I'm one of those folks who are Disney adverse after 72 hours - my wife however can spend up to 5 days. So we've had some trips where I'm psychotic on day 4-5 but she and the kids are just fine. Its just a matter of how much you can tolerate. Know your limitations. Fair's fair, I was also stuck in the middle of Its A Small World for almost 1 hour when the ride shut down, and the small current couldn't carry us out. The water stopped, but the music carried on, and on, and on. Disney ended up hauling us out of our boats and walking us out the emergency exits, a kind of long process involving ladders. So I'm not a fan of Its a Small World... little Icelandic singing and dancing dolls still cause me to react, sorta like some people and clowns...

And moving pretty far from basic preps, but the Internet is your best friend on this one, try sites like mouseplanet.com to assemble your game plan for attacking the park for maximum rides and minimum lines, find out about promotions, schedules, discounts etc. Choosing the best time of year to go to DL is key, our best trip ever was mid-December, when they have the whole park decked out in holiday decorations, put on Christmas shows, almost every ride was up and running, and (California) kids are still in school, so crowds were very small. Walk on any ride we wanted. Also by using FlexPass and taking a few days to see the park(s), it gives you the freedom to walk away in the afternoon, take a nap, go swimming, relax, eat a meal, and head back to the park for the evening. Short hours don't matter as much when you have an extra day to do the park.