Right off the top, I would say, don't do the meal plans. They aren't really necessary for DL.
A good hotel choice is Hojo's (entertainment card rate available for $59). If you want to stay onsite, be prepared to pay anywhere from $195-450 a night. It isn't like the hotels in WDW. The parks are very close together and you don't have to take a bus or other transportation to get there. In some cases it is just across the street from your hotel, or through downtown disney for an onsite hotel.
The blue bayou can not be beat for ambience - the menu isn't all that great unfortunately, but you can check it out at allears.net In fact, I would suggest checking the menus for all the restaurants out there. If you like Japanese - You have to go to Yamabuki in the Paradise Pier hotel - the food is amazing.
You need to see Fantasmic at least once to compare to WDW version.
Any more questions, just ask.
