Tag: John Joslyn

Well over 135,000 “passengers” have boarded the new Titanic Museum Attraction in just seven weeks

Posted by Rick Laney – June 9, 2010

Knoxville, Tenn. – The new Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. has been open for just two months and already more than 135,000 “passengers” have toured the painstakingly authentic recreation of the world’s most famous ship.

Titanic Museum Attraction in Tennessee

The world’s largest Titanic Museum Attraction, which is also the newest major attraction in the popular resort area surrounding the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is exceeding its business projections in all areas and sells completely out of tickets on most days. Because of the overwhelming response to the new museum, visitors are being urged to purchase tickets in advance or to make reservations by phone.

“I came down from Ohio specifically for the Titanic Museum Attraction,” said Amy Polczynski.  “I fully expected it to be amazing – but it far exceeded all of my expectations.  From the costumed crew members who meet you outside to the exact recreations of the grand staircase and first class suite, everything is so authentic.  It literally makes you feel as though you are standing on board the Titanic.

“In addition to the interior and exterior of the museum, the hundreds of actual Titanic artifacts that are on display are simply breathtaking.  To stand there and look at the actual master key that opened all of the first class suites, and the handwritten letters from those on board the ship, it just transports you back to 1912 – you feel like you are literally there.”

The Titanic Museum Attraction opened in April with a star-studded weekend-long Grand Opening hosted by Regis Philbin.  The event also featured numerous descendants and family members of those on board the Titanic and included a christening of the ship by Captain Edward J. Smith.

Titanic Museum Attraction is a half-scale, permanent, three-deck recreation of the Titanic.  The museum houses 20 galleries to display nearly 400 authentic, priceless Titanic artifacts that were either carried from the ship and into lifeboats by passengers and crew, or were found afloat soon after the sinking and quickly salvaged by rescue boats.

The Isidor and Ida Straus Suite at Titanic Museum Attraction

Inside the Titanic Museum Attraction, visitors find full-size recreations (built to actual Titanic blueprints) of Third-Class quarters, a First-Class suite, dining rooms and – the museum’s centerpiece – a $1 million exact reproduction of the Titanic’s Grand Staircase.  The First-Class suite in the Titanic Museum Attraction, which is dedicated to Isidor and Ida Straus who co-owned Macy’s Department Stores, was also the cabin used in James Cameron’s blockbuster movie Titanic as Rose’s suite.

“What we have created is special in so many ways,” said John Joslyn, co-owner of the Titanic Museum Attraction.  “It is truly a museum – with hundreds of priceless artifacts from the Titanic, but it is also an overall experience for our guests.  They get to talk to crew members and maids who know the detailed story of the ship and her passengers.  Visitors are able to touch an iceberg and feel the 28-degree water exactly as it was on that fateful night.

“While you’re visiting the Titanic Museum Attraction, you truly become a passenger on board the Titanic.  It’s a complete experience that honors and respects the ship and its passengers by keeping their stories alive.  It’s a one-of-a-kind place that you have to experience to fully understand.”

In addition to being a world class museum in the truest sense of the word, Titanic Museum Attraction is also highly interactive and offers a hands-on experience for children, teenagers and adults.  The ship is anchored in water to create the illusion of Titanic at sea, and a two-hour self-guided tour gives guests the sensation of sailing on the original ship’s 1912 maiden voyage. Upon entry, each guest receives a boarding pass bearing the name of an actual Titanic passenger or crew member whose fate is revealed on the Memorial Wall at tour end. Along the way, powerful emotions surface as guests:

  • Walk Titanic’s Grand Staircase
  • Touch the frozen surface of an “iceberg”
  • Feel the chill of that fateful “Starry Night”
  • Study some of the largest, most detailed Titanic models ever built
  • Grip the ship’s wheel and follow the Captain’s commands
  • Tour world-class galleries and the rare historical artifacts they hold
  • Sit in a Titanic lifeboat and listen to actual survivors tell their stories
  • Send an SOS from the Marconi Wireless Room
  • Test their balance while standing on mini-decks built to show the ever-steeper slope of Titanic as she sank
  • Watch children eight years and younger explore the special interactive Tot-Titanic Play-and-Learn Room
  • Dive to Titanic’s wreck site via spectacular underwater camera footage

The Titanic Museum Attraction – which is conveniently located to all areas of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville – is now open every day from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. ET.  Tickets are available online at www.TitanicPigeonForge.com and visitors are strongly urged to purchase tickets in advance or make reservations by calling 1-800-381-7670.

