This Friday, Nov. 16, 2007 file photo provided by Disney shows Pilgrim Mickey Mouse at Ten Star... 
(AP)
At Thanksgiving, turkeys are in the spotlight, but not all of them end up on our tables.
One lucky bird is appointed National Thanksgiving Turkey, appearing at the White House and getting an official pardon from the president.
It's the high point of a turkey's career. But once he's whisked off the stage, what happens?
In recent years, the pardoned turkey and its alternate have had the good fortune to retire to the site of many a dream vacation —Disney World and Disneyland.
The first pardoned turkeys to go to Disneyland were Marshmallow and Yam in 2005. In his speech that year, President Bush joked that their retirement location had been changed because the turkeys "were a little skeptical about going to a place called Frying Pan Park," a historic farm park in Virginia that had been the home of the previous honorees.
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.
They served as honorary grand marshals of the Thanksgiving parade, riding on the first float. But once the holiday was over, like many of us, they had to go on a post-Thanksgiving diet.
"They arrived very heavy," says Matt Hohne, acting animal operations director for Disney's Animal Kingdom. "They were immediately put on our conditioning program."
Turkeys get the same attention to their nutritional and health needs as any more exotic species at Animal Kingdom. Excess weight is unhealthy for animals as well as people. For the turkeys, for example, it's bad for their feet to constantly support the extra pounds. Now that their weight is down, Hohne says, their activity levels are up
