If there's no snapshot, you won't have a delta disk, in this case you will only have the ...flat.vmdk virtual disk file which either already has the provisioned size (thick provisioning) or can grow up to the provisioned virtual disk size (thin provisioning).
Just the clarify. We are talking about a non-independent virtual disk, not a non-persistent virtual disk!? For a non-persistent disk VMware writes to a delta file when you start the VM and resets this file once you power off the VM. Such a delta file - like all snapshot files - can indeed grow up to the provisioned virtual disk size plus a few MB overhead.
André