Last year for Thanksgiving I wrote about the Presidential Turkey Pardon tradition. For many years now the pardoned turkeys make their way to a Disney Park to lead the Thanksgiving parade and then retire in luxury at Disneyland or Disney World. As of this year, however, pardoned turkeys are no longer being welcomed into the parks.
The OC Register reports that this year Disney parks officials decided to stop hosting the pardoned turkeys. The decision doesn’t have anything to do with officials’ satisfaction with the tradition or any problems they’ve had with the turkeys but is, unsurprisingly, related to marketing.
Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown said a decision was made that throwing a party for the pardoned turkeys doesn’t fit with the parks’ new promotional campaign “Let the Memories Begin.” That’s the only reason why the turkeys will no longer retire to pomp and circumstance at Disney.
Don’t feel too bad for the turkeys; they might not get to go to Disneyland anymore, but they won’t end up homeless or destitute either. The National Thanksgiving Turkey and its alternate will now, for this year at least, make their new home at George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estates and Gardens in Virginia.
To be honest, it makes a lot more sense for turkeys that starred in a presidential ceremony to then live out their days at a former president’s residence. Not to mention that Mount Vernon is a much shorter trip from Washington, DC than either Orlando or Anaheim. I did think it was a bit ridiculous that in prior years the turkeys were flown first class to one of the Disney parks, even if the House of Mouse footed the bill.
Although I don’t really care where the pardoned turkeys end up, so long as they are treated humanely (and I’m not actually concerned that they won’t be), I am a little perplexed as to the reason given for the cessation of Disney’s involvement in the tradition. I don’t understand how hosting a pardoned turkey doesn’t fit with the idea of “Let the Memories Begin.” Apparently the theme means to evoke visitors’ memories of the Disney parks and encourage them to make new ones.
The pardoned turkeys have only retired to the Disney parks since 2005. That might not be long relative to the age of the whole pardoning tradition, but still for nearly a decade they were Grand Marshalls at the Disney Thanksgiving Day parade. I think that makes the pardoned turkeys a valid part of Disney park memories. There could be kids from the Anaheim area who can’t remember a Disney Thanksgiving Day Parade without the pardoned turkeys leading the festivities.
That being said, it doesn’t matter to me whether or not turkeys actually make their way to Disney parks. It just irks me when marketing campaigns determine the entire direction and practices of a company. I feel like that stifles creativity and innovation. But it was a silly, if endearing, tradition to begin with and I think Mount Vernon suits the turkeys better anyway.
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*(This image is by the United States government and is in the public domain and licensed for free use.)
