How a Florida Hotel Gets Spring Breakers Out of Bed

It blasts an epic wake-up call, of course
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 27, 2015 9:31 AM CDT

Partying into the wee hours, then sleeping past noon. That's the circle of life for college kids on spring break in Florida. Or it was, until a Holiday Inn Resort in Panama City Beach started blasting "The Circle of Life" from The Lion King each morning at 11am. A DJ started the daily "wake-up call" tradition in 2012, WJHG reports. Now, when the music sounds from the pool area's speakers, vacationers head out onto their highrise-hotel balconies, cheer, and sing along; some are said to hoist imaginary Simbas into the air.

The "loud beat" and "the message of the song" makes it the perfect wake-up call, says Philip Colvin, the Holiday Inn's marketing director. Plus, "for these kids, this would have been one of their first Disney movies." That's right: Al.com points out that the movie was released in 1994, when today's college kids just being born. He adds it's become so popular that "hundreds" have called to double-check that the wake-up call is still in force. (A naked spring breaker recently caused an uproar in Florida.)

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