9 Things You Never Knew About Disney's Giant Turkey Legs (2024)

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Disney's jumbo turkey legs are one of the parks' most popular concessions — right up there with Mickey-shaped pretzels and apple juice "brews" from Gaston's Tavern. And as such, there's a lot of speculation ... like how much they weigh and what kind of bird they're actually made from. We got down to the meat of the matter, and discovered nine crazy facts about the gigantic snack.

It's a relic from the '80s.

The giant turkey leg — a shticky concession Renaissance fairs have served for years — popped up in Disney World for the first time in the late '80s. It was originally only sold at one food cart, near Big Al's in Magic Kingdom's Frontierland.

A turkey leg tips the scales at ...

1.5 pounds! The Thanksgiving rule of thumb is 1.25 pounds of turkey per person (accounting for the weight of bones), so while Disney's turkey legs look hulking, the serving of meat isn't too oversized.

The meat's not exactly a health food.

Disney doesn't reveal specific nutrition information, but a 2013 New York Times article stated the jumbo turkey legs have 720 calories and 36 grams of fat. But there's a good chance you'll walk enough at the park to burn that many calories.

The price has increased over the years.

Once upon a time, they were only $9.49 ... then $11.79 ... and now $12.50.

Fanfare has led to turkey leg everything.

Disney World plastered images of turkey legs and funny sayings about them all over T-shirts and boxers, and at one point, they'd even created turkey leg air fresheners. In the past, Main Street Confectionery whipped up turkey leg Rice Krispie treats, too.

Copycat recipes are all over the internet.

Google it. Search for it on Pinterest. You'll find hundreds.

Turkey leg sales are INSANE.

Between all six of Disney's North American parks — the four in Orlando and the two in Anaheim — people purchase more than two million legs every year.

There was a rumor that the turkey legs weren't turkey.

Whispers that the turkey legs were actually emu were made public when Tangled actor Zachary Levy appeared on Conan. On the show, he said, "I have friends that have worked for Disneyland, and I was talking about how the turkey legs tasted more like ham than they did like turkey, and they said, 'Well, they're actually emu.'" Snopes has dispelled the rumor, though — and so has Disney.

The reason it tastes like ham ...

Is that the legs are cured in a salt solution, which is more typical of ham than turkey.

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