The Holy Land Experience Theme Park recreated the architecture and themes of the ancient city of Jerusalem in 1st- century. The parked opened in 2001 which would allow people to experience Israel as it was in Jesus’ time. The theme park cost $16 million to open.
“We hope all visitors will come and see the majesty of God. Or at least go home and dust off their Bibles,”
The grand opening received national publicity some generated by Jewish activists who said the Holy Land Experience was designed to covert Jews.
Irv Rubin, chair of the Jewish Defense League, compared the theme park to the Holocaust.
Rubin was arrested, a short time later, on charges that he conspired to bomb a mosque in California and the office of a US Congressman (Rubin died by suicide in 2002 while awaiting trial in a Los Angeles prison.
The Holy Land Experience could not break even. It just cost more to run. By 2007, the park was $8 million in debt.
The theme park was saved by Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). They bought the Holy Land Experience in 2007. They planned to use it as a studio and a set for new television productions.
In the first year, they laid off about a quarter of the staff and outsourced some of the more expensive maintenance, including cleaning and landscaping. They increased the number of visitors by about 25 percent, up dated some of the attractions, and added brand new ones. Visitors could now get their picture taken so it looked like they were walking on water with an actor portraying Jesus. And they could also play mini putt.
Unfortunately the Holy Land Experience still required lots and lots of cash. In 2010, TBN put more than $40 million into it. In 2011, another $23 million. In 2012, TBN stopped raising money with telethons, after much criticism of the fundraising practice, and cut support to the theme park to about $2 million per year.
Sadly ticket sales started falling. From About 250,000 visitors, it dropped to 180,000 paying adults in 2013 and then just continued to decline. Tax records show nearly $9 million in ticket sales in 2014 dropped to $8.5 million the next year, and down to $7.1 million the year after that.
Ticket sales dropped to $5.5 million in 2018 and then plummeted in 2020. Attendance was down by about 50 percent before COVID-19, and then the park was shut down by the pandemic in August 2021. It was then sold to a health care company for over 30 million dollars. They have plans to redevelop the property and build a health care service buildings. The replica of ancient Jerusalem was the world's largest indoor model of first-century Jerusalem. This 25-foot-wide model is meant to represent Jerusalem circa AD 66. This property is not open to the public anymore. We had special permission.
ABANDONED Controversial Theme Park Near Disney World. Explore # 121
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2nd Model pic: Ken storey
0:00 - 0:30 Holy Land Commercial clip
0:30 - 0:50 Sneak Peak
0:50 - 1:27 Intro
1:27 - 6:30 History of Holy Land Experience
6:30 - 13:05 Exploring the Theme Park
13:05 - 14:11 Worlds largest indoor model of Jerusalem
14:11 - 18:37 Exploring the Theme Park
18:37 - 21:12 Mini-Putt
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