I just saw a commercial for the ark encounter

[dawbs]

On mainstream TV.
I mean, it's crappy, middle of the day antenna mainstream TV that I'm watching at 3 pm because I'm home sick (Ion.  Some cop show.  Blue Bloods maybe?)--which has commercials that revolve around medical stuff, reverse mortgages, cash advances, etc.

But what the ever loving fuck?
(I am so glad this didn't exist when I was a kid; I'd have been taken there.   I should make a list of fundie places I've been on family vacations someday)
It did NOT sell it though...2 kids talking about the ark, then one kid standing next to an ark saying 'wow'.  It didn't make me want to go.  But I think it's not supposed to make kids want to go, I think it's supposed to make grandma want to take the kids.

[December]

38 minutes ago, dawbs said:

I should make a list of fundie places I've been on family vacations someday

Please do! I would be fascinated to read that, as well as anyone else's experiences in that same vein.

39 minutes ago, dawbs said:

But I think it's not supposed to make kids want to go, I think it's supposed to make grandma want to take the kids.

 

You hit the nail right on the head there.

Perhaps it's not as profitable as they were hoping for if they're needing to advertise on TV. Though you'd think their most plausible audience would already know about it through more direct channels (church, religious personalities, etc.).

[infooverload]

You hit the nail right on the head there.
Perhaps it's not as profitable as they were hoping for if they're needing to advertise on TV. Though you'd think their most plausible audience would already know about it through more direct channels (church, religious personalities, etc.).

I heard somewhere they are trying to fundraise for the Ark Encounter to have another exhibit. If the park is so "successful" why are they needing to fundraise. Also not a single business has opened near the park from what I've heard. I would be interested to hear a Kentucky residents take on the park. Does anyone know what the current attendance numbers are?

[Stormy]

I heard it's super lame. There were a lot of folks protesting the grand opening and even they were a bit disappointed. The Thinking Atheist podcast chronicled a lot of what went down.

Especially tragic with a gem like this:

 

[Four is Enough]

Why is the announcer speaking in a British accent?

[infooverload]

Why is the announcer speaking in a British accent?

I was wondering the same thing. Also from what I've heard there are hardly any animals at said Ark Encounter.

[anjulibai]

That was British? It sounded....off. 

It really does sound like a lame attraction. I wonder why it cost so much money. 

[infooverload]

That was British? It sounded....off. 
It really does sound like a lame attraction. I wonder why it cost so much money. 

My theory as to why it costs so much money is; it is something to try and prop up the Creation Museum which has seen a dwindling in attendance numbers.

[Childless]

Of course both have terrible attendance.  First of all, their target audience can barely afford the travel, lodging, and admittance fees.  Second, if they can afford it, once you've gone you've seen it.  There's no reason to go back.  It's not like there are rotating exhibits as there would be in a normal museum or interesting activities for kids like there would be at a children's museum.  Third, it's out in the middle of nowhere Kentucky.  Kentucky itself is not a big tourist destination (save for the derby once a year) and when you're talking about the middle of nowhere, that makes it worse.  You'll most likely only pick up people who can drive there and back in a day.  The whole endeavor was poorly planned and poorly executed.

[Peas n carrots]

I went there with another fundie watching friend a few months ago. OMG that place was a snooze and admission was pricey to boot! Unfortunately it was also packed. But can I say again how boring it was...even the True Believers looked bored. There were loads of Amish there, and the teen Amish (perhaps on rumspringa) were mostly hanging outside shooting the breeze.

The structure itself is quite impressive, but I have doubts as to whether it is seaworthy.

On the other hand, we found the Creation Museum a better bang for the buck - far less expensive and far more entertaining than the Ark Encounter.

[Scrabblemaster]

Are these two dinosaurs? I thought fundies believe they were killed during the flood? Sorry if i am sounding stupid, maybe it is been discussed here, but what would the two animals which look like dinosaurs to me eat? Did god just decided they did not get hungry? 

Edit: or did noah only save herbivores? Maybe i will write a research paper using my bible 

[LadyCrow1313]

#FreeTheDinosaurs

#FreeTheSloths

Have they done any special commercials featuring some of our more well-known Fundie families? Among that set, I bet it'd increase attendance numbers. (Now that I really think about it, and since I'm not well versed in marketing strategies, that may not actually work. But what do I know.)

[VeganCupcake]

17 hours ago, dawbs said:

On mainstream TV.
I mean, it's crappy, middle of the day antenna mainstream TV that I'm watching at 3 pm because I'm home sick (Ion.  Some cop show.  Blue Bloods maybe?)--which has commercials that revolve around medical stuff, reverse mortgages, cash advances, etc.

But what the ever loving fuck?
(I am so glad this didn't exist when I was a kid; I'd have been taken there.   I should make a list of fundie places I've been on family vacations someday)
It did NOT sell it though...2 kids talking about the ark, then one kid standing next to an ark saying 'wow'.  It didn't make me want to go.  But I think it's not supposed to make kids want to go, I think it's supposed to make grandma want to take the kids.

