Titanic Museum Prepares for 100th Year Anniversary of the Titanic's Demise
In May 1911, the RMS Titanic slid down Slipway No. 3 at the Queen's Yard of Harland & Wolff and settled on the waters of the Victoria Channel in Belfast, Ireland while more than 100,000 people looked on. At the time, she was the largest movable manmade object on the face of the planet. In the coming months, RMS Titanic would complete numerous successful sea trials with Irish workers and crew members on board.
To commemorate Titanic's Irish heritage, Titanic Museum Attractions in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. and Branson, Mo. will give away six 11-day trips for two to Belfast.
The 12 winners of the "Back to Titanic 100th Year 'Tour Ireland' Sweepstakes" will cruise to Belfast where they will visit the birthplace of the world's best-known, most luxurious ocean liner. Complete sweepstakes details can be found at www.TitanicAttraction.com.
It has been 99 years since a lookout in the crow's nest shouted, "Iceberg right ahead!" For the twelve months leading up to April 15, 2012, when it will have been a century since the RMS Titanic was lost, Titanic Museum Attractions will pay respect to and honor those 2,208 passengers and crew members with an ongoing series of special events, activities and ceremonies. As the whole world remembers the world's most famous luxury liner, Titanic Museum Attractions will continue to open the door to the past in it's one-of-a-kind way – letting "passengers" experience what it was like to walk the hallways, parlors, cabins and Grand Staircase of the Titanic while surrounded by more than 400 artifacts directly from the ship and its passengers. As visitors touch a real iceberg, walk the Grand Staircase and third class hallways, reach their hands into 28-degree water, and try to stand on the sloping decks, they learn what it was like on the RMS Titanic by experiencing it first-hand.
Each and every day, Titanic Museum Attractions provides a gateway to 1912, where First Class Maids and a variety of Officers and crew members bring the stories of the fabled ship and its fascinating passengers to life by retelling their stories in vivid, dramatic detail. The priceless artifacts throughout the museum shed additional light on the lives of those passengers and crew members when guests see the actual belongings of those on board and artifacts that sailed on Titanic's maiden voyage.
With special Titanic events taking place around the world during 2011 and 2012, Titanic Museum Attractions will be the epicenter of remembrance for RMS Titanic's passengers and crew. And, as the museum has demonstrated since its opening, the experience for guests will leave them amazed. The Titanic Museum Attractions will honor and respect the brave souls of the Titanic with the following events:
• To pay tribute to the birthplace of the RMS Titanic in Ireland, Titanic Museum Attractions will give away a total of six 11-day trips for two to Belfast, Ireland (where Titanic was built) at its Pigeon Forge, Tenn. and Branson, Mo. locations. The "Back to Titanic 100th Year 'Tour Ireland' Sweepstakes" begins June 13, 2011. All details are available online at www.TitanicAttraction.com and contestants can enter daily online. Winners will be announced Feb. 14, 2012.
• Beginning in July, Titanic Museum Attractions will allow every single guest who visits the museum to personally become involved in its special tribute to the passengers and crew by depositing a single rose petal into a container in the Memorial Gallery. On April 15, 2012 – exactly 100 years after the RMS Titanic was lost – each of the rose petals will be carefully laid onto the surface of the Atlantic Ocean directly where the Titanic sank.
• Beginning Aug. 1, 2011, couples will have the opportunity to have their wedding on the spectacular $1 million Grand Staircase of the Titanic. Future brides can enter to win their own "Royal Wedding" in April 2012. Titanic Museum Attractions will pay homage to the 12 honeymooning couples on board the RMS Titanic with its "Royal Wedding" contest. Online voting will select a winning couple to be married on the Grand Staircase.
• Many descendants of Titanic passengers and crew members will travel from all around the world to appear at Titanic Museum Attractions throughout 2011 and 2012, including descendants of Second Officer Charles Lightoller, the most senior crew member to survive the Titanic. Lightoller, whose family now lives in Ireland and Scotland, got away from the sinking ship in a collapsible life raft and was one of only four officers to survive.
• With the re-release of James Cameron's blockbuster "Titanic" movie in 3D on Friday, April 6, 2012, Titanic Museum Attractions will open a new gallery (at both the Pigeon Forge and Branson locations) featuring props and costumes on loan from collectors around the world in advance of the movie re-release.
• A number of television shows and documentaries to air during the coming year are currently in production featuring the RMS Titanic and Titanic Museum Attractions. ABC Television has commissioned a four-part miniseries and John Joslyn, owner of Titanic Museum Attractions, will re-release his Titanic television documentaries.
• On April 14 and 15, 2012, a two-day tribute ceremony will take place at Titanic Museum Attractions in Pigeon Forge and Branson. The solemn ceremony will culminate with a candlelight service and the lighting of an eternal flame which will burn all year to remind every visitor to the museum of the 2,208 brave souls who were onboard the RMS Titanic.
More details about all of these spectacular commemorative events will be released in coming months.
The Titanic Museum Attractions in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. opens daily at 9 a.m. Reservations are strongly suggested (many days sell out entirely). Passengers may purchase tickets online at www.TitanicAttraction.com or by phone at 800-381-7670.
Cedar Bay Entertainment, LLC owns and operates the Titanic Museum Attractions in Branson, Mo. Titanic Tennessee, LLC owns and operates the Titanic Museum Attractions in Pigeon Forge, TN. Both are privately owned-and-operated entertainment and development companies. Cedar Bay is headquartered in Branson, Mo., the site of its first Titanic Museum Attraction. Titanic Tennessee, LLC is headquartered in Pigeon Forge, TN.
Titanic Branson has welcomed more than 3 million guests, and Titanic Pigeon Forge boards approximately 100,000 "passengers" each month.
Published May 31, 2011
