Installed typically in April or May and maintained for approximately a month, the ramp allows sufficient time for the young ducklings to develop their flying skills and venture out of the pond.

[6] On February 6, 2019, a University of Washington student suffered a head injury after falling near the fountain after a campus snowstorm and later died of a blood clot in her lung.

[7] Although the cause of the student's death was later determined to be unrelated to the fall, the incident sparked backlash on social media directed at the university's president, Ana Mari Cauce, regarding the condition of the campus sidewalks during inclement weather.

During the fair, the fountain was the centerpiece of a formal garden extending onto the Rainier Vista, adorned with a geometric layout, roses enclosed by Japanese barberry, and a carpet of 80,000 English daisies.

[10] The modern Drumheller Fountain simply consists of a stone bowl, whereas Geyser Basin was a much larger structure that featured cascading water emptying into the pond.