Here was my park schedule and my rating of the crowds (1-10 scale). From past trips to WDW I'd expect Sept. crowds to be in the 2-3 range (empty).
Thurs. 9/29
MK morning. Crowds: 5. 8AM Crystal Palace Breakfast. We got going at about 9:10AM and only did Fantasyland, the Speedway, Pirates, Tiki Birds, Jungle Cruise and Country Bears by around noon. Fastpass time for Jungle Cruise was around 35 minutes (?) when we got the pass.
MGM very late afternoon and evening. Crowds: 3. Walk onto Great Movie Ride, Little Mermaid, Muppet 3D and Star Tours. Playhouse Disney already closed when we got to it, Honey I Shrunk the Playground also closed early, and there seemed to be no more character greetings after about 4PM. We had a really nice dinner after we left at the Pepper Market.
Fri. 9/30
MK Early Entry Morning. Crowds: 7. Left park at about 9:50 for a 1900 Park Faire Character breakfast. This day was worse--long line for Dumbo even at opening, and longer lines in Fantasyland (the only land we visited that day). I think Early Entry is just not worth it anymore.
Epcot late afternoon and evening. Crowds: 7. Since we had the toddler along we only did the lamer rides--Spaceship Earth, Ellen's Energy Adventure, Journey into Imagination, Mexico Boat Ride and Malestrom. These were all mostly walk-ons but Soarin' had a 60 minute wait and even the Lane Boat Ride had a 20-30 minute wait (unheard of for September). We tried to circle the World Showcase but there were too many Wine and Food drunks on the walkways so we went to our Garden Grill dinner reservation.
Sat. 10/1
AK Early Entry Morning. Crowds: 8. We were there for opening and got on the Safari with a 10 min. or so wait. The problem is that we were done with the Safari and Pagnali Jungle Tour at 9AM and there was nothing else open. We went to Camp Mickey and waited for the Lion King Show (it was full when they began). By the time Lion King was over crowds for character greeting and everything else were large. AK really needs more attractions. We had a late Breakfastsaurus reservation so we did that meal and then played in the Dig playground for a while then left, having "done" three attractions and a playground since 8AM.
MGM late afternoon. Crowds: 7. More people there than on Friday. We did see some characters this time, and got into Playhouse Disney (there was a line but everyone got in). Also did the Honey I Shrunk the Playground before it closed. Then we went to EPCOT.
EPCOT early evening. Crowds: 8. Longer lines for Soarin and Test Track and the Land Boat Ride this day. We did do Journey into Imagination again. The kid loves Figment the Dragon and the play area after the ride. Also saw the Lion King movie at the Land. Then we began dodging drunks as we walked around the World Showcase counter-clockwise. We saw no more attactions--the lines were too long. We picked up a couple of snacks at the Turkey Food and Wine tent and then had a great dinner at the Tangerie Cafe. All other tents had very long lines. This place was busy but still had the shortest lines we saw for counter service. Still took close to 20 minutes to get the food. Next we we caught in a rain storm and we continued our tour around World Showcase and noted that Malestrom had a fairly long wait time--20 to 30 mins. Along the way we got caught in a big rainstorm and took shelter in Italy. Wife comments about the lousy condition of the women's room and I noticed the same thing in World Showcase this trip--the bathrooms are trashed.
Sun. Oct. 2. MK early morning. Crowds: 8. Worse than Friday. Lines even at 915AM for Peter Pan and some other Fantasyland attractions. MK managers were nice and opened Ariel's grotto early so we got to see her with a very small line. Big line for the 10am opening of Toontown! Took the train to Frontierland and we were able to ride Splash Mountain with little wait at around 11AM (I think they opened Splash late, Big Thunder had a good size line going). I really dislike the way they do baby swap at Splash--you have to wait outside while the other adult rides. This slows things down quite a bit. Left the park by noon.
EPCOT late afternoon. Crowds: 8. Did Journey into Imagination Again. Lines long for all the Future World thrill rides. We did another walk around the World Showcase and this time caught the toy train displkay near Germany (they need more than one train running on it though). Got a couple of snacks at the American food and wine tent. The toddler played like crazy in the hedge maze behind the UK. Then we went to Le Cellier for our reservation (and got seated and fed much later than we should have). High-tailed out of the park after our meal.
Mon. Oct. 3.
AK early morning. Crowds: 5. There were plenty of people there for opening but it was not that bad. We didn't do the safari and did the Asia jungle walk instead. This was good because no one else was on the walk and we had all the Ak staff to ourselves. All the animals were out and this is a very well-done tour. We emerged just as Kali River Rapids was opening and there was no line there but we had to skip it. We headed for Conservation Station and the train was fairly full going there but didn't feel crowded once we arrived there. Going back there was a much bigger crowd waiting for the train. At this point we decided to leave the park early and get checkout done (noon checkout). Then I dropped wife and toddler at the airport and drove back to WDW.
Epcot. Early afternoon. Crowds: 8. Crazy crowded there on Monday. Got a Fastpass for Soarin (return time: 740PM!!!). Line was 70 minutes. Very long lines at Test Track (60 mins) and Mission Space (40 mins) but I got on faster doing the single rider line. Mission Space gave me motion sickness which lasted for several hours and reccured on my flight the next day. Then I headed to the MK.
MK. Late afternoon. Really busy! Over an hour wait on fastpass for Buzz Lightyear. Most E ticket rides had long lines (BTM and SM were an hour) but I was able to do Haunted Mansion with about a 15 minute wait, then went back to Buzz and also did Carousel of Progress which had no line at all and barely an audience (I wonder why??). I left MK and took a bus to the Beach Club, thinking I might eat there then changed my mind and walked to Epcot.
EPCOT. Early evening. Crowds: 8. Busy around World Showcase but I hiked around looking for ways to use up my remaining 4 snack credits on the dining plan. Lines this day were short for most Food and Booze tents (except Italy--they must make great stuff there). Malestrom still had a long wait so I walked around to the Land Pavillion and killed a little time there before my Soarin reservation. I got bumped way up past the fastpass riders because I was a single rider. Soarin was so good that I was tempted to ride it again but the line was 60 mins and the CMs were telling people they might not get to the end of the standbys before Epcot closed, so I left Epcot and went to Pepper Market to use my last meal credit on a to-go meal then headed to my offsite hotel for the night.
