The original idea was simple: a petting zoo in the middle of Wet ‘n’ Wild. It was a perfect-fit strategy, a turnkey solution if you will. Wet ‘n’ Wild needed an edgy drawcard for the launch of the Tornado ride and Lifelounge had the solution. The danger of donkeys, the softness of sheep and the erratic yet mystical walk of the wombat. How could they say no? Well, Lifelounge didn’t get to where it is for no reason, our ideas are synonymous with success, however, like any good creative company, we had to have a backup plan - in case for some incredible reason, they didn’t like the petting zoo.
The backup idea was to put in the countries biggest half-pipe alongside the best riders and do free demos three times a day for the week. Yawn. So long story short, as all clients do, they went with the safe option. Apparently donkeys are ‘not edgy friendly’ - whatever that means. (I’ll keep that baby up my sleeve for another client who wants to live on the edge.)
We got Shane Yost, Renton Miller, Trevor Ward and Tim Wood to come up to the Gold Coast for the week and show the crowds what the Tornado would be like without water.
Yostie is currently airing on average about 12 ft high these days, and is one of the only people to beat the Yasutoko brothers in about five years, God bless he is an Australia. Renton Miller is renowned for his technical style with no handed kickflip to fakies and kickflip grinds. Trevor Ward goes massive on any ARD ramp I have ever seen him on and this was no exception. And Tim Wood is currently one of the best BMXers in the country and is ripping it.
This all combined to make only slightly more interesting viewing than a wombat trying to hump a small child. Only slightly.
For more on the park, and the best god dam waterslides in the world, go to:
http://weznwill.wetnwild.com.au/And to view the time lapse footage of the ramp being put up
click here.