The counties are different. What I do is print the calendars. Then I know if the kids are out of school when I'm planning a visit. Basically, the last week of August going thru september has very light crowds.
Orlando - August 7th
Tampa - August 6th
Daytona - August 11th
West Palm Beach - August 13th
Broward County - August 25th
Dade County - August 25th
I know what you mean about no one being there and too quiet. We just got back and Epcot felt like that to me just a few days ago. Weird. It was like a ghost town. We were walking the countries around 1:00pm and we were the only ones (or so it seemed) to be out there.
I agree. The crowds really add something to the whole fun atmosphere. If you stay onsite, the crowds don't matter. We were there with record breaking attendance and even the food places were able to process everyone efficiently and quickly.