Disney’s turkey leg is not emu. It’s a 1.5-pound male turkey with 5,000 mg of sodium

About 2 million giant smoked turkey legs sell at Disneyland and Disney World every year. Here’s why they taste like ham, why they’re so big, where the emu rumor came from and what one costs in 2026.

The Disney turkey leg weighs about 1.5 pounds, carries somewhere north of 1,000 calories and more than 5,000 milligrams of sodium, and sells around 2 million times a year across Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

It is turkey. It has always been turkey. And every few years somebody famous says otherwise on television and the whole thing starts over.

Why do Disney turkey legs taste like ham?

Because they’re cured like ham. The legs go into a brine of salt and sugar, get injected with a curing solution that includes sodium nitrite, and then hit the smoker. WDWNT reports each leg is hickory-smoked “for over six hours.“

Sodium nitrite is the same stuff that cures bacon and ham. It’s what gives the meat that pink color and the salty, smoky, hammy taste. Disney’s own Disneyland menu page just calls them “cured, smoky turkey legs,” which is honest.

That cure is also where the sodium comes from. Disney Tourist Blog’s breakdown puts one leg at 1,093 calories, 54 grams of fat and 5,284 milligrams of sodium. The FDA’s daily sodium guideline is 2,300. One leg is two days.

Why are Disney turkey legs so big?

Because they come from the boys. The legs are from tom turkeys, the males, which grow to 40 or 50 pounds, per Snopes and WDWNT. The grocery-store bird you cook at Thanksgiving is usually a hen at 12 to 16 pounds. Same species, different weight class.

A 2013 New York Times feature named the supplier as Yoakum Packing in Texas and said the legs came from birds raised in the upper Midwest.

Are Disney turkey legs really emu?

No. This is the rumor that won’t die, and it has a birthday.

On March 10, 2017, Tangled star Zachary Levi told Conan O’Brien’s TBS audience that Disney’s legs were “actually emu. Those are big, big old emu legs.” The clip went everywhere.

Snopes rated it False. Emu legs are far bigger than turkey legs, and selling emu as turkey would violate the Federal Meat Inspection Act.

The rumor predates Levi, too. Magic Kingdom executive chef Robert Adams told the Orlando Sentinel in 2012, “We hear that all the time. They’re real turkeys.“

Here’s Levi’s bit, for the record. It’s funny. It’s also wrong.

When did Disney start selling turkey legs?

The late 1980s, at a single cart in Frontierland at Magic Kingdom, near the Country Bear Jamboree. WDWNT pins it to 1989. Disneyland picked them up later, and Universal Orlando has its own now.

They didn’t have a name for years. The New York Times called the turkey leg “Disney’s newest star” in 2013, roughly 25 years after it showed up, which tells you how long it took for a giant drumstick to become a personality.

How much does a Disney turkey leg cost in 2026?

At Magic Kingdom’s Liberty Square Market, $14.99. At Disneyland, prices reported this year run $12.99 to $14.49 depending on the cart. Universal Orlando charges $13.99, or $15.99 with chips.

Prices at the carts move a dollar or two most years, so check the menu board before you commit to two days of sodium.

Where can you buy a turkey leg at Disney World and Disneyland?

Magic Kingdom: Liberty Square Market, Prince Eric’s Village Market and Sleepy Hollow. EPCOT: Fife & Drum Tavern in the American Adventure pavilion. Disney Springs: House of Blues Smokehouse. Animal Kingdom dropped them in 2016.

Disneyland: Edelweiss Snacks near the Matterhorn, the Hot Foods cart by Central Plaza and Ship to Shore in Fantasyland. California Adventure: Poultry Palace on the pier.

Is there Disney turkey leg merchandise?

Of course there is. Disney has sold turkey-leg ball caps, T-shirts, sweatshirts, boxer shorts, a wallet and a car air freshener that supposedly smells like smoked turkey. A limited-edition Thanksgiving turkey leg pin from 2005 still trades on eBay.

The candle rumor, though, is one we couldn’t confirm. Disney sells scented candles.

A turkey-leg-scented one may not exist. Yet.

Two million a year, 1.5 pounds each. That’s about 3 million pounds of turkey walking around the parks in people’s hands every year, one very salty drumstick at a time.

Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.

Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Hat Tips:

• Disneyland Resort (turkey legs dining page), the “cured, smoky” description and Disneyland locations

• WDWNT (Dec. 2025), the 1989 Frontierland debut, the six-hour smoke, tom turkeys, weight and the 2 million figure

• Snopes, the emu fact check, the Federal Meat Inspection Act point and the Robert Adams quote

• Team Coco and Fox News (March 2017), the Zachary Levi Conan appearance and quote

• Disney Tourist Blog, the calorie, fat and sodium figures

• America’s Test Kitchen, the sodium nitrite cure

• The New York Times (Dec. 2013, via PJ Media), the Yoakum Packing supplier

• The Mouse For Less and Enchanted Insider, 2026 prices at Magic Kingdom and Disneyland

• Disney Food Blog (2023 and 2024), Disney World locations and the Universal price

• Disney Food Blog (Jan. 2013), the merchandise list

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