Watch a Hotel of Spring Breakers Wake Up to 'Circle of Life'
Holiday Inn at Panama City Beach gains fans with its unusual morning ritual.
— -- One Florida hotel is leading the pack when it comes to spring break morning rituals.
Holiday Inn Resort at Panama City Beach has become wildly popular among the college-aged crowd, after word spread of its daily wake-up call for spring breakers: blasting "Circle of Life," Elton John's hit song from The Lion King musical, up at their balconies.
"From the day we arrive on the planet/ And blinking, step into the sun/ There's more to see than can ever be seen/ More to do than can ever be done..." beckon the upbeat lyrics of the 1994 recording as the sleepy spring breakers are roused from their beds.
But light sleepers needn't worry. This wake-up call isn't intended for early birds.
"We only do this for spring break," Philip Colvin, director of marketing for the Holiday Inn Resort told ABC News. "We generally start our poolside entertainment at 11 o'clock and spring breakers tend to sleep that late anyway, so that's when we play it."
The tradition began in 2012 when the hotel DJ realized the Circle of Life came out when most of the spring breakers were young and suspected they would enjoy it.
"From that first day we played it, the reaction was incredible," said Colvin. "We've had to do it ever since."
Some prepared patrons now bring Simba plush dolls, flags and other props to use in choreographed responses to the music coming from the hotel's speakers. Cheering and applause often follows.
"Last week we had a guy who would come down to the pool deck and much to our, well, we didn't encourage him to do it, but he would do flips into the pool at one part in the song," said Colvin. "...As soon as that last beat hits they start chanting and it's 'USA! USA! USA!' It's a lot of fun and it's an interesting experience first hand."
Colvin said the ritual is eschewed at other times of the year when family guests are present, as "they generally don't sleep as late and it wouldn't be appropriate to do it at 7 a.m."
But for those of a certain age and mindset, the song lures guests to fill up each of the 340 balconies overlooking the pool and sing along in time.
The video below gives a small taste of the experience.
