Regis Philbin Will Help the New Titanic Museum Dock in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee is one of the great tourist traps of the United States, and it's about to get yet another attraction in addition to the old Ripley's Believe It or Not, small wedding chapels and Dollywood. The Titanic Museum Attraction opens there today, in a replica of the original boat. At least there's no danger of this one hitting an iceberg in Tennessee and sinking, since it's fully landlocked.

Regis Philbin, who's probably as old as the original Titanic, will be aboard today for the grand opening of what's being billed as "the world's largest museum attraction."

The permanently docked museum-boat is a half-scale, three-deck reproduction of the original Titanic. Its 20 galleries display hundreds of real-deal artifacts that were either carried from the ship into lifeboats by the passengers or were salvaged by rescue boats.

The museum will pay homage to the victims of the tragedy. Each guest entering the ship will receive a boarding pass with the name of an actual Titanic passenger or crew, which can then be matched up in the Memorial Room to list of the 2,208 people who were aboard the boat that fateful night.

The boat also will feature a first-class suite, the grand staircase, first-class hallways and third-class accommodations that were built using the original Titanic blueprints. Who wants to bet it'll be available for weddings?

The Pigeon Forge museum-boat is the second Titanic Museum Attraction to hit the decks; the original is in Branson, Missouri. It's open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and advance tickets online cost $20.58.

[Photo: Titanic Pigeon Forge]

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