Everyone who’s been to Disney World or Disneyland has probably seen them. The giant, meat-on-a-stick, Jumbo Disney Turkey Leg.
It’s a true park icon that’s been immortalized by t-shirts, wallets, air fresheners, and even boxer shorts! Love ’em or hate ’em, we think they’re going to be around for awhile…
While you can find turkey legs in all of the domestic Disney parks, one of our favorite places to score one is Trilo-Bites. Located in Animal Kingdom’s DinoLand, turkey legs are the star of the show at this little snack shack.
Trilo-Bites in Disney's Animal Kingdom
In fact, other than a handful of fun drink options, that’s just about all you can get here. There are no other food items to be had. (I personally think that frozen Blueberry-Mango Rum Lemonade sounds like a pretty great accompaniment, however!)
Dino Land Menu at Disney's Animal Kingdom -- Click to Enlarge
Smokey, salty, juicy, and meaty, this snack isn’t just a snack — it’s a meal. You’ll definitely need to do some laps of the park to walk off the 1,000 calories you’ll take in with a turkey leg!
In fact, these are so big that many folks refuse to believe they’re actually from turkeys. Rumors have floated around that these are emu legs! But we’ve been assured that they are, truly, from your favorite Thanksgiving-time gobbler.
Disney World Turkey Leg
We’d love to hear your thoughts on the Disney turkey leg! Everyone as an opinion, and we want to know yours!
Are jumbo turkey legs among your must-have snacks at Disney? Sound off in comments about this fan favorite!
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I drooled over these for years and then finally decided to splurge one afternoon. I was greatly disappointed. As your last photo shows, there is some nasty cartilage and sharp little bones running throughout the length of the drumstick. Bummer.
Yeah I find these WAY too tough. Plus after a few bites I start to get sick to my stomach. :-/ Give me a funnel cake any day.
Whenever I find myself waiting in a line for a ride and someone near me has one of these turkey legs, I am seriously grossed out. Meat doesn’t usually bother me but something about watching someone else gnaw on a turkey leg… Yuck!
I just don’t get it. Would never think of buying one but on one of our Disney cruises they had them at the pirates night buffet. My husband and I got one to share and we only took one bite each. Really greasy, rich and too full of cartilage to even go further. I felt bad to waste but it was a no go.
Turkey leg in one hand, Gaston’s Pork Shank in the other. Now that’s good eatin’!!!!
You know who else love turkey legs? Gulls.
They always fly around people with turkey legs and snatch every piece of meat that falls on the floor.
On our first visit to Disney we saw people walking around with a huge turkey leg and thought it very strange looking. Quite frankly it didn’t look very appetizing and we had no desire to try them.
Tracy, the turkey legs on the Disney Cruise are different becuse they are covered in a barbeque sauce and I wasn’t a big fan either.
Personally, I love turkey legs but I don’t love the price. I could get a hamburger and fries for a little more than that price.
Mmmmmmm . . . the turkey legs are one of my favorite treats and a nice relief from all the carbs and sweets I devour when visiting WDW. They can be a bit dry, but, let’s face it, turkey is not the world’s juiciest animal. Sucking on bones and cartilage doesn’t bother me in the least, and I always secretly hope that I’ve unsettled a passing vegetarian or two (hehe). The legs can be messy; it’s best to eat them sitting down on a bench, hunched over with your legs spread apart, so the drippings and particles can fall to the ground (you can then gather them up with a napkin, so that others don’t step in the remnants). I contend that Gaston’s in Fantasyland should be an all-carnivorous environment; these would make a perfect accompaniment to the pork shanks.
The turkey leg has never appealed to my, though my family wants to try it. If I’m going to spent $10, I want my Mickey chocolate caramel apple 🙂
But… where does the rest of the turkey go? Can we account for an equal amount of carved turkey out and about?
The turkey leg is always on my daughter’s “must have” list since her first trip as she was 3 turning 4 (she’s 6 now). She pairs it with the frozen lemonade. My kid is not a picky eater and will happily try any type of food. I find it hilarious to watch her plow through these turkey legs (so do all the guys standing in line for their beer and turkey lol). Just a note- these do count as a quick service credit (or they always have for us).
They are delicious!!! I don’t care what anyone says. Jumbo turkey legs are one of my favorite things about Disney and I am drooling in excitement for the one I will be having next week!
