Disney World - The Online Guide

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2003
(UK customers)

Holy Land Attractions

THE JOURNEY:
The Holy Land Experience really begins when guests drive through the themed Roman-arch entrance and take their first look at the lushly landscaped grounds and the architectural transformation that has taken place in the heart of Florida’s vacation wonderland. Giant date palms, some towering 30 feet over the “centuries-old” city, are interspersed with olive trees, Jerusalem Thorn trees used for the crown during Christ’s crucifixion, Italian Cypress, pomegranate and fig trees, aloe plants (the oil from which was used to prepare the body of Jesus for entombment), acacia trees, oleanders, and a variety of unusual grasses that help to create an arid environment in specific areas.

The Jerusalem Street Market
When guests enter The Holy Land Experience from the parking area through the Jerusalem City Gate they immediately leave the 20th century behind and find themselves totally immersed in a thriving, colorful, and fascinating first-century A.D. street market. The authenticity is enhanced with Middle Eastern music, village craftsmen, themed shops -- including The Old Scroll Shop, which offers a large selection of genuine biblical artifacts, Bibles, books, and gifts -- and costumed dramatists, punctuated with taped background sounds.

The Wilderness Tabernacle
Exiting the street market, guests are transported back in time to circa 1450 B.C. A colorful, authentic-looking Bedouin tent beckons them inside and provides pertinent pre-show information for the dramatic Wilderness Tabernacle. The interior creates the illusion of being outdoors at dusk, and guests find themselves among the 12 tribes of Israel making camp during their long journey to the Promised Land.
Suddenly, the entrance to the adjoining Wilderness Tabernacle building materializes from the darkness and guests are directed inside for a 20-minute, sit-down, fully automated multi-media presentation, a dramatic and biblically accurate look at Israel’s ancient priesthood and their sacrificial system. The tabernacle -- which is recreated in three-quarter scale within the show building -- was a mobile temple that provided a place for God to dwell among the Israelites during their 40 years of wandering through the desert. The Wilderness Tabernacle presentation is shown two times each hour, and is the most technologically advanced production in The Holy Land Experience.

Qumran Dead Sea Caves
Upon leaving The Wilderness Tabernacle presentation, guests will find a unique sandstone-like structure that used more than 500,000 pounds of concrete in its creation, a detailed scale recreation of the Qumran Caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were hidden by the Essenes -- an ancient Jewish religious sect -- during the first century A.D. and not discovered until 1947 on the western side of the Dead Sea.

Calvary’s Garden Tomb
The narrow path that guests find themselves on is the Via Dolorosa (the “way of suffering”), the street that Jesus walked on His way to Calvary to die on the cross. As they move from one area to another throughout the complex, the music and the atmosphere change. At the end of the path guests find a beautifully landscaped and tranquil garden, but it is the tomb carved into the garden bedrock -- a replication of the actual tomb of Jesus near Jerusalem -- that attracts their attention. The stone that once sealed the tomb has been rolled to the side, exposing the empty tomb. Inside the tomb guests can pray, read the Scriptures, and reflect on the stirring events surrounding them. Throughout the day dramatists and/or musicians depict the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

Plaza of the Nations/The Temple of the Great King/Theater of Life
Leaving the Garden Tomb, guests pass under a regal archway and find themselves in the spectacular Plaza of the Nations, surrounded by 30 columns crowned with golden Corinthian capitals and facing the majestic and splendorous six-story-high Temple of the Great King, a one-half-scale representation of Herod’s Temple which stood upon hallowed Mount Moriah in first-century Jerusalem. It was in that Temple that Jesus reasoned with the Pharisees and scribes as a boy. Sixteen spectacular oil lamps are suspended over guests in the Plaza, and in the afternoon the sun reflects off the simulated white Jerusalem limestone and golden filigree of the Temple. In the evening, floodlights bathe the Temple’s exterior, creating an ambience that is both reverential and peaceful.
The 13 rounded steps that are the Temple’s main entrance provide a dramatic venue for on-going sacred concerts and biblical drama reenactments.
From the Plaza of the Nations, guests enter The Temple of the Great King’s “Theater of Life” through a side queuing entrance, to be seated for a 20-minute emotionally immersing film presentation, “The Seed of Promise,” shot on location in Jerusalem exclusively for The Holy Land Experience and enhanced with a variety of special effects. The large-screen presentation, which can accommodate 170 guests per seating, opens with Roman soldiers battering down the massive door of the Temple, while fire rages across the screen. The film also includes scenes from creation and the Garden of Eden, Abraham’s unquestioning response to God, the crucifixion, resurrection, and second coming of Christ and much more.

The Byzantine Cardo/Jerusalem Model A.D. 66
Guests exit the Theater of Life onto the Byzantine Cardo (the main Byzantine Road) and are directed to the nearby structure that houses the world’s largest indoor model of first-century Jerusalem. The 45-foot-long by 25-foot-wide model is a historically authentic reproduction of the city of Jerusalem, circa A.D. 66, including the ancient Temple of Jerusalem as it had been rebuilt by King Herod the Great while the city was under Roman rule. Live 30-minute presentations detailing the history of the city and the movements of Jesus during the last week of his life, leading up to Calvary, are presented daily around the model.

The Oasis Palms Café
The 120-seat Oasis Palms Café, centrally located, is open during regular Holy Land Experience operating hours and offers a wide variety of American and Middle Eastern food items—many of which are themed to the historical and geographical setting, including the “Thirsty Camel Cooler” and “Goliath Burger.” The Arabian-themed restaurant, featuring tapestries and Middle Eastern artifacts with a 25-foot-high domed and timbered ceiling, seats 60 people inside and another 60 outside for al-fresco dining overlooking the beautifully landscaped Oasis Lagoon. Authentic lamps light the restaurant’s interior, creating a sense of history, and water splashes from a well in the center of the restaurant and flows outside through the wall. In addition to the Oasis Palms Café, colorfully themed food and beverage carts are located throughout the property.

Bible Study
Every Thursday night The Holy Land Experience hosts a non-denominational, free-to-the-public Bible study at 7:30 P.M.

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