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00:24The interactive fountain called Cosmic Waves must have seemed like a good idea when the Disneyland designers first conceived it.
00:30Who wouldn't have fun jumping along thin jets of water shooting up intermittently from the ground, especially on a blazing
00:38summer day?
00:39And who wouldn't want to try to rotate a big wet marble sitting in the middle of all the action?
00:44Unfortunately, the reality proved to be less cosmic than expected.
00:48Cosmic Waves opened with the remodeled Tomorrowland in mid-1998, its location a 60-foot-wide circular plaza near the
00:56Moonliner.
00:57The plan was for kids to run between the fountains, 5-foot-high water jets, without getting wet.
01:02Traditionally, kids could team up to push a giant 6-ton granite ball that stayed in place as it slowly
01:08turned.
01:10Designed after a Lisbethian concept of hedge mazes, Cosmic Waves became a part of this retro-future vision,
01:17using a simple concept in physics, water to reduce surface friction, to create a magnificent wonder found floating on a
01:25thin sheet of water.
01:26This enormous, perfectly round boulder appears immovable, but the constantly flowing water creates a low-friction environment,
01:34allowing even the youngest of guests to rotate it by simply pushing on the ball in any direction.
01:39At the Cosmic Waves fountain in front of Space Mountain, guests can try their hand at turning a giant 1
01:45,000-pound granite ball.
01:47Cosmic Waves is a high-tech, interactive water fountain.
01:50Here, many guests chill as they engulf themselves in intermittent bursts of water while navigating through the fountain's many jets.
01:58The jets, located in the concrete pavement, alternate the spray so unpredictably that it is easy to become drenched.
02:05From Los Angeles Times, May 23, 1998,
02:08instead of figuring out how to avoid getting wet, guests treated the Cosmic Waves as a water play area.
02:14Parents sent in their not-yet-potty-trained toddlers.
02:17Disney addressed the health issue by increasing the chlorine level of the recirculating water, which caused the soft flooring to
02:24deteriorate.
02:26It turned out, however, that experiencing the water was more fun than avoiding the water,
02:30leaving parents and cast members to deal with soaking wet kids who hadn't thought to bring bathing suits.
02:35By the end of 2001, as Cosmic Waves became more like Cosmic Bath, the park turned off the fountain.
02:41Though the water no longer spurts, the stone ball can still be taken for a span.
02:46The water area was a big hit, but many people would visit Honey, I Shrunk the Audience after playing in
02:51the water,
02:52and the seats in the theater were beginning to show some damage,
02:55so the water area was removed and replaced with planters.
02:58The water is not taken up.
03:06The water air is not lost in the water,
03:17the twentiethpect love and Whitman's Re jinxing.
03:22The water can loose!
03:26The water can only sweep the water in the water,
03:27Ots consiste bloated with the water use of hopes and water
