Hi Hannah! This is a great question because you're right, it's often heard "If you don't make dining reservations as soon as you book your vacation, you'll starve!"
The tradition of waking up at 0'dark:30 to make dining reservation 180 days before you step inside Walt Disney World Resort goes back to before I was born. However, dining at Disney has improved so much thanks to
My Disney Experience. You're literally able to "look and book" dining reservations any time, from anywhere, all across Walt Disney World Resort.
Rest assured that if you don't book dining reservations now, you'll still have plenty of options without needing to pack a backup emergency sandwich. Counter service restaurants, culturally authentic kiosks, even food trucks - there truly is something for everyone. New dining options are constantly introduced, and all locations are listed on the
Dining page. You can even filter your search to show only non-reservation Quick Service options by checking the "counter service" and "fast casual" boxes.
Also note that most Table Service restaurants do hold a number of tables each day for walk-up guests. Stop by first thing in the morning to check if there are any openings, or sometimes you can find open tables within the
My Disney Experience app. We like to play "what dining options are open later today" as a way to pass time while standing in an attraction queue. And we once walked-up to Cinderella's Royal Table and were seated within 20 minutes. You never know what will open up!
I hope you find some great options that get you even more excited for your upcoming vacation, Hannah, and we'll see you real soon!
~Kristen