The Holy Land Experience

Reviews 3

A

A Private User

TBN is a business and it is reflected in each of the operations at HLE. They do not allow you to take videos or pictures of the exhibits inside but do sell DVDs and other material at high prices. This is a business and run like one and this should be treated as such. They can survive despite charitable giving. If they received freely, they should be able to give freely. I expected to take pictures and video freely and was unable to do so.

The trinkets in the gift shop are gold painted and sold at a premium. The 7 acre facility appears to be an extended gift shop for TBN memorabilia which is only a money spinner. When we have faith, the blessings fill up and the cup runs over and does not cease to provide. If we fear that we can diminsh when people steal what we have or when we give stuff away freely, we just do not have adequate faith. If we believe in the promise of God and lead ourselves accordingly, we can live an example and what better witness that would make!
Its good to be light hearted and humorous but when it comes to demonstrating the stories of the Bible, we must show reverence and fear. Although the entire place is supposed to be about God, at times the humor is almost mocking the grandeur and holiness of God, IMO. I had to keep my drivers license as guarantee for a wheel chair. I asked them why dont they rent one like in Disney or Universal or charge a security deposit, for which they claimed that people steal the wheel chairs ( they have gun toting / taser wielding security in two areas of the entrance, and they claim they cannot stop a wheel chair being pocketed and whisked off). Even if, a person steals a wheel chair, is it not from money that was sent by generous godly people. Surely the money would go to help a crippled / disabled person and is of use to somebody. The person that steals might eventually reform, God willing, and that would achieve the objective of bringing souls to Christ as an example. TBN seems to be run by shallow people who aim to make money out of innocent sheep guiled into believing that they are supporting a genuine Christ centered enterprise. By mistrusting its clients, TBN shows its inner nature and insecurity which is definitely not Christlike. Have we not been warned not to judge others. I am sorry for my comments, I am not judging you all, but am merely venting out my feelings. I am sure that God will bless your efforts. In order to improve our experience, it would be better if they had tickets with specific times / itinerary, the crowds for the exhibits and shows would be better controlled and managed providing everybody an opportunity to enjoy their experience in relative calmness and comfort. For the shows we had to go, it was first come first served and there was a rushing and pushing making it even harder for folks with wheel chairs to gain access as the walkways and paths are quite crowded. Charge for access but ensure that the visitors get their moneys worth by allowing unlimited access to pictures / videos, after all the idea is to create a lasting memory / impression of the life / times of Christ. Make money by doing it unabashedly, but by depriving folks of the opportunity to take pictures, it is a dis-service.

IR

Iris Rivera

I wasnt quite sure about going to this place, but my husband wanted to go while we were on vacation in FL recently. The park has a beautiful landscape with lots of fake animals and biblical characters. Its okay. The inside is filled with beautiful mirrors everywhere (including the restrooms). There are lots of angels all around the park and lots of peacock birds. The first show we caught was the one with Aaron the priest, about the Tabernacle and the Arch of the Covenant. I wasnt too impressed with it because the first 15-20 minutes you watch a video on two small screen televisions (to the right and left of the room. My son was visually impaired, so he couldnt really see much. Then, we finally saw some action when Aaron the priest began to explain the Tabernacle and everything else. Then we caught the Gifts of the Holy Spirit show. It was nice. We enjoyed it, especially toward the then when they start praying for healing and to receive the Holy Spirit. They really minister as if they are ministering in a church. The park has little snack shacks every where and it also has a restaurant where you can seat inside or outside. The menu was from Chick-Filet. The whole place is painted and decorated in gold and silver. Its not the real Holy Land where Jesus was actually born (lets be realistic), but at least one can appreciate all the hard work that the Crouchs put in it to have something close to home, such as the Holy Land Experience, where you can come a little closer to what it really was like in Jerusalem when Jesus was on earth. Clearly, this is not the real experience; its another theme park, peoples! This one happens to have a Christian base theme. For my $50, I got exactly what I paid for. I enjoyed the Passion of the Christ play. Yes, its true you need to exit out if your child is screaming or crying loud, but then again, who can enjoy a play when someone in the public is doing something that annoys you or wont let you enjoy the drama. No offense to the young mothers who really want to enjoy the same experience. I completely understand if you find this offensive and unwelcoming. I dont think they mean this in a disrespectful way, but mature Christians do understand. My overall experience was great. I gave it five stars because I did have a good time, awesome ministry and got to learn a lot from each show. I felt the presence of God in all the shows I attended. Clearly, you could see and discern that all the characters that played in The Passion work with the desire to be used by the Holy Spirit to touch peoples life in many different ways. To me, it wasnt just a theme park, it was also ministry. Everyone involved in this theme park, whether in the gift shop, the snack shacks, guards, etc., everyone was friendly, respectful, helpful and they wanted to be involved with the public some how just to minister or take pictures. I know some folks werent all that thrilled and just gave one star because they were expecting a much real experience to the Holy Land, but come on, peoples, its Orlando! Its not the real Jerusalem! Appreciate the fact that we can do this in this country and have a mere glimpse of what the real thing is. I loved it! Thanks Crouch Family! Keep moving forward!

CA

Carol Psaute

My 8 year old son who has Down syndrome has seen the commercials on TV and really wanted to visit to see "pretend actor Jesus" so we went (from California). When we did see "pretend Jesus" he was praying for people and there was a line. We were near the end and my son participated with laying hands on the people before us or holding our hands out and praying...hes quite familiar with that from praying at our church. When it was our turn, "pretend Jesus" asked if there was anything my son needed prayer for. I explained that we have been praying that his speech would be more understandable. He prayed for that and then asked if there was anything else. I said he has some GI problems that we would like healing for. He asked if there was anything else...I said that I used to pray for healing from Down syndrome, but Im no longer sure that needs healed (Im not sure people with Down syndrome dont have a closer connection with God than we do...after all original sin was eating from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and Jesus told us that we need to become like children to enter the kingdom)..."Pretend Jesus" then said that we should pray for healing and he has a friend who was healed of Down syndrome and he began to pray over my son, loudly rebuking things. At that point, my son ran away and said "Jesus yelled at me!". It took me several hours to calm him down and he was fairly traumatized. He brought it up again today (a month later) so it really affected him. I wrote it in my review of the park and left my name and have not heard from the park. I am highly disappointed that someone would act that inappropriately with a child with special needs. My son is used to praying and being prayed for, just not yelling and I was shocked that this would happen. It also felt uncomfortable that we were forced to stay through the end of shows if we went in at all. Having ushers blocking the isles for exit is not right. Children were also not allowed to sit in the front section for the shows in the Church of the Nations and were required to sit on the sides and in the back. This doesnt seem right since Jesus said "Let the children come unto me and forbid them not..." I was also disappointed with all the sequins and mirrors. I would have enjoyed a more authentic representation. We didnt get to the scriptorium, but I would have enjoyed spending more time at the replica of Jerusalem, but my son had escaped into the gift shop so I only had time to take a picture. The kids show that we saw was filled with humor that was over my sons head and fairly hokey. The bathroom in the church of nations that is all mirrors is just creepy although my son enjoyed it.

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