A swarm of tourists surrounds the speedboat. This one, long hair, open linen shirt, sweaty forehead, smiles benignly. The cameras are shooting, but the man who is the subject of all this attention remains impassive. He’s used to it…and then, it’s not every day that we get the opportunity to take a selfie with Jesus.
What happens when you mix Disney and the New Testament? You get Holy Land Experience, a surreal amusement park located in Orlando, Florida, off the I-4 highway, which crosses the Sunshine State. Visitors begin by crossing a wall supposed to simulate the entrance to the ancient city of Jerusalem, guarded by actors dressed as legionnaires.
Inside, everything has been calibrated to imitate the ancient style: Greek columns, statues, Roman vases… Even if most of them are made of plaster and the whole thing, to the eyes of a specialist, looks more like an old Hollywood style set. Ben-Hur than a sacred place.
A Christian Disneyland
Opened in February 2001, the six-hectare complex mobilized certain architects from the Walt Disney World construction site, the most popular amusement park in the region, located thirty kilometers away. “It’s been 2,000 years since the world saw anything like this!”boasted the Holy Land Experience website (also ancient, but now inaccessible). Despite its façade of good faith, controversy arose on the first day of activity: demonstrators protested at the entrance to the biblical park, which they considered to be a disguised attempt to convert Jews to Christianity…
These accusations of proselytism did not prevent the company from prospering. Tourists quickly flock there to visit the tomb of the Lord, discover a model of Jerusalem frozen in the year 66 or decipher old parchments in cuneiform. No hair-raising rides here. We prefer musical representations or dramatizations of memorable scenes from the Bible. “Don’t expect to find a Jehovah’s coaster or a water slide on the Red Seawarned a tourist guide in 2011. This park is solely dedicated to spiritual thrills.”
From 2007, the Christian Disneyland became the property of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, an American giant of televangelists which broadcasts in more than 175 countries around the world. The park was $8 million in debt at the time of the transaction. The price of the entry ticket is therefore doubled and the promotion reinforced.
“Everyone wants to visit Israel and the Holy Land, walk in the footsteps of Jesus and see the places where he preached to the crowdsassured Mike Everett, general director of the park, in 2012. But the time and cost involved can prevent many people from taking this once-in-a-lifetime trip. We created Holy Land Experience, to offer people a very affordable opportunity to experience the beauty and wonder of the Holy Land without leaving their country.”
Closed in 2020, the park will not be resurrected
What do we discover, precisely, by walking around the grounds of the Christian amusement park? Depending on the mood of the moment, you can attend a musical about Moses, explore the caves of Qumran (reconstructed) where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, or marvel at the Lord giving sight to the blind.
Unquestionably, the star of the park remains Jesus Christ. Tourists can witness his crucifixion and resurrection twice a day and even join in the Last Supper, the last meal he had with his apostles (volunteers are then provided with a dose of grape juice to simulate the “blood of Christ”).
Apart from the program of performances, tourists have the opportunity to relax at the Oasis Springs café, which serves Middle Eastern specialties typical of Bethlehem: falafels, hummus, gyros… As for the shops, they offer a wide range of Bibles, crucifixes and santons for all budgets. “No one will treat you rudely or force you to participate in anything that makes you uncomfortable, but you can no more escape Christianity at Holy Land Experience than you can escape Mickey Mouse at Walt Disney World.”quipped the 2011 tourist guide.
In any case, there is not much left today of this Christian Disneyland. Undermined by financial scandals and fraud, the site closed its doors in March 2020 and was then destroyed, to the great regret of the faithful. During 2023, the monumental settings of the Holy Land Experience were cleared by excavators to make room for the construction of a clinic. Given the poor health of the U.S. medical system, it is likely that new miracle-seeking visitors will flock to the former Florida address of Jesus of Nazareth.
