For Carlton Morris, the wow moment came a couple of hours before the first game of the season. Luton's players filed off the bus, swept through the doors of the Amex Stadium in Brighton, down the tunnel and on to the glistening turf.
'Walking out, seeing the pitch, the stadium like I'd seen it on television,' says Morris. 'It was, 'Wow, we're here, where we deserve to be. Let's show them what we're about'.
'I'm sure everyone had their individual moment like that between winning the play-off final and the first Premier League game. You have to let it sink in.'
For Luton and their supporters, it has been an incredible return to the top flight and for many players such as Morris, it has been the culmination of years clambering through the muck and nettles of the lower leagues.
But there was no time to bask in the glow. He was firmly back in the zone by the time he stood over a penalty-kick at Brighton to reduce the lead and become the club's first top-flight scorer for 31 years.
'The worst penalty in football is the penalty shootout in a play-off final,' says Morris. 'You're not even getting a goal on your tally.
'It's lose-lose in a shootout and it doesn't get any more nerve-wracking. It meant so much to so many who've followed this club over the years. Start thinking about that and it's all on your shoulders. You've got to stay in work mode. Be professional, take a breath and execute it.'
Morris, 27, found the net in the Wembley shootout against Coventry just as he found the net from the spot on the opening day at Brighton. It has become a habit since moving from Barnsley to Kenilworth Road in the summer of 2022. He scored 20 in the promotion campaign and has three in the Premier League, the crucial second in a 2-1 win at Everton and the equaliser against Wolves.
With four points, Rob Edwards takes his team to Nottingham Forest today just clear of the relegation places. 'We don't take any of this for granted,' says Morris.
'That's what I love about this group. A lot of them have played in the Championship and League One, worked their way up, building their careers to the top. We have a different appreciation so we go out every Saturday and we run until we drop.'
Cambridge-born Morris started at Norwich City, where he signed at 10 and was central to the 2013 FA Youth Cup win in a team including twins Jacob and Josh Murphy, Cameron McGeehan, now at Colchester and Harry Toffolo, now at Forest.
'That's why I've always linked success to spirit in the dressing room,' he says. 'We were tight and had that success against Chelsea, who were churning out Youth Cup trophies at the time.'
Eight loan spells followed, starting with the culture shock of League Two with Oxford and York. 'A massive change,' says Morris. 'Uprooting and moving, and there's the step up in level and more physicality with some monster centre half on you.
'It wasn't horrendous and I did all right but I didn't set the world alight. Looking back, those loans made me who I am today.'
Progress came at Hamilton in the Scottish Premier League and Shrewsbury Town, where a run to the League One play-off final ended with a serious knee injury at Wembley, ruling him out for a year, during which time Norwich went up to the Premier League.
'Everyone's got a sob story,' says Morris. 'There are hurdles in life, not just in football. You can let it break you or use it as a challenge to make you strong.
'It made me more honest in the gym because there's no shortcut with that sort of injury. All of that made me a better athlete.'
Ten years after the Youth Cup win, he arrived in the Premier League, mature and at ease with the type of footballer he has developed into: strong and selfless, running the channels hard and fighting to hold up the ball and help his team up the pitch; ruffling the centre halves and threatening the goal with all types of finishes.
'I feel I'm getting better as I'm getting older,' says Morris — and there is no reason why that should not be among the elite.
'Stay up? Of course we can. I don't know if I'd call it a miracle. I have confidence in my team-mates. It might be a miracle if I was going into games thinking, 'Let's keep the score down' but we don't feel that way.
'The journey doesn't finish with promotion, we can keep on going. We believe we can get a result in every game.
'We show respect but don't show fear, that's something we pride ourselves on.'