Disney spokesman Duncan Wardle remembers it a bit differently. One Thanksgiving, chatting about the pardoned turkey over coffee, someone on his staff said, “Doesn’t that make him the happiest turkey on earth? We should bring him to the happiest place on earth.”

Last year’s birds — named May and Flower via online poll_ are currently living the good life at Disney World in Florida, where they were flown by a United Airlines flight that was renamed “Turkey One” for the occasion.

The pardoned turkeys are well taken care of at Disney with a special diet, handling, and private quarters.  The turkeys are generally overweight when they arrive, so a new diet is implemented to help them slim down.  The turkeys that will pardoned this year will go to Disneyland in California where they will be visible to the public at Big Thunder Mountain Ranch.