Branson’s Titanic Museum Attraction blends family fun, deep meaning
Branson’s Titanic Museum Attraction could easily have been so cheesy. Instead, it’s respectful, even reverent, of the fact that over 1,500 lives were lost in the ship’s historic sinking on its maiden voyage April 14-15, 1912.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t an absolute ton of fun this summer vacation – especially for fans of writer-director James Cameron’s 1997 instant classic movie Titanic starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet – which won a record-tying 11 Academy Awards. In fact, you almost expect to see DiCaprio and Winslet embracing under the remarkable replica of the ship’s famous clock in the oaken Grand Staircase.
On a self-guided, audio-aided tour, you not only can chart the ship’s calamitous path toward destiny, and stand on a replica of its bridge, but you can also read poignantly about many of its passengers. Indeed, upon “boarding” (though it’s firmly on land, you’ll be glad to know) you’ll be issued the pass of one of the 2,240 real passengers and crew.
The soberness of even this fun passage into history hits you near the end, when you check on the wall to see if your passenger lived or died. You may find that you and visitors around you have taken a heartwarming personal interest in each of your passengers’ fates.
Feel how cold the killer North Atlantic water was; sit in an actual-size lifeboat and hear a Titanic tale; try standing on decks that simulate various stages of the ship’s sinking; and view more than $4 million in actual Titanic artifacts.
Nor is the attraction a static one. A special “Children of the RMS Titanic” exhibit opened in March 2023 to tell the untold story of the 135 minors aboard. And the museum, which also has a location in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, just recently purchased, at considerable cost, the “floating door” prop from the movie that saved Winslet’s character. (The balsa wood prop is based on real debris that was actually from above the door frame to the entrance of the ship’s first-class lounge.)
To add to the already deep meaning of the museum, as part of its tribute to children of the Titanic – some of whose shoes are now artifacts – the Titanic Museums in both Missouri and Tennessee have partnered with Samaritan’s Feet International to distribute shoes to the states’ children in need of them.
Branson’s Titanic Museum Attraction bills itself as the world’s largest remembrance of “the world’s most famous luxury liner.” It is, truly, an attraction to remember.
Tourist towns tend to have a few tourist traps. But while this town is like most tourist towns only more so, Branson’s Titanic Museum Attraction is anything but a tourist trap. It is, in and of itself, worth the trip to the country music mecca in the beautiful Ozark Mountains.
It’s maybe the most unique journey of fun and meaning you can embark on.
