Dining Options in a park without Reservations?

[HoundDog83]

My Family and I are making our first ever visit to WDW in May and I was hoping you guys could answer a few questions I had regarding dining without reservations.
One of the great things about WDW is the level of planning that can be made, I have a spreadsheet with multiple tabs for tracking activities, packing lists, reservations, etc... . My big concern is that in traveling with three kids (Ages 9 months to 7 years), I am very nervous to make too many reservations with the understanding that our schedules may change depending on the kids' needs. We anticipate that most days we will be headed back to BRV @ WL for a nap and are trying to make sure to leave plenty of time to accommodate that .
All of that being said:
What kind of food options are available throughout the parks to just stop by place an order and either take the food with you or sit down on a bench/patio and eat?
We go to Sea World regularly and they have a fair variety of places you can just stop in (in fact non of them do reservations) whenever you get hungry.
We will be there 5 full days and currently have the following reservations:
Day 1 - Dinner at CRT (late)
Day 3 - Lunch at Akershus
Day 4 - Breakfast at Polynesia Village Resort (Ohana Character Breakfast)
Day 5 - Lunch at T-Rex Café and Fireworks Desert Party at night (its my Son's birthday this day)

I know there are lots of other wonderful places but other scheduled activities such as BBB on Day 1 and Pirates League on Day 5 seem to have us limited.

I guess ultimately I am trying to make sure that I am not eating turkey legs and churros for every other meal I don't have reservations for.

Thank you all for your help and advice!

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Go to WaltDisneyWorld.com. Things to Do -> Dining -> All Dining. Under "Dining Experience," filter on Counter Service and Fast Casual. There are 187 options.

My favorites in each park:

Magic Kingdom - Rotisserie chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe
Epcot - Chicken and lamb combo shawarma platter at Tangerine Cafe. Spicy blackened fish tacos at Sunshine Seasons
Hollywood Studios - Royal Guard Burger (with brisket) at Backlot Express
Animal Kingdom - Anything from Flame Tree Barbecue

You'll be fine. If you're used to Sea World, you'll have 10x more options.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Also, buy @lentesta's book, The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2018.

 

[HoundDog83]

Go to WaltDisneyWorld.com. Things to Do -> Dining -> All Dining. Under "Dining Experience," filter on Counter Service and Fast Casual. There are 187 options.

My favorites in each park:

Magic Kingdom - Rotisserie chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe
Epcot - Chicken and lamb combo shawarma platter at Tangerine Cafe. Spicy blackened fish tacos at Sunshine Seasons
Hollywood Studios - Royal Guard Burger (with brisket) at Backlot Express
Animal Kingdom - Anything from Flame Tree Barbecue

You'll be fine. If you're used to Sea World, you'll have 10x more options.

Thank you - I don't know why I didn't see this sooner! Thank you for your patience with me!

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Thank you - I don't know why I didn't see this sooner! Thank you for your patience with me!

That's why us experienced folks come back here. Happy to help.

 

[Master Yoda]

In addition the the myriad of quick service options @CaptainAmerica mentioned, the My Disney Experience app is great for seeing what is available around you and making last minute dining reservations.

Day trips with no prior planning are pretty common for us and we will search for a particular meal around whatever park we are in while waiting in line. If something comes up that we like we make a reservation. If not, we hit one of the quick service places.

 

[DisDadWoz]

While I personally love the thought of turkey legs and churros, I get what you're saying.
If you are staying at WL then you may also want to keep options open for dining there and also at the monorail loop resorts as each have a pretty decent selection of places to eat as well.

 

[drwadadli]

Like @CaptainAmerica said, there is plenty of styles of food to eat around the parks without eating turkey legs and churros. We eat lunch at all the parks and mostly without reservations and have never eaten turkey legs or churros!!

Best advise.....do some research via websites (allears.com, disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/, wdwinfo.com) or buying guide books.

 

[DisAl]

As a couple of others have said you can go to the WDW web page at: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/ and look at every menu for every restaurant on WDW property. We do that before we do our ADRs to make sure we are picking places where there are things on the menu the grandkids will like. Sunshine Seasons (QS "food court") at Epcot probably has more choices than any other QS restaurant on property and is one of our favorites. MY favorite of all the QS is Flame Tree BBQ at Animal Kingdom.
You can also use the My Disney Experience app on your phone to access the same information and see exactly where in the park each restaurant is.

 

[brifraz]

Also, buy @lentesta's book, The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2018.

THIS!! 100% this. I've read the new edition every year cover to cover since around 2008. Even if there isn't any amazing new information, it's good reading and gets you fired up for the trip!