I make sure I get a turkey leg at some point on every Disney trip. They’re the best ones I’ve ever tried, and I even dream about them! Can’t wait until I get to have my next one!
After an unsuccessful attempt at securing a turkey leg at Disneyland in 2005, (they ran out and we didn’t want to wait for more to come), that is all my husband talked about preparing for our first trip to DisneyWorld in 2012. After seeing people gnawing on them all over the park, we were literally grossed out and decided to pass. Alas, we just returned from DisneyWorld and my husband just couldn’t pass it up again. He purchased one and while I was totally grossed out, I decided to try it. We both agreed it is a once in a lifetime thing for us and have no reason to purchase it again. It was greasy and tough and made our stomachs hurt. How did the turkey leg phenomena start anyway?
Too funny that you posted this now…we just watched an episode Food Network Unwrapped that had a segment on how the turkey legs are cooked. Next I had to scour all the menus to find exactly where they hide them in the parks. Thanks !!
The turkey legs are from the ultimate factory farmed and bred for size animals. They are in no sense of the word quality meat. Sinewy, full of cartalidge.
Turkey does not have to be dry. Cooked and brined properly it can me a moist, flavorful meat. these, though, I’m sure that instead of putting in a smoker for a longer time they inject with a smoked floavord brine. If that’s not how it’s done it sure tastes like it is. I think they are fair. There is way too much salt in the brine, and they have a tendency to get overlooked. It may be a traditional Disney food but its one that doesn’t quite live up to its legendary status.
I’m surprised at how many people have commented on this saying how gross the turkey legs are. They must be pretty popular otherwise why would there be so much turkey leg merchandise? Personally, I love them. That smokey smell is so tempting, and the one’s I’ve had were very juicy; not dry at all. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it! 😀
I love the turkey leg but after attacking it for a few minutes it is gross. Definitely not a snack – it’s a meal. However is it really 1000 calories? Or is that the full calory count, down to the bone? I might have to rethink it cause there are better 1000 calory meal options.
Many calorie sites estimate it at over “1000 calories” while the ones that provide calorie tracking say 1000 even, with almost half if it coming from fat.
I have never found even a tiny desire to try one. To each their own though 🙂 I would rather save my stomach for other items around the World.
Read this story as i finished my left-over jumbo turkey leg from Disneyworld. My family of 4 shares a leg as a snack and we bring a ziploc to store the leftover so we can eat it later too. I found this story because my husband said they are emu, so i had to get to the bottom of that (of course they aren’t). We are annual passholders and get a leg almost every time we visit. For us, it is an economical way to snack/dine. For the record, last time we got the pork shanks at Gastons tavern and decided from now on, we’ll stick with the turkey (if you think the turkey is greasy, DO NOT get the pork!)
Ive never been to Disneylandia but I think Ive got the idea. To me turkey legs would seem to
be a wonderful alternative to sugary processed carb foods in such places. If you check out nutrition sites youll even find that the fat is relatively unsaturated. To me “Gross”implies processed not “messy”…lol
I bought on Saturday night after the fireworks August 17 to take home for the next day. It had been brined so lone it tasted like ham rather than turkey. I was really disappointed. I expected a nice smoked turkey flavor. I’ll do my own at home from now on. For the price, it is a great value…a lot of meat for about $10.00. They are way too big to eat in one sitting. They can feed three people.
I wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of having these turkey legs, but my boyfriend saw someone else eating one and absolutely had to have it. I told him I didn’t want a whole one, but that guy wanted one all to himself, so he bought us two.
It was alright at first, but as was mentioned above, it didn’t taste like turkey. I’d have to describe it as bacon flavored.
I ate it, at least most of it, but it got hard to eat when I made it to the cartilage.
I felt a little sick to my stomach for about 15 minutes… until we sang along with the Mad Hatter at the Mad T party!
Anyway, I don’t think I’ll ever be having another one of these turkey legs. Gotta find a low-carb, protein filled meal elsewhere in the park!
