return to the holy land
On Saturday, I visited The Holy Land Experience with my friends Johnnier and Elisabeth. We picked the busiest day of the week and the busiest time of the day to arrive, that way it would be easier to blend with the crowds and we'd be less likely to get kicked out.
We enjoyed our time there a lot, but there were also a whole bunch of strange elements to the experience. I think the saddest thing was that there was no life in the eyes of the employees. I didn't talk to a single one who seemed "free" in their spirit. There's also fear with the employees. Very few wanted to be in pictures with us, and those who did hop into the shot were very specific that they didn't want the pictures published on Facebook lest they lose their jobs. I absolutely hate the fact that, through intimidation, TBN turns me into a weapon against some very innocent people. Hate it!
The good stuff is that the weather was great all day! Also, Johnnier and Elisabeth were great company. We prayed that God would blind the eyes of anyone wanting to kick us out, and we managed to avoid trouble. We got free tickets because of a hospitality discount program we're part of. I got to talk with my favorite Bible boys for a while. The southern gospel concert was really encouraging. And we hugged Doris and Heidi tons!
TBN totally and completely redid the landscaping, and it's okay looking, I guess. However, the difference is that now you can see the parking lot, Vineland Road, and the freeway ... it feels like you're in the middle of Orlando instead of in a cool immersion vacation experience. The perceived value is less.
Strange stuff at the Holy Land includes how everything has gone purple! The carpets, the walls, the flowers, the fabrics, the cafe interior, etc. And then the Shofar Shop seems to have had a name change to the Sequin Shop. Everything has sequins on it and glitters like a trashy prom date! It would be interesting in small amounts, but the sequins encrusted on every single scrap of fabric are just gross! There are big-screen flat panel TVs in every room, and two or three in some ... this includes the cafe, breakrooms, waiting areas, guest services, offices ... and all of them are tuned to TBN. Crazy!
Custodial and security were two of the departments laid off, right? Well, their replacements sure are different from each other! The security contractors dress in smart uniforms, wear Smokey Bear hats, and are totally professional ... they only guard the gates, however ... no security inside. The custodial contractors wear holey gray t-shirts that probably had words at one time or another, pants are whatever the heck they want, and they slouch around and steal stuff.
Because of layoffs, it's virtually impossible to find a team member in the park to ask a question to. The food cart people are one per cart and they don't get breaks ... so they're kind of unavailable. And nobody else is around.
One of our main purposes there was to watch Ancient Festivals of the Biblical World, my favorite show. Well, it seems that there's a contract group of dancers working with the Holy Land ... they do a rap/DJ pre-show for the kids' thing, they do pre-show dancing for Ancient Festivals, and they are also in Ancient Festivals, sort of. Ancient Festivals would be going as normal, then suddenly these little gymnast people would spring onto the stage in modern dance attire and do all sorts of spins and leaps and wiggling on the stage. "Lord Have Mercy" was packed with little angel-demon dancers ... I think their only purpose was to distract from the real presentation going on. They grimaced and rolled around on the stage and looked for all the world like they were burning in hell ... but wearing white and gold.
The weirdest part was during "Shalom Jerusalem," a somber and slow kind of song, where the Hebrew people are expressing gratitude that God accepted their sacrifice and would cover their sins for another year. So they were singing, then *wham* there was a male dancer on the stage, covered in what looked like feathers or rags! He was twirling and leaping and whipping his hands around, out of sequence with the music. "What is he supposed to be?" we kept whispering to each other. Our best guesses were Bird, Demon, Peace, or Phoenix. Later in the day, our friend Michael accosted us and we asked him. "It's the Holy Spirit! Hallelujah!" he told us joyfully. Ummm.... Okay. Holy Spirit. Really?
Unfortunately, some of the team members have been drinking the Kool-Aid, or so it would seem. One of the most discouraging things happened when we ran into one of the landscaping guys right as we were leaving. He had a shoulder injury, and Johnnier asked how he'd hurt it. "I hurt it under the old administration, back when I had to run this entire park by myself. You know, back under that $1.50 budget," he answered bitterly. We were really taken aback! It's understandable that team members would choose to be pro-TBN administration, but why would they be anti-Herschend administration, or anti-Sola administration, or anti-Rosenthal administration? The past is the past, but the past was also good. C'mon!
If you'd like to see more pictures, I put together an album of 50 or so pictures here on Facebook. Enjoy!
We enjoyed our time there a lot, but there were also a whole bunch of strange elements to the experience. I think the saddest thing was that there was no life in the eyes of the employees. I didn't talk to a single one who seemed "free" in their spirit. There's also fear with the employees. Very few wanted to be in pictures with us, and those who did hop into the shot were very specific that they didn't want the pictures published on Facebook lest they lose their jobs. I absolutely hate the fact that, through intimidation, TBN turns me into a weapon against some very innocent people. Hate it!
The good stuff is that the weather was great all day! Also, Johnnier and Elisabeth were great company. We prayed that God would blind the eyes of anyone wanting to kick us out, and we managed to avoid trouble. We got free tickets because of a hospitality discount program we're part of. I got to talk with my favorite Bible boys for a while. The southern gospel concert was really encouraging. And we hugged Doris and Heidi tons!
TBN totally and completely redid the landscaping, and it's okay looking, I guess. However, the difference is that now you can see the parking lot, Vineland Road, and the freeway ... it feels like you're in the middle of Orlando instead of in a cool immersion vacation experience. The perceived value is less.
Strange stuff at the Holy Land includes how everything has gone purple! The carpets, the walls, the flowers, the fabrics, the cafe interior, etc. And then the Shofar Shop seems to have had a name change to the Sequin Shop. Everything has sequins on it and glitters like a trashy prom date! It would be interesting in small amounts, but the sequins encrusted on every single scrap of fabric are just gross! There are big-screen flat panel TVs in every room, and two or three in some ... this includes the cafe, breakrooms, waiting areas, guest services, offices ... and all of them are tuned to TBN. Crazy!
Custodial and security were two of the departments laid off, right? Well, their replacements sure are different from each other! The security contractors dress in smart uniforms, wear Smokey Bear hats, and are totally professional ... they only guard the gates, however ... no security inside. The custodial contractors wear holey gray t-shirts that probably had words at one time or another, pants are whatever the heck they want, and they slouch around and steal stuff.
Because of layoffs, it's virtually impossible to find a team member in the park to ask a question to. The food cart people are one per cart and they don't get breaks ... so they're kind of unavailable. And nobody else is around.
One of our main purposes there was to watch Ancient Festivals of the Biblical World, my favorite show. Well, it seems that there's a contract group of dancers working with the Holy Land ... they do a rap/DJ pre-show for the kids' thing, they do pre-show dancing for Ancient Festivals, and they are also in Ancient Festivals, sort of. Ancient Festivals would be going as normal, then suddenly these little gymnast people would spring onto the stage in modern dance attire and do all sorts of spins and leaps and wiggling on the stage. "Lord Have Mercy" was packed with little angel-demon dancers ... I think their only purpose was to distract from the real presentation going on. They grimaced and rolled around on the stage and looked for all the world like they were burning in hell ... but wearing white and gold.
The weirdest part was during "Shalom Jerusalem," a somber and slow kind of song, where the Hebrew people are expressing gratitude that God accepted their sacrifice and would cover their sins for another year. So they were singing, then *wham* there was a male dancer on the stage, covered in what looked like feathers or rags! He was twirling and leaping and whipping his hands around, out of sequence with the music. "What is he supposed to be?" we kept whispering to each other. Our best guesses were Bird, Demon, Peace, or Phoenix. Later in the day, our friend Michael accosted us and we asked him. "It's the Holy Spirit! Hallelujah!" he told us joyfully. Ummm.... Okay. Holy Spirit. Really?
Unfortunately, some of the team members have been drinking the Kool-Aid, or so it would seem. One of the most discouraging things happened when we ran into one of the landscaping guys right as we were leaving. He had a shoulder injury, and Johnnier asked how he'd hurt it. "I hurt it under the old administration, back when I had to run this entire park by myself. You know, back under that $1.50 budget," he answered bitterly. We were really taken aback! It's understandable that team members would choose to be pro-TBN administration, but why would they be anti-Herschend administration, or anti-Sola administration, or anti-Rosenthal administration? The past is the past, but the past was also good. C'mon!
If you'd like to see more pictures, I put together an album of 50 or so pictures here on Facebook. Enjoy!