Story:
Miss Tutweiller tells her class about how the S.S. Tipton is going to pass across the International Dateline that night, but says it's not a big deal. Meanwhile, Zack and Cody are excited about the school dance that night. Cody wants to impress Bailey, his crush, at the dance, while Zack is excited about being the DJ for the event. When the dance begins, Cody asks Zack to play Bailey's favorite song and tries to make the setting perfect.
However, Cody gets distracted by Woody, who tells him a joke but messes up several times in the middle of it, an elderly lady who believes she is at a karate class rather than a dance, and then by London, who wants him to help fix her dress. By the time he can dance, he sees Bailey already dancing with a tall and handsome guy.
Suddenly, lightning strikes and the time shifts back to the beginning, when Cody and his friends are in Miss Tutweiller's class. Cody realizes that he must have been caught in a time loop, although nobody else is aware of it. He attempts to make his second time at the school dance perfect with Bailey, using what he already knows is going to happen to plan out what to do.
During the dance, he goes through the joke quickly with Woody, gets kicked by the elderly lady, and sews London's dress at top speed while having her trip the boy who danced with Bailey. He meets up with Bailey and they dance happily, but just as Cody asks her what she feels about him, she vomits in Haggis's hat from the bad shrimp she ate before.
Lightning strikes once more and Cody is back in Miss Tutweiller's classroom. Knowing that he and Bailey have yet to enjoy a romantic dance together, Cody concludes that fate is repeating the day to give him more chances to make things right with her. That night, the dance goes perfectly. Cody and Bailey dance romantically together, but just as they're about to kiss, thunder strikes again, repeating the day for the third time.
Cody realizes that every time, as the S.S. Tipton crossed the International Dateline, the time reversed and the day was repeated. This time, he reduces the ship's speed to break the time loop, and the ship crosses the line without reversing time at all. Although Cody is disappointed at still losing his chance to dance with Bailey, the night ends fairly well since Zack secretly gave the bad shrimp to the boy Bailey is dancing with, causing him to vomit on Bailey's shoes.
This episode provides examples of:
- Big "NO!": Done by Cody at the beginning of the third and final loop.
- Déjà Vu:Cody: Wow, I'm having the strangest case of Déjà Vu.
London: Déjà who?
Cody: Déjà Vu. It's French for "I've seen this all before". - "Groundhog Day" Loop: The entire plot of this episode.
- Innocently Insensitive: During one loop, Cody asks Bailey to be more than friends. Before she can answer, the bad shrimp causes her to vomit.
- Special Guest: Lillian Adams as Mrs. Pepperman, Steve Monroe as Haggis, Chad Duell as Holden, Rachael Bell as Addison
- Throw the Dog a Bone: While Cody is forced to sacrifice his chance to woo Bailey to end the time loop, Zack ensures that Bailey won't fall for the other guy by tricking him into eating the bad shrimp so he vomits on her shoes.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: In each iteration of the "Groundhog Day" Loop, a different person vomits after eating the bad shrimp.
