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 Titanic: The Experience
Orlando, Florida
For more than a century, the disastrous sinking of the RMS Titanic and the tragic loss of innocent lives has intrigued and beguiled people from every part of the world. Popular movies and television productions have made millions of dollars drawing on that perplexing tragedy. If the Titanic legend interests you too, Orlando Florida's Titanic: The Experience is for you.
Located in the very popular tourist area on International Drive, Titanic: The Experience exhibits more than one hundred of the 5,500 artifacts that have been recovered from the sunken ship.
The Titanic experience begins in a waiting room where guests wait for their own costumed guide to lead their small group through the exhibit. The guide, dressed in clothing designed from the Titanic era, actually portrays a character and explains the exhibits as if he or she were actually there during the construction and disaster.
The exhibit begins with a vist to a miltimedia room where guests view two video presentations that set the stage and provide background information on the ship's creation, management and design.
Every guest also receives a replica of an actual Titanic Boarding Pass. The boarding pass contains the name and information for one of the Titanic passengers. Near the end of the exhibit, a large wall contains the list of survivors and victims of the tragic sinking. It is thrilling to search the wall to see if your boarding pass is the name of a survivor or victim.
Titanic: The Experience has nearly a dozen replica rooms including the wireless room where messages were sent, a first-class cabin, the grand staircase, the storage room with an automobile replica that many of the female guests giggled about on our visit as they commented on the steamy love scene from the blockbuster movie, boiler room, a large piece of the Titanic's hull, and the deck with chilled air and a dark, star-filled sky as seen on the night of the tragedy.
One of the most chilling exhibits is a car-sized chunk of ice. Guests are invited to place their hands on the ice for as long as they can while the costumed guide describes the pain and shock the victims must have felt as they fell into water colder than the ice the guests have their hands pressed against.
The exhibit also contains deck chairs found floating in the water after the tragedy, a champagne bottle recovered from the site, framed menus from the ship, clothing, silverware, dishes, and signed postcards.
There is gift shop where guests can purchase Titanic souvenirs. The prices seemed very reasonable compared to many other local attractions.
If you are wondering about the Boarding Pass we received at the beginning of our tour - our passenger was Mr. Frederick James Banfield from Plymouth, England. He was 28 years old, traveling alone and a Second Class passenger. He was on his way to Houghton, Michigan where he had recently found a new job. Several relatives in Houghton were awaiting his arrival.
Did Mr. Frederick James Banfield from Plymouth, England survive the tragedy? You will have to visit Titanic: The Experience and check the wall for yourself!
Titanic: The Experience
7324 International Drive
Orlando Florida 32819
http://www.titanictheexperience.com/
For Gay Travelers, the Orlando Convention and Visitor's Bureau offers a dedicated webpage of local events, clubs and attractions at - http://www.visitorlando.com/g-l-b-t/
Gay Travelers Magazine
Staff Feature
Copyright Sunny Harbor Publishing
Sunny Harbor Publishing
PO Box 560318
Rockledge, FL 32956
SunnyHarborPublishing@yahoo.com |
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Orlando Area Gay Clubs & Resorts
Paradise Orlando
1300 North Mills Avenue
Orlando, FL 32803
(407) 898-0090
Parliament House Resort
410 N. Orange Blossom Trail
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(407) 425-7571
Revolution Nightclub
375 South Bumby Avenue
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(407) 228-9900
Savoy Orlando
1913 North Orange Avenue
Orlando, FL 32804
(407) 898-6766
Sip
724 Virginia Drive
Orlando, FL 32803
(407) 894-4747
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