Orlando's Abandoned Religious Theme Park: The Controversial History of the Holy Land Experience

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Orlando's Abandoned Religious Theme Park: The Controversial History of the Holy Land Experience


Join us on a brand new Expedition Extinct. Have you driven down Interstate 4 and seen the odd roman looking building? Or have you ever wondered what The Holy Land Experience Theme Park was like? It is time to take a look at the history of The Holy Land Experience, A controversial and now Abandoned religious Theme Park in Orlando

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44 Comments

  1. Nice Diorama but it would have been more interesting if it had been based on something like the Battle of El-Alamein, or maybe re enactment of scenes from Ice Cold in Alex or The Hill.

  2. vote blue or this entire country will be a religious theme park, google project 2025 it's horrifying, we must vote out the white nationalist , it's a power grab straight out of natzi germany…

  3. The criticisms levied by the rabbis don't strike me as reasonable.

    The park was built in the middle of the Bible Belt, and the sign had "Trinity Broadcasting Network" written on it. Also, "Zion" is a pretty well known word from the Old Testament. Most Jews have a fair degree of fluency in the Hebrew language, so a park catering to a Jewish base could easily message to said audience. Heck, they could write Zion in Hebrew lettering and your average white guy wouldn't know what they were looking at. The absence of unambiguously Jewish coded messaging would've strongly hinted to any Jew this was probably Christian. If Jews wanted a truly nonsectarian Bible park, they should've collaborated with an outside partner and paid half the expenses so that they had a right to dictate the terms. A Christian ministry paid for 100 percent of this so it was their right to determine what message the park endorses. And no, a tax exemption is not a taxpayer subsidy. There is a difference.

    As for proselytizing, deal with it. It's a simple fact that religions and irreligions promote themselves and try to gain new converts. No group is immune to the challenges posed by this, and since Christians are actively commanded by their faith to proselytize demanding that they stop is like ordering a Jew to abandon halakha. Yeah, good luck with that.

  4. I kept thinking the Jesus looked familiar outside of Holy Land, ive alwsys kind fo had that inkling. Not until now, when she mentioned him going to Lakeland First Assembly, did i get an answer to that mystery. lol.

    The mystery id like an answer to is wth. Ive lived in central florida my whole life. Im not Christian anymore, but i was. Went to multiple churches, and did and still do know a lot of Christians across central florida. Never known anyone thats been to Holy Land, besides the jokey jokes about driving by it.

    Also, hearing its antisemetic roots is wild.

  5. Faith can not and should not be enforced. It’s called faith for the love of Arceus not indoctrination! You’re trying to disguise mass indoctrination as something else an that’s just plain degrading and shameful. Tsk tsk tsk.

  6. They probably could’ve done somewhat better if everything WASNT A FREAKING SHOW. Why would I just want to watch 7 theater performances back to back…where are the roller coasters

  7. I went twice. The first time around 2004-5 (I was 14), before it was sold. The second time was around 2010. The first time I went, I loved the exhibits and the educational nature of the place. The next time I went, I was horrified. It was Christianity the theme park. People attending the park were treating the actor who played Jesus in various programs throughout the day like the actual Jesus. It was awful. The whole place was one big gift shop. At least they had one interesting historic icon exhibit the last time. I’m glad it’s gone.

  8. I literally went there as a kid (I begged my parents). On our way to one of their shows my mom legitimately walked right into a guy dressed as Jesus, very obviously one of the actors. He walked with us the entire way to the show talking with us etc. He was very nice. I remember that every once in a while and wonder where he’s at and how he’s doing these days.

  9. Oh this is closed?!?! AWESOME!!! I remember learning about this place for the first time watching Bill Maher’s doc ‘Religulous’. The only person that was actually nice there was the guy playing Jesus Christ, he actually played his role very well. Their head of PR or customer relations thought Bill was a literal demon and kept trying to get him away from their Jesus actor while he was asking him questions about Christianity 😂😂 Even Bill said the guy playing Jesus actually made him think for a second on how to respond when he explained the trinity in three forms is like water ice and steam. I’m not religious at all but even I had to respect his commitment to being a good decent person “christ-like not just Christian”

  10. Holy Land may even go against the Bible. In the New Testament, Jesus visited a church that was using its grounds as a market. Furious, Jesus tore the place down because they used a holy place as a way for profit and finance.

  11. Honestly, all the whining and protesting about how the park would try to convert Jews strikes me as indicative of a lack of confidence in one's beliefs and those who share them. Seriously, how weak is your religion if a goofy theme park can draw people away from it and how devoted are its adherents if they can be so easily misled? Christians are trying to convert EVERYONE, not specifically or solely Jews.

    So much of this reminds me of Ken Ham's ridiculous boat attraction in Kentucky. Right down to failing to break even and the taxation issue, and failure to pay any taxes for the local infrastructure upon which it depends such as road maintenance, emergency responders, etc. Of course young earth creationism is more obscure and well, it's in Kentucky, so it drew less controversy.

  12. Given the reality that the badly misnamed "Holy Land" has for CENTURIES been the epicenter of BLOODY VIOLENCE, TERRORISM, BIGOTRY, HATRED, AND RELIGIOUS WARFARE on Earth, the very concept of a "Holy Land" theme park is the stuff of nightmares.

  13. This feels like a story of people with the best of intentions creating something just to hand it over to greedy televangelists, one of which has an uncomfortable crush on the Jesus actor.

  14. "We wanna recreate what Israel was like during Jesus's time"

    No you don't buddy😅
    You wanna create your own whitewashed idealistic version of what it was. The real thing would terrify you😂

  15. I actually feel kinda bad for the guy who started the whole thing. He seemed genuine and had a good handle on what the place was for and what a sustainable business model for it looked like. Then of course investors got involved and fucked everything up trying to get a bigger piece of a pie that could never be as big as they wanted it to.

  16. So that’s how those crooks laundered their money. When it saidTBN, my eyes rolled. Wonder if Carmen had a show!! Not bashing religion just those that exploit it.