Cedar Bay Entertainment, which owns and operates Titanic Museum Attraction, is a privately owned entertainment and development company headquartered in Branson, Missouri, the site of Cedar Bay’s first Titanic Museum Attraction. Since its April 2006 grand opening, it has welcomed more than 2,200,000 guests.

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Media Contact
Rick Laney
(865) 584-0550
rlaney@ackermannpr.com

Titanic Museum Attraction welcomes 50,000 “passengers” in first three weeks of operation

Posted by Rick Laney – May 12, 2010

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee –   The new Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. has welcomed 50,000 “passengers” in its first 21 days of operation.  The world’s largest Titanic Museum Attraction, which is also the newest major attraction in the popular resort area surrounding the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is exceeding its business projections in all areas.

“What we have created is special in so many ways,” said John Joslyn, co-owner of the Titanic Museum Attraction.  “It is truly a museum – with hundreds of priceless artifacts from the Titanic, but it is also an overall experience for our guests.  They get to talk to crew members and maids who know the detailed story of the ship and her passengers.  Visitors are able to touch an iceberg and feel the 28-degree water exactly as it was on that fateful night.

“While you’re visiting the Titanic Museum Attraction, you truly become a passenger on board the Titanic.  It’s a complete experience that honors and respects the ship and its passengers by keeping their stories alive.  It’s a one-of-a-kind place that you have to experience to fully understand.”

Titanic Captain Edward Smith (Lowell Lytle) and Margaret "Molly" Brown’s great granddaughter Helen Benziger McKinney on the Titanic Museum Attraction’s Grand Staircase.

The Titanic Museum Attraction opened in April with a star-studded weekend-long Grand Opening hosted by Regis Philbin.  The event also featured numerous descendants and family members of those on board the Titanic and included a christening of the ship by Captain Edward J. Smith.

Titanic Museum Attraction is a half-scale, permanent, three-deck recreation of the Titanic.  The museum houses 20 galleries to display nearly 400 authentic, priceless Titanic artifacts that were either carried from the ship and into lifeboats by passengers and crew, or were found afloat soon after the sinking and quickly salvaged by rescue boats.

Inside the Titanic Museum Attraction, visitors find full-size recreations (built to actual Titanic blueprints) of Third-Class quarters, a First-Class suite, dining rooms and – the museum’s centerpiece – a $1 million exact reproduction of the Titanic’s Grand Staircase.  The First-Class suite in the Titanic Museum Attraction, which is dedicated to Isidor and Ida Straus who co-owned Macy’s Department Stores, was also the cabin used in James Cameron’s blockbuster movie Titanic as Rose’s suite.

In addition to being a world class museum in the truest sense of the word, Titanic Museum Attraction is also highly interactive and offers a hands-on experience for children, teenagers and adults.  The ship is anchored in water to create the illusion of Titanic at sea, and a two-hour self-guided tour gives guests the sensation of sailing on the original ship’s 1912 maiden voyage. Upon entry, each guest receives a boarding pass bearing the name of an actual Titanic passenger or crew member whose fate is revealed on the Memorial Wall at tour end. Along the way, powerful emotions surface as guests:

  • Walk Titanic’s Grand Staircase
  • Touch the frozen surface of an “iceberg”
  • Feel the chill of that fateful “Starry Night”
  • Study some of the largest, most detailed Titanic models ever built
  • Grip the ship’s wheel and follow the Captain’s commands
  • Tour world-class galleries and the rare historical artifacts they hold
  • Sit in a Titanic lifeboat and listen to actual survivors tell their stories
  • Send an SOS from the Marconi Wireless Room
  • Test their balance while standing on mini-decks built to show the ever-steeper slope of Titanic as she sank
  • Watch children eight years and younger explore the special interactive Tot-Titanic Play-and-Learn Room
  • Dive to Titanic’s wreck site via spectacular underwater camera footage

The Titanic Museum Attraction – which is conveniently located to all areas of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville – is now open every day from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. ET.  Tickets are available online at www.TitanicPigeonForge.com or by calling 1-800-381-7670 and visitors are urged to purchase tickets in advance.