LMAO I'd have been taken there too! I vaguely remember some sort of Christian park I was dragged to as a kid, I wish I could remember the name to find their website and laugh (if they're stilll operating). I think it may have been dinosaur themed? And had different activity stations where you go through and the staff preaches at you while you play the games. I wonder if anyone on here knows what I'm talking about. I believe it was located in Alabama? 

[mirele]

25 minutes ago, VeganCupcake said:

LMAO I'd have been taken there too! I vaguely remember some sort of Christian park I was dragged to as a kid, I wish I could remember the name to find their website and laugh (if they're stilll operating). I think it may have been dinosaur themed? And had different activity stations where you go through and the staff preaches at you while you play the games. I wonder if anyone on here knows what I'm talking about. I believe it was located in Alabama? 

Are you sure it wasn't Kent Hovind's Dinosaur Adventure Land, which operated until about 2006 in Pensacola, Florida (and not that far from Alabama)? It sounds like the place.

For the record, Kent went to prison in 2007 for failure to pay Social Security taxes for his employees (who he classified as "missionaries"), structuring and obstructing the IRS. He got out in 2015 and went back to Pensacola. In the middle of last year, his long-suffering wife Jo (who went to prison for a year on the aforementioned structuring charges) filed for and got a divorce. By that time, Kent was packing up to move to rural Alabama, where a supporter had bought a former gravel quarry for him to build a new Dinosaur Adventure Land. Kent also up and married anti-vaxxer (and divorced woman) Mary Tocco. At that point, he lost a number of supporters because remarrying after divorce was a bridge too far for them.  And yes, I know far too much about this particular fundie, but he's interesting to me because he has sovereign citizen tendencies on to of his *bizarre* young earth creationist beliefs. He makes Ken Ham look erudite, a scary thought.

[VeganCupcake]

49 minutes ago, mirele said:

Are you sure it wasn't Kent Hovind's Dinosaur Adventure Land, which operated until about 2006 in Pensacola, Florida (and not that far from Alabama)? It sounds like the place.

For the record, Kent went to prison in 2007 for failure to pay Social Security taxes for his employees (who he classified as "missionaries"), structuring and obstructing the IRS. He got out in 2015 and went back to Pensacola. In the middle of last year, his long-suffering wife Jo (who went to prison for a year on the aforementioned structuring charges) filed for and got a divorce. By that time, Kent was packing up to move to rural Alabama, where a supporter had bought a former gravel quarry for him to build a new Dinosaur Adventure Land. Kent also up and married anti-vaxxer (and divorced woman) Mary Tocco. At that point, he lost a number of supporters because remarrying after divorce was a bridge too far for them.  And yes, I know far too much about this particular fundie, but he's interesting to me because he has sovereign citizen tendencies on to of his *bizarre* young earth creationist beliefs. He makes Ken Ham look erudite, a scary thought.

Omg that's the place! That guy sounds insane. I didn't realize the place was run by fundies. I just googled and the stuff they "teach" at that park is extremely stupid, such as that the world was created 6,000 years ago. I have no idea how my intelligent, college-educated parents got sucked down the fundie rabbit hole. These people totally defy all logic and common sense. ETA I just found a picture online of Kent with Jim Bob! Wild. 

[Howl]

16 hours ago, Four is Enough said:

Why is the announcer speaking in a British accent?

You beat me to it! 

Also, the footage of the awed (credulous) visitors?    

This from the Ark Encounter web site: 

Quote

Once you make your way to the second deck, be on the lookout for the large cage containing the giraffe kind. Due to the length of their necks, these sculptures may look very different than expected. The animals on board the Ark Encounter were designed to resemble how each might have looked during Noah’s time, not how we are accustomed to seeing them.

Yeah, the giraffes have necks about the length of a horse's neck, because, HEY, they looked different in Noah's time. WTAF?  I sense that is just the tip of the bull shit iceberg. 

ETA:  

Quote

@mirele: For the record, Kent went to prison in 2007 for failure to pay Social Security taxes for his employees (who he classified as "missionaries"), structuring and obstructing the IRS. 

Jen Epstein Fishburne attended that trial and blogged about it.  She shows up in a July, 2015 article in Forbes magazine online!!!!!!! Again, I'm all, like,  WTAF, but for different reasons.  Evidence That Judge Did Not Call Kent Hovind's Crimes Worse Than Rape

Anyway, checking her FB page, she's all about grace, god, and hating Obama with heart, mind, body and soul and whatnot.  Jen is a flat earther (geocentrism!) and one of her leg humpers has posted a pic to prove it.  So, business as usual in Jen-World.   

[Childless]

16 minutes ago, Howl said:

You beat me to it! 

Also, the footage of the awed (credulous) visitors?    

