It's actually quite a nice little park. Kind of like you basic FFC in the states.

Once you walk thru the movie theater/arcade, you come upon the park:Mundo Diverto.

Somehow, buying Japanese food in TJ, with English lettering... I'll pass.

Alan was trying to describe the woman at the parking booth.

Thanks!!

Sean and Alan were giving thanks for getting there alive!

100 yards into Mexico is a ton of taxis. Ours was Crown Vic with, I kid you not, a MAXIMUM of 2 lugnuts per wheel. Scariest taxi ever!!!

Once on the other side, we became total geeks and asked to have our passports stamped!

The gates of no return.

There it is: The US/Mexican borderline.

We had no problem getting into Mexico! Go figure.

Time to make the 1 mile walk into Mexico.

We got off at the last offramp in the US, and parked in an $8/day parking lot.

Concrete nipples on I-5

Our ride, 2008 Mustang. We dropped my car at the Anaheim train station, because they were spending the night in San Diego.

So I take it you bought some Sildenafil.

Looks like you had a fun time. I'm also pretty sure that that Pinfari was in Mexicali for the longest time. When I was a kid, my dad used to go often and we would pass a different Mundo Divertido and it had the same coaster which is no longer there.

Oh, man, I'd loved this one. I can't tell you how many times I've been to Tijuana for one hour or less, and it was never to get the credits! Sildenafil, right, if only that!

For the record, the reason there aren't more pictures of the park is that the manager said we weren't allowed to, because of all the children present and it was against their policy, but said we could take pictures of the coaster and POV. (Sean did that.)

I'm also pretty sure that that Pinfari was in Mexicali for the longest time.

I'm almost positive of that now. That's what was posted on RCDB. We also asked the manager, and he said that it did indeed come from Mexacali.

So I take it you bought some Sildenafil.

Die.

Yay! The lost coasters of Tijuana. I was just talking about them last night with Robb and Jahan.

I am jealous!

Incidentally, why is it that you didn't do the Dipper at Belmont park?

^ I beleive it's still closed for re-tracking.

Guy, Elissa did actually give me the 'go-ahead' to do the video segment, but I gotta be honest, I'm just not sure I'm willing to stand hours in a customs line and put in this much effort for a Pinfari and a couple of kiddies.

Is there an easier way to do it without all that madness?

--Robb

I have no idea. But we can also go on an exploratory journey to try and find the lady and the donkey show.

Woo Hoo! Coasters and beastiality. Two great tastes that go great together.

Count me in!

Customs line into Cali from TJ isn't bad if you do it at 3 AM.

That's about the only time of the day I've ever passed back into the US, go figure.

Never even knew about those rides, but they look like fun! Believe it or not I can smell TJ stench just from looking at the pictures...

Going thru the Customs line is inevitable. There are some tricks to bypassing part of the line, but you can't avoid Customs altogether. The best you can do is to go on a weekday, and other less busy times.

The last time I went to Tijuana (1993), my friend Bill and I took the San Diego Trolley to its last stop and walked into Tijuana. We didn't take a taxi because we wanted to get back alive!

While there, I fell in a hole (they cover construction with thin plywood instead of the steel plates like here in the U.S. and I stepped on one. You can figure out the rest.)

At the time, I didn't know they had any credits there or I would have sought them. Oh well, I don't plan to go back there anytime soon.

And I've seen Amtrak locomotive #458 (an EMD F59PHI model) run behind my house. Just tellin' ya.

Eric

^ I beleive it's still closed for re-tracking.

Yes it is.

Is there an easier way to do it without all that madness?

Not really. I mean, like Eric said, you can take the "Trolley" from union station right to within about 30 feet of the door to the US entrance. You still have to walk over the highway to enter Mexico. I would imagine that the trolley fare was at least as much as the parking.

As far as the cab goes, it's about 4.5-5 miles straight in to get there. It was about a $15usd cab ride each way. We just gave the drivers $20 and everyone was happy.

I mean you could drive in yourself, if your insurance would cover you. BUT, the line of cars entering the US basically went almost all the way to the park. It was very easy for the psycho cab drivers to take all the back streets to get us there and back to the border. It wasn't too bad of an experience.

JJ

Guy, Elissa did actually give me the 'go-ahead' to do the video segment, but I gotta be honest, I'm just not sure I'm willing to stand hours in a customs line and put in this much effort for a Pinfari and a couple of kiddies.

 

Is there an easier way to do it without all that madness?

great now you do it, not when I'm in town.

That wild mouse car looks like an evil robotic space mouse in a Japanese cartoon.

Once again, Jeff, I salute you!

O.o I would hardly call Amtrak a Chariot. If it is anything like it is in the Midwest, you should be most worried about your life on the train, rather than on the coasters of Tijuana.

A day pass for the San Diego Trolley is $5.00 (or $11.00 if you want the one for express routes). I imagine you could drive to SD, find a free parking spot somewhere, then take the trolley to San Ysidro. That's what we did 10 years ago.

How much was parking/train ticket?

How much was parking/train ticket?

We found free parking about 2 blocks away down by the "Star of India".

The train was $20 to Anaheim.

I've checked the website and determined that the Pinfari is simply called "Montaña Rusa."

Everytime I see those water towers all I think of is the scene from Naked Gun.

Looks like you guys had fun, and you got 3 credits!