Cedar Bay Entertainment, which owns and operates Titanic Museum Attraction, is a privately owned entertainment and development company headquartered in Branson, Missouri, the site of Cedar Bay’s first Titanic Museum Attraction. Since its April 2006 grand opening, it has welcomed more than 2,000,000 guests.

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Media Contact
Rick Laney
(865) 584-0550
rlaney@ackermannpr.com

More than 20,000 people turn out to launch the Titanic Museum Attraction in East Tennessee

Posted by Rick Laney – April 14, 2010

Pigeon Forge, Tenn. –  The new Titanic Museum Attraction in East Tennessee had a star-studded weekend-long Grand Opening hosted by Regis Philbin this weekend. The event also featured numerous descendants and family members of those on board the Titanic and included a christening of the ship by Captain Edward J. Smith.

The weekend-long Grand Opening Celebration at the new Titanic Museum Attraction included the christening, a special Grand Opening ceremony hosted by Philbin, a free concert by country music legend Neal McCoy, a free concert by Beatles cover band Liverpool Legends (hand-picked and managed by George Harrison’s sister), amazing nightly fireworks displays and special events and performances over a three day period.

More than 20,000 guests from all parts of the nation visited the attraction during its opening weekend. During the free evening concerts with Neal McCoy and , standing room only crowds overflowed onto the sidewalks and nearby properties. Traffic on the well-traveled Parkway through Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park came to a halt once the nightly 25-minute fireworks display lit the night sky for miles around.

The Grand Opening Celebration was covered locally by WBIR, WATE and WVLT television as well as television stations from Nashville, Tri-Cities and Chattanooga.  The Knoxville News Sentinel, The Daily Times and The Mountain Press all gave considerable coverage to the special event and radio stations from all over East Tennessee showed up to do live broadcasts.  Nationally, the event was covered by USA Today, The TODAY Show, Regis & Kelly, ABC News, The New York Post and a large number of travel magazines.

Titanic Museum Attraction is a half-scale, permanent, three-deck recreation of the Titanic. The museum houses 20 galleries to display nearly 400 authentic, priceless Titanic artifacts that were either carried from the ship and into lifeboats by passengers and crew, or were found afloat soon after the sinking and quickly salvaged by rescue boats.

Regis Philbin addresses visitors

Inside the Titanic Museum Attraction, visitors find full-size recreations (built to actual Titanic blueprints) of Third-Class quarters, a First-Class suite, dining rooms and – the museum’s centerpiece – a $1 million exact reproduction of the Titanic’s Grand Staircase. The First-Class suite in the Titanic Museum Attraction, which is dedicated to Isidor and Ida Straus who co-owned Macy’s Department Stores, was also the cabin used in James Cameron’s blockbuster movie Titanic as Rose’s suite.

In addition to being a world class museum in the truest sense of the word, Titanic Museum Attraction is also highly interactive and offers a hands-on experience for children, teenagers and adults. The ship is anchored in water to create the illusion of Titanic at sea, and a two-hour self-guided tour gives guests the sensation of sailing on the original ship’s 1912 maiden voyage. Upon entry, each guest receives a boarding pass bearing the name of an actual Titanic passenger or crew member whose fate is revealed on the Memorial Wall at tour end. Along the way, powerful emotions surface as guests:

• Walk Titanic’s Grand Staircase
• Touch the frozen surface of an “iceberg”
• Feel the chill of that fateful “Starry Night”
• Study some of the largest, most detailed Titanic models ever built
• Grip the ship’s wheel and follow the Captain’s commands
• Tour world-class galleries and the rare historical artifacts they hold
• Sit in a Titanic lifeboat and listen to actual survivors tell their stories
• Send an SOS from the Marconi Wireless Room
• Test their balance while standing on mini-decks built to show the ever-steeper slope of Titanic as she sank
• Watch children eight years and younger explore the special interactive Tot-Titanic Play-and-Learn Room
• Dive to Titanic’s wreck site via spectacular underwater camera footage

Captain Smith christens the Titanic Museum

The Titanic Museum Attraction – which is conveniently located to all areas of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville – is now open every day from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. ET. Tickets are available online at www.TitanicPigeonForge.com or by calling 1-800-381-7670.