This from the Ark Encounter web site: 

Yeah, the giraffes have necks about the length of a horse's neck, because, HEY, they looked different in Noah's time. WTAF?  I sense that is just the tip of the bull shit iceberg. 

Wouldn't that mean they have EVOLVED to possess the long necks they have today?  Did Ken Ham's fundie museum just support evolution?  

[mirele]

30 minutes ago, Howl said:

You beat me to it! 

Also, the footage of the awed (credulous) visitors?    

This from the Ark Encounter web site: 

Yeah, the giraffes have necks about the length of a horse's neck, because, HEY, they looked different in Noah's time. WTAF?  I sense that is just the tip of the bull shit iceberg. 

ETA:  

Jen Epstein Fishburne attended that trial and blogged about it.  She shows up in a July, 2015 article in Forbes magazine online!!!!!!! Again, I'm all, like,  WTAF, but for different reasons.  Evidence That Judge Did Not Call Kent Hovind's Crimes Worse Than Rape

Anyway, checking her FB page, she's all about grace, god, and hating Obama with heart, mind, body and soul and whatnot.  One of her leg humpers is a flat earther and has posted a pic to prove it.  So, business as usual in Jen-World.   

Confession time. I've met Jen Fishburne. Back in 2015, I went on vacation to Pensacola, where I thought I was going to see Kent Hovind retried on criminal contempt charges.  (They were dropped, so no trial.) Instead, I spent the week working with a documentary filmmaker who was doing interviews with people involved with Kent Hovind. Jen was in town and he talked her into coming out for an interview.

One of the things the Hovind supporters have harped on for years is the falsehood that Federal judge Margaret Casey Rodgers said Kent was "worse than a rapist" at his sentencing. That's flatly false. I've read the sentencing transcripts for both Kent and Jo Hovind, and the person who said that was Eric Hovind, at his mother's sentencing. Jen Fishburne was at Jo's sentencing in June 2007 and she was able to confirm this.

What I remember about the filming is that the lights made the room VERY HOT, I was sitting on the floor about eight feet away (out of view of the camera) and absolutely sweating to death. She was also not very happy with Kent and Eric Hovind and even sent them a letter telling them to cut out the insinuations that the judge had called Kent "worse than a rapist."

As for the faithful who believe this codswallop, neither the transcript nor Jen's eyewitness testimony has swayed them.

[PraiseDog]

I noticed on the sign "The Sloth Kind" it mentions fossils - I thought these 6000-y-o earth types didn't believe in fossils? Or at least don't believe they represent earlier forms of life. A Fundy co-worker years ago told me fossils were just placed in the ground by God for our entertainment. 

[Howl]

@mirele, thank you for this fascinating info! 

[Dandruff]

4 hours ago, LadyCrow1313 said:

#FreeTheDinosaurs

#FreeTheSloths

Have they done any special commercials featuring some of our more well-known Fundie families? Among that set, I bet it'd increase attendance numbers. (Now that I really think about it, and since I'm not well versed in marketing strategies, that may not actually work. But what do I know.)

Shouldn't the Lord be providing visitors without the need to spend money on "of the world" advertising?  Are they lacking in faith?

A number of our favorite fundies ("OFF") have posted about their visits on Instagram though.  I imagine they're more than happy to spread the word among their brethren, and it's free.

I wonder whether Noah's family argued much about who got to shovel shit from which cages.  I could see this becoming a topic of great debate among them.  Skunks vs. dinosaurs, vultures vs. lions, etc.  Did the Lord provide animal tranquilizer and/or digestive aids?  Was anyone prone to seasickness?  What was the family's mental state when they left the Ark?

 

[CTRLZero]

9 minutes ago, Dandruff said:

I wonder whether Noah's family argued much about who got to shovel shit from which cages.  I could see this becoming a topic of great debate among them.  Skunks vs. dinosaurs, vultures vs. lions, etc.  Did the Lord provide animal tranquilizer and/or digestive aids?  Was anyone prone to seasickness?  What was the family's mental state when they left the Ark?

These are all great questions and would be extremely educational and enlightening.  I might pay to see exhibits regarding the "reality" of what went on during the voyage and the follow-up.

 

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

20 minutes ago, Dandruff said:

What was the family's mental state when they left the Ark?

"Get me the *!#! out of here! The only animals I want to see for the next 50 years are the ones cooked for my supper!" Maybe?

[Peas n carrots]

Yah there were some explanations about how there were dinos on the Ark but they were baby dinos and something about being underfed or their food kept them from growing? I have no idea I was bored, hot and it was crowded. The one thing that made me happy was the majority of young kids appeared to be bored and were fucking around. I want to say admission was about $40 for an adult? You can buy a pass that gets you into the Creation Museum for $60 and it saves you a few bucks.

More photos

[Swamptribe]

Didn't the Duggars visit Hovid at one point?  Swear I saw pictures of them hanging out with him.