Best snack on our trip!!! We were so jealous of everyone when we saw them walking around the park. When we finally bought one, we all took bites and shared it, which eliminated the stomach ache problems, and calorie intake. It did have a lot of cartilage but pull through it. We loved it so much we are ordering them online to enjoy for Thanksgiving!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE THE TURKEY LEGS! They are moist, and delicious. I buy 4 at a time. One to eat now and share with my family as a snack. Then we eat the rest later. They have a nice smokey flavor and they are tasty. If you don’t like dark meat don’t buy a turkey leg. They have cartilege and that is normal. All turkey legs HAVE CARRILEGE! I love buying them and my 6 year old loves eating them. Better than the sugary crap at all the other stands. I am lookin forward to another one tomorrow. Eat em up yum. If you like white meat don’t buy a leg.
Beware of the turkey leg! We came down from Oregon to spend a week in S. California and bought a 1 day park hopper. We jad so much fun we came back today (our last vaca day). I ate 5 bites of a turkey leg that caused a grease puddle on the ground. 30 later I started to feel sick. After an hour I was so sick we had to leave and I noe have wasted a vacation day and $274 + $9 for an awful turkey leg.
Absolutely wonderful turkey. The first time I had it I believe I paid $2.75 for a turkey leg back in the 1990s. We were hooked on it since. It was enough for a whole days meal. Over the years they had been juicy to dry depending on when you get it in the day. To avoid the grease, bones, and cartilage we have resorted to eating it on a plate with fork and knife though eating it the barbaric way adds to the experience at Disney.
We go to WDW about 4 times a year and each trip means another “leg” for me. I find turkey legs to be a great meal (or snack depending on your capacity). I do agree with the feeling that seeing someone walking down the street gnawing on one is not an appetizing sight but that’s a matter of sloppy behavior and has nothing to do with the food.
But now I am even more excited because on our last trip just before Christmas I found the little kiosk by the lake in Hollywood Studios is serving Pork Shanks. now I have another new favorite. In my opinion both the Legs and the Shanks are tasty, filling and economical (by Disney food standards).
The pork shanks sound really good. I wonder if Disneyland will have them at the turkey leg cart. I doubt if I’ll do the turkey again (see post Aug 2013.).
After paying $199.00 for tickets, this is the next best way to show the abusive prices that “Disney” shoves on it’s visitors…
$ 2.50 for a 50 cents water bottle; $ 5.75 for a Bud Light that you are going to drink walking around (not sitting in a restaurant or a bar) $ 4.00 for a lemonade, $ 2.60 for a soda…
Either this guys wan to suck up to the last cent from your pocket,
or the old almighty dollar is worth less than turkey poop.
It is thanks to the greed of people like this that the value of our currency has gone down the tubes, they think that they are making the day, think that they are getting rich but it is the other way around they are making everyone poor, including themselves.
This is the way we feed the greed and contribute to the multimillion yearly bonuses of CEO Michael Eisner descendants, Robert A. Iger, and the rest od Disney’s Top management; while they keep as many employees as possible as part timers and making the minimum wage (or barely over) so they don’t need to pay benefits.
Go Disney go.
Narrow minded vision of the world.
of course if you don’t like the prices.. don’t go.
but if you go; you won’t like them.
Went to Disney world in Florida again this year 2014 keep meaning to try the turkey legs just never seem to get round to it , tried the pork shredded something or other in the large fast food hall in Tomorrowland awful should have stuck out for that turkey leg , oh well always next time
We are avid Disney fans and had our first turkey leg back in 2007. since then we have visited a few more times all the way over from England (old England).
The recipe for these legs has obviously changed and not for the better.
Back in 2007 the legs were dry but still succulent as turkey meat should be if it has been slow roasted and we can all agree to that as we have had our Mothers turkey dinners at Christmas or indeed at thanksgiving for our American cousins.
BUT during our last visit in 2012 myself and my son grabbed a leg while the girls went on a ride and could not believe the horror of what they have done to them….grease poured out so its obvious they have been injected with fluids. The overly Smokey taste and smell was over powering which can mean only one thing…artificial ingredients have been added because smoke houses don’t add that much smell or taste as was experienced here.
Needless to say that come our next visit this year (2015) we will not be grabbing a leg through fear of getting the same greasy experience again….having said that…have I just wasted five minutes of my life typing this? Will Disney address the issue? Will I get a response?….I doubt it.
Hi Graeme! Thanks for your review! There’s nothing we can do about your concerns, as we are not affiliated with Walt Disney World or the Walt Disney Company. Your best bet is to contact Disney directly through their guest services/comments line. Best of luck!