Cedar Bay Entertainment, which owns and operates Titanic Museum Attraction, is a privately owned entertainment and development company headquartered in Branson, Missouri, the site of Cedar Bay’s first Titanic Museum Attraction. Since its April 2006 grand opening, it has welcomed more than 2,000,000 guests.

Media Contact
Rick Laney
(865) 584-0550
rlaney@ackermannpr.com

WBIR will broadcast three-hour special “An Evening Aboard The Titanic” this Saturday at 8 p.m.

Posted by Rick Laney – March 17, 2010

Beth Haynes, WBIR, Titanic Museum Attraction

Beth Haynes and the priceless life vest worn by Madeleine Astor, wife of Colonel John Jacob Astor (one of the wealthiest men in the world at the time) when she escaped the Titanic into a lifeboat. She wore the life vest 24-hours a day for three days and removed it only after reaching New York.

Knoxville, Tenn. — This Saturday evening Knoxville’s WBIR will broadcast three hours of Titanic programming beginning at 8 p.m.  The special, called “An Evening Aboard The Titanic” starts with a two-hour documentary produced by John Joslyn, owner of the new Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge.  Joslyn organized the $6 million expedition in 1987 that brought the world its first images of the Titanic in her final resting place two and a half miles beneath the surface of the ocean.  The documentary follows Joslyn and his crew as they spend 45 days at sea and make 32 dives to the Titanic to capture riveting video.

Following the documentary, at 10 p.m., Beth Haynes has produced and will host an hour-long behind-the-scenes look at the new Titanic Museum Attraction called “Titanic: The East Tennessee Experience.”  Viewers will get a sneak peek at the museum, see some of its priceless artifacts, and hear interviews with the owners, workers and Jaynee the First Class Maid and spokeswoman for the Titanic Museum Attraction.

The new $25 million dollar permanent Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. will open on Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 10 a.m. with a star-studded Grand Opening hosted by Regis Philbin.  The event, which is open to the public, also will be attended by descendants and family members of those on board the Titanic and includes a christening of the ship.

Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge is a half-scale, permanent, three-deck reproduction of the Titanic.  The museum houses 20 galleries to display hundreds of authentic, priceless Titanic artifacts that were either carried from the ship and into lifeboats by passengers and crew, or were found afloat soon after the sinking and quickly salvaged by rescue boats.

Inside the Titanic Museum, visitors find full-size reproductions (built to actual Titanic blueprints) of a First Class suite, First Class hallways, Third Class accommodations and – the museum’s centerpiece – a $1 million exact reproduction of the Titanic’s Grand Staircase.  The First Class suite will be a tribute to Isidor and Ida Straus, owners of Macy’s Department Stores, which  was also the cabin used in James Cameron’s blockbuster movie Titanic as Rose’s suite.

This key belonged to a crew member who perished when Titanic sank. Valued at $150,000, it will be one of nearly 400 artifacts displayed at the new Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge. Learn more this Saturday on WBIR at 8 p.m.

“We pay respect to Titanic by telling the story of the ship and her passengers,” said John Joslyn, owner of the new Titanic Museum Attraction.  “Visitors learn the individual stories of those onboard the ship as they are learning about the ship itself.  We have spent years researching these people – and their stories are absolutely amazing.

“In addition to an unparalleled collection of artifacts, we have built the Titanic Museum as a completely interactive attraction.  You hear the wonderful stories as you’re going through the museum, but you are also experiencing things the way they were in 1912 when Titanic sailed.  It’s one thing to hear about the men who shoveled coal into the boilers – but it comes to life for you when you pick up that shovel and feel what it means to shovel coal into a furnace.”

In addition to being a world class museum in the truest sense of the word, Titanic Pigeon Forge is also highly interactive and offers a hands-on experience for children, teenagers and adults.  The ship is anchored in water to create the illusion of Titanic at sea, and a two hour self-guided tour gives guests the sensation of sailing on the original ship’s 1912 maiden voyage. Upon entry, each guest receives a boarding pass bearing the name of an actual Titanic passenger or crew member whose fate is revealed on the Memorial Wall at tour end.

Watch the promotional spot for this special Titanic Event below and tune in this Saturday evening, March 20, 2010 at 8 p.m. for “An Evening Aboard The Titanic” on WBIR.

Media Contact
Rick Laney
(865) 584-0550
rlaney@ackermannpr.com

New Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge is getting attention half way across the country

Posted by Rick Laney – November 3, 2009

John Joslyn

John Joslyn

Springfield, Missouri – The new Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. has people talking in Missouri. This week, Titanic Museum owner John Joslyn was featured in a Springfield Business Journal story about the famous ship that is dropping anchor in East Tennessee.

The article by Matt Wagner says, “The second Titanic attraction is a $25 million endeavor that will be larger and more interactive than its sister ship in the Ozarks.” Opened in 2006, the Titanic Museum in Branson, Missouri quickly became one of Branson’s most popular attractions.

The Springfield Business Journal says there is one big difference in Pigeon Forge and Branson. “While Pigeon Forge has fewer permanent residents than Branson, the town of 5,800 is inundated with some 11 million tourists each year. Branson, in contrast, sees about 8 million visitors annually. Cedar Bay’s projected first-year attendance at Titanic Pigeon Forge: 750,000 people.”

Those who have traveled through Pigeon Forge in recent months have seen the half-scale replica of the Titanic rising high above the Parkway. A free preview center is open every day in front of the construction site which provides visitors with a sneak peek at all the attraction will offer. Once completed, guests at the Titanic Museum will:

A gallery in the Titanic Museum

A gallery in the Titanic Museum

• Walk Titanic’s Grand Staircase

• Touch the frozen surface of an “iceberg”

• Feel the chill of that fateful “Starry Night

• Study some of the largest, most detailed Titanic models ever built

• Grip the ship’s wheel and follow the Captain’s commands

• Tour world-class galleries and the rare historical artifacts they hold

• Sit in a Titanic lifeboat and listen to actual survivors tell their stories

• Send an SOS from the Marconi Wireless Room

• Test their balance while standing on mini-decks built to show the ever-steeper slope of Titanic as she sank

• Watch children six years and younger explore the special interactive Titanic Tot Play-and-Learn Room

• Dive to Titanic’s wreck site via spectacular underwater camera footage

Leon Downey, Executive Director of the Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism, said in the Springfield Business Journal story that he is looking forward to the opening of the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge next April.  Downey said if the crowds that are showing up every day at the free Titanic Preview Center are any indication, the Titanic will meet its first year attendance projections of 750,000 guests.  “Titanic blew me away,” Downey said.  “It’s a first-class attraction.”

For more information about the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, visit www.TitanicPigeonForge.com.

Media Contact
Rick Laney
(865) 584-0550
rlaney@ackermannpr.com

Passengers and crew members of Titanic will be remembered at new attraction in Pigeon Forge

Posted by Rick Laney – October 20, 2009

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee – Passengers and crew members of the Titanic will be the focus of the new $25 million Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge. Beth Haynes of WBIR television explains what vistors will experience as they tour the museum when it opens early next year.

Click picture to watch video on WBIR

Click picture to watch video on WBIR

Media Contact
Rick Laney
(865) 584-0550
rlaney@ackermannpr.com

Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge is making waves

Posted by Rick Laney – October 20, 2009

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee — The new Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge is making waves and drawing attention as it towers above the Parkway in Pigeon Forge.  Scheduled to open next April, the Titanic Museum will be a permanent tribute to the ship and its passengers. Knoxville’s WATE television featured the Titanic and its owner, John Joslyn in this report.

Click picture to watch video on WATE

Click picture to watch video on WATE

Media Contact
Rick Laney
(865) 584-0550
rlaney@ackermannpr.com