But I Haven't Found Park Lore Fandoms For Any Other Theme Parks - Tumblr Posts

It begins...

All the way back in the tags of my second post on Tumblr (which, to be fair, wasn't really that long ago), I said that I'd eventually post about the Kings Island lore. Well, congratulations! If you're reading this, then you're reading the first in what will likely become a long series of posts that are exclusively dedicated to the in-universe lore/story of Kings Island in Mason, Ohio because that's what my brain has been hyperfixating on for the past two years now!

Everything involving my Kings Island lore rambles will be under the tag #kings island lore. I'll probably make a masterpost or something later on when I've written more, but for now, if you're looking for KI lore, that's where you'll find it! Also if you're confused about anything and want clarification, or just have a question in general, feel free to ask me, be it through the comments or through Asks!

I'll start rambling below the cut! I'm warning you now: this post will be LONG-

So why don't we start off with ✨what the heck I'm talking about & an introduction to the KI lore with an explanation of the Off-Base ATLAS Substation Overview Map!✨

My search for Kings Island lore started around November 2022 when I was researching for that year's Halloween Haunt. A good friend of mine invited me to go with them, and considering that I was already a fan of theme parks by then and had never been to Haunt before, I happily agreed. During my research, I stumbled upon Kings Island Central's posts about Easter eggs in Area 72 that branched out to references involving the whole park. It was then when my search expanded from Haunt info to park story info.

The image in question was one of the Outpost Substation Overview map in the old photo area at the end of Flight of Fear. I later took a picture of it myself on May 13, 2023 for future reference so that I wouldn't have to keep looking it up. That image is shown below.

This map right here is - in my opinion, the center of the entire story. It's here where you are directed exactly where to look if you want to uncover the story of Kings Island.

On this image, you can see 6 different specific locations pointed out by a colored patch of the map with circular symbol, a title, and a set of 4 numbers starting with "00xx". These, my friends, are canonically different paranormal hotspots which the people at Area 72 have placed substations at for further research. In real life, these are the locations of roller coasters.

I'll start from the bottom left & go clockwise:

Outpost 5 - 0000 - Red map section -> Son of Beast, opened 2000 & closed 2009. "Outpost 5" is a reference to the setting of Son of Beast. It's the in-universe place where the "Son of Beast" was being contained (and, during the events of the ride, where it breaks out of)

H. Hill Estate - 0014 - Pink map section -> Banshee, opened 2014. H. Hill estate is a reference to "Haunted Hill Estate," which is presumably the name of the in-universe equivalent of Banshee's station building. Were clued into this via the metal archway with the words "Haunted Hill" that stands over the start of the queue line. Next to this area, you can also see a photo of the Banshee herself with the numbers "0014" written in black on the bottom left corner.

Outpost 2 - 0091 - Yellow map section -> Adventure Express, opened in 1991. Gonna be honest, I don't think that "Outpost 2" has been referenced specifically as Adventure Express beyond the outpost stuff found in Flight of Fear, however with the area Adventure Express resides in being updated to Adventure Port in 2023 & Adventure Express getting a much-needed theming update alongside it, we learn about Outposts 1-5 on tracks 1-2, which are a collection of locations I'll ramble about in a different post dedicated to Adventure Express' outposts. Next to the symbol for Outpost 2 on the map, you can also see a photo of "Bubba", the figure at the top of Adventure Express' second lift hill with "0091 - We Will Pay" written in black on the bottom, which is a reference to Bubba's line, "You have disturbed the Forbidden Temple! Now you will pay!" which is spoken as we go up that second lift hill.

Bureau of Paranormal Activity - 0096 - Purple map section -> Flight of Fear, opened 1996. This one's the most obvious. If you've ever ridden Flight of Fear & watched the queue video (which if you haven't, I'd highly recommend looking it up. It's a delight), then you'll see as clear as day that the government people are working for/in the Bureau of Paranormal Activity. That's not to mention the fact that the Bureau of Paranormal Activity logo (which you can see in the bottom right of the Substation Overview Map) appears right in front of you on the wall as soon as you step into the indoor section of Flight of Fear's queue. From what I've gathered, the Bureau of Paranormal Activity - and by proxy; Flight of Fear - is at the center of all of this. This is the center of paranormal research in Kings Island. You see the way the other substations are linked back to the Bureau? It all connects back to it. Honestly, the history of the Bureau of Paranormal Activity is incredibly interesting in my opinion. One of these days, I'll make a BoPA timeline post or something lol

(On this note, the grey section of map is Area 72)

Sycamore Mine - 0079 - Brown map section -> The Beast, opened 1979. Sycamore Mine is a reference to the mines that are the setting of The Beast. The company surrounding these mines have gone through a plethora of name changes over the years, starting as the "Little Miami Amalgamated Mining and Minerals Co." and presently going under the name "Kings Crossroads Mining Company" (as seen on the building at the front of The Beast's queue). The name "Sycamore Mines" has now been used twice: once here to refer to The Beast, and a second time with Adventure Express's first on-ride theming element as Track 2 - Outpost 1: Sycamore Gem Mine. Also, to the left of the map symbol, you can see a photo of The Beast's paw print with "Paw prints don't match known life form" written on the bottom of it in black.

Miami River Lumber Co. - 0017 - Green map section -> Mystic Timbers, opened 2017. You know how I said that Flight of Fear was the most obvious? I lied. THIS is the most obvious. I mean, it literally says "Miami River Lumber Company" on the sign above Mystic Timbers' queue entrance! And that's not to mention the fact that it's all over the queue & station posters alongside the whole "the Miami River Lumber Company is closed" announcement thing that plays periodically in and around the queue. There's some pretty interesting stuff going on between/with the Miami River Lumber Co. and the Bureau of Paranormal Activity that I'll detail in a later post for sure. There's also a photo upwards & to the right that appears to be of the inside of the shed, but you can't really tell what's on it since the photo's curled over.

These 6 coasters (or "substations") are where you need to go in order to find the story. This is confirmed by the fact that you can find each of the corresponding substation symbols at each of the specified rides:

Son of Beast -> on the side of the station building in black and yellow. It can be viewed from the exit path of The Bat. It's a little difficult to see in this photo, but this is the best angle of it I've been able to get considering that the ride's defunct lol

Banshee -> on the side of what I think is a warehouse(?) next to the break run. This is the only one I don't have a picture of. I'll try and get that for you guys the next time I'm at the park.

(UPDATE - 4/20/2024: My mission was successful! The photo of the Banshee symbol will be added below! It should be noted that you'll probably have to zoom in. It's located above the white door.)

Adventure Express -> Really just about everywhere in Adventure Port, mostly on crates. There's plenty of crates in the station that have the symbol on it, which I'll show below. It should be noted that while it was being refurbished during the construction of Adventure Port, the symbol could also be seen from the exit path of The Racer on the side of one of the buildings. This symbol in particular, which I'll show in the second picture, has since been removed.

Flight of Fear -> on the wall directly in front of you as soon as you get to the inside section of the queue. It's the one on the far left. The one in the middle is for the Bureau of Paranormal Activity and the one on the far right is for ATLAS.

The Beast -> on the building right next to the lift hill! I don't really have any other comments for this one lol

Mystic Timbers -> on the door to the shed! This was the first symbol I'd found on its corresponding ride. Safe to say, I was pretty excited when I found this. It was what lead me on a hunt to find the others.

And I think that's everything I wanted to say! There's gonna be more in the future, but those future posts are likely not gonna be anywhere NEAR as long as this one.

If you have any questions and/or want me to explain or elaborate on something, feel free to say something and let me know! I'm always happy to chat about this stuff lol