Titanic Museum Features Movie’s Costumes for 20th Anniversary

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Who could forget “Iceberg right ahead!” and “I’ll never let go, Jack” from James Cameron’s iconic Titanic movie? In honor of the Titanic movie’s 20th anniversary, the Titanic Museum For a limited time, attractions in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and Branson, Missouri, will feature actual movie costumes. If you can’t catch the new exhibits, don’t worry there’s still plenty to see at the Titanic Museum. The museum does a wonderful and careful job of telling the real-life stories of the crew and passengers aboard the RMS Titanic. You can even touch an iceberg.

Titanic Museum Attraction

I remember waiting in line at Blockbuster 20 years ago when James Cameron’s movie Titanic came out on video. It was a double-VHS collector’s edition and I couldn’t wait to buy it.

And I wasn’t disappointed! The Titanic movie put faces and names and a real feel for what it was like to be on board the RMS Titanic.  Jack Dawson and Rose Dewitt Bukater were fictional characters, but their story highlighted the humanity in the tragedy.

The Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee does just that, and I was so impressed when I experienced it. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Titanic movie, actual costumes from the movie will be part of the exhibit summer 2017.

When Will the Movie Costumes Be On Display at the Titanic Museum?

You can see the Titanic movie costumes on display at the Titanic Museum Attraction for a limited time.

The Titanic Museum Attraction located in Branson, MO will feature the costumes March 1-June 11th, 2017.

See the costumes at the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge June 17th, 2017 until Labor Day.

What Mirrors the Movie at the Titanic Museum?

The Titanic Museum Attraction does an amazing job of telling the true stories of those aboard the ship. And as the movie also paid such close attention to details on board Titanic, they’re bound to intersect.

Here’s what reminded me of the movie:

• Stand at a locked gate and watch a third class stairwell fill with water as the lights flicker, as portrayed in the movie.
• A “Heart of the Ocean” style necklace peeked out of a jewelry box on a dresser in the first class stateroom replica. (The necklaces are also for sale in the gift shop.)
• A few somber melodies from the movie play as you walk through a few of the display rooms.
• Walk through a replica of a first class hallway and up the stairs at the beautiful grand staircase, built to scale.
• The Bridge, aka captain’s quarters, resembles the movie with its wheel and engine room telegraphs.
• There is a beautiful room with a grand piano dedicated to the musicians on board the ship. I noticed sheet music for “Nearer My God To Thee” on the piano. This is the song string musicians were allegedly playing as the ship went down.

For pictures and more details of the grand staircase and the musician’s room, visit Storytelling Traveling Mom’s post: Titanic Museum Attraction Pigeon Forge Brings Stories to Life

What Else is Special About The Titanic Museum Attraction?

The names of every single passenger and crew member on board the Titanic is known and many of their stories are told, pets included.

As you enter the museum, you are given a boarding pass with information about a real passenger. The card includes their name, age, class, where they were from and who they were.

At the end of the tour in the Memorial Room, search for your passenger’s name on the Memorial Wall, where every name is listed. Some survived the tragedy aboard the RMS Titanic, but many died.

I had several moments where I covered my mouth and put my hand on my heart and said “ohhh,” especially when I saw pictures of children and infant passengers. The whole museum is a moving experience, so give yourself plenty of time to absorb it.

Are Real Artifacts in the Titanic Museum Attraction?

Truthfully, I was only expecting a few nuts and bolts, but there was so much more. I remember multiple White Star Line dishes and utensils, a promenade deck chair, passenger belongings like a pocket watch and handwritten journal pages from passengers. Also, I remember a carpet section from C deck and wood pieces from the infamous Grand Staircase. More than 400 authentic artifacts are on display valued over $4 million.

It was moving to see the differences in accommodations between first class and third class. This was something I already knew from historical accounts and the movie, but seeing it up close was something else.

I loved looking at the “dollhouse” views of the ship’s anatomy on small scale models. There are several places to do this throughout the museum. When you push a button, a specific portion of the ship will light up and you can learn more about it.

What Are Kid Favorites at the Titanic Museum Attraction?

The kids will not be bored! My guys loved “scooping coal into a boiler.” A shovel with attached coal touches a sensor on a small boiler unit that lights up orange and makes a big burning sound effect.

We read the sign on the wall and learned that it took 325 men in round-the-clock shifts to power the Titanic.

We also stopped to listen to costumed “crew” employees give accounts and timelines of what happened.

I even tried standing on the “sloping decks” with them. There are 3 small ship decks at 3 different angles, representing the timeline of the sinking. It was so interesting to learn how quickly things changed on Titanic in the span of 28 minutes. See a picture of that exhibit here on the Titanic Museum website.

There is a children’s area with a big captain’s wheel where they can steer the ship in a video game, put together a Titanic wall puzzle or play at a small Lego table.

What Can You Touch at the Titanic Museum Attraction?

As you step through the door to exit the captain’s quarters, you come nose to nose with an iceberg. You are welcome to touch it, which was a pretty somber thing for me after all that we had seen up to that point.

The room is very cold as you might expect. Signs along the deck directed us to stick our hands into buckets of 28-degree water, the water temperature the night Titanic sank.

If you don’t leave here with amazement, compassion, and sorrow for every soul on board the Titanic, you are a robot. You might visit to see cool stuff from the movie, but you’ll leave with so much more.

Have you ever been to the Titanic Museum? What meant the most to you?