Hey, welcome to the dis! You will have such a great time in disney....especially since it's january, so no crowds!
For rides, I'd recommend most of the ones already mentioned. In Magic Kingdom: Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Jungle Cruise. In Epcot: Test Track and Mission Space. In MGM: Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster. In Animal Kingdom: Dinosaur, Kiliminjaro Safaris, and Kali River Rapids (you WILL get soaked on that last one!)
As for restaurants, I'd recommend the Rainforest Cafe (Downtown Disney and Animal Kingdom), Rose and Crown Pub (at the United Kingdom in World Showcase at Epcot), and Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater (MGM). All of the resorts at disney have great restaurants too. And I'd definitely recommend any of disney's buffets. