Holy Land Theme Park...with Herod's Temple!


I was in Orlando this weekend visiting my girlfriend. We went several places like Disney World, etc. We did not go nor had any wish to, but apparently in Orlando (not near or related to Disney in any way, shape, or form) is apparently the Holy Land Experience. Yes, that's right...it is a theme park about the Holy Land.

Hey, I can't make this stuff up.

We were driving to Disneyworld proper and passed by this little beauty which can be seen from the interstate. I said something (in jest) about it looking like Herod's Temple. I figured it must be some sort of a casino or something. My girlfriend grinned and said, "That's because it is Herod's Temple!" On our way back, I snapped a picture of it. A recreation of Herod's Temple: ritually sacrificial fun for the whole family.

We didn't stop to ask, but I doubt they actually did temple sacrifice. One can only hope at least. I googled it when I got home and, sure enough, its a Holy Land theme park. It reminds me of an eerie combination of the satire site Landover Baptist.org and that weird chararacter bald guy from the book (and subsequent movie) Contact by Carl Sagan. In the book, the creepy bald inventor guy who lived in a jet plane who made his fortune by recreating Assyria into a themepark. The creepy dude's name was H.R. Haddon, which was a play on the name of a famous Assyrian King. A tribute to Carl Sagan's sense of humor.

Looking at the map on the website, I was particularly interested in the Oasis Palms restaurant. Nothing could be more refreshing than falafel and a smoothie after a hard day of tourist sacrifice and being forced to listen to the Shofar Auditorium. Sometimes life mirrors art, i suppose.

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