Lucas stirred awake to the faint hum of his phone vibrating on the nightstand. The sun was barely peeking through the curtains of his small apartment near the park, but the screen already glowed with a flood of notifications.
He rubbed his eyes, reached for the phone, and blinked at the display. Mentions. Tags. Messages.
The soft opening had barely ended twelve hours ago, yet the internet had clearly moved faster than he expected.
He sat up, pulling the blanket around his shoulders against the winter chill, and began scrolling.
The first thing he saw was a thumbnail from XstreamRides—Koet's channel. A shot of Global Explorer's Delight, carousel horses gleaming, with the title:
"Elysion Park – A Stunning Transformation in Progress".
Underneath were hundreds of comments.
Some were from locals surprised the park had even reopened. Others were from theme park fans across Europe, praising the attention to detail in the entrance area.
A few posts from guests caught his attention too:
"The new entrance feels like a completely different park. Still some areas under construction, but wow."
"Can't wait to see the Jungle Splash Adventure when it's finished!"
"Loved the Cursed Ruins haunted house. Scared my kids in the best way."
Lucas smiled faintly. It wasn't Disneyland-level hype, of course—but it was something. The photos and clips circulating were already painting a picture of a small park with big ambition.
Of course, there were also more practical comments:
"Some areas don't have any theming yet—just fresh paint."
"Playground still closed off, and the balloon ride isn't running yet."
He didn't mind those. They were true. The whole point of the soft opening was to get honest impressions before the grand reveal in March.
He set the phone down for a moment and looked out the window toward the park. From here, the Sky Balloon Voyage's steel frame rose above the rooftops, still wrapped in scaffolding. The sound of early construction work already drifted faintly through the air.
Today wasn't a rest day.
Today was the first day of turning feedback into action.
And, judging by the notifications still rolling in, he had a lot to think about.
Koet leaned back in his desk chair, sipping a coffee while the progress bar on his latest upload inched forward. His video from yesterday's soft opening had exploded faster than expected—tens of thousands of views overnight, comments flooding in from every direction.
He clicked into the analytics tab. The average watch time was unusually high, and most viewers stayed until the segment where he walked through Explorer's Landing and talked about the difference between fully themed areas and freshly refurbished but non-themed sections of the park.
Opening his email, he saw even more reactions. A couple of local reporters had reached out for permission to use some of his shots for online articles. One email stood out: a well-known theme park forum moderator asking if he could join an early spring visit to document the log flume and balloon ride once they opened.
Koet grinned. He'd be back for that, no question.
He clicked over to the forum itself, curious what was being said. A thread titled "Elysion Park Soft Opening – First Impressions" had already hit five pages.
Some posts were glowing:
"This place has heart. You can tell there's a plan."
"That carousel alone is worth the trip—stunning craftsmanship."
"The Cursed Ruins haunted house is way better than expected for a small park."
Others were constructive:
"Entrance is world-class, but once you leave Explorer's Landing, you can tell the theming hasn't reached the rest yet."
"The rides themselves look great, but I'm hoping the pathways and landscaping get attention next."
Then there were the dreamers:
"If they keep going like this, imagine a dark ride in that indoor space near the entrance."
"The Jungle Splash Adventure could be the crown jewel."
Koet scrolled slowly, reading everything. The overall tone was positive—cautious optimism mixed with genuine excitement. Exactly the kind of chatter that kept a small park in the public eye.
The upload finally finished. He queued a premiere post for social media with the caption:
"Not your average soft opening. Elysion Park might be onto something here."
Somewhere out there, Lucas was probably reading these same reactions. And if Koet knew park people, the wheels in his head were already turning.
Lucas sat in the small office behind Globe & Griddle, his laptop open to a dozen tabs. One was the local newspaper's review of the soft opening, another was Koet's XstreamRides video paused mid-pan of the entrance plaza. The rest were open to theme park forums, social media threads, and even a few international news blurbs.
He scrolled slowly, absorbing every word. The praise for Explorer's Landing was overwhelming—people loved the attention to detail, the vibrant colors, the way the music and landscaping made it feel like stepping into another world. The haunted house and carousel were also drawing plenty of positive mentions.
But the comments about the rest of the park were impossible to ignore:
> "Once you're past the entrance, the atmosphere drops. The rides look new, but the pathways feel plain."
"Not much shade yet, feels like an unfinished movie set in places."
"I hope they keep the theming consistent in future expansions."
Lucas leaned back in his chair, rubbing the back of his neck. They weren't wrong. Right now, only the entrance area and a few key rides had proper theming. The rest of the park looked neat, clean, and freshly painted—but not immersive. It was functional, not magical.
He switched to the system interface, pulling up the "Phase 2: Park-Wide Theming" tab. Budgets, timelines, and design templates popped into view. His available system funds were healthy enough to start small-scale thematic work, but big changes would have to wait until after opening day.
His eyes drifted to the corner of the desk, where a printed site plan showed two circled zones: the balloon ride near Max Around the World, and the new playground nearby. Both were still fenced off, but the balloon ride was on track to be ready for the official opening in March. The playground would follow shortly after.
The log flume, though, was a different story. Its massive rockwork and temple theming were still in progress, with completion not expected until April—followed by weeks of safety testing before guests could ride.
There was no panic, though. If anything, the feedback reassured him. People noticed the difference in the areas he'd touched with care. That meant the vision was working—they just needed to spread it further.
A knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts. Walter stepped in, holding two coffees.
"Reading reviews?" Walter asked with a knowing smile.
Lucas smirked. "Trying not to take them personally."
Walter handed him a cup. "Don't. They're not saying you've done something wrong—they're saying they want more. That's the best problem you can have."
Lucas nodded slowly. "Then I guess we better give it to them."
He took a sip of coffee, already thinking about what "more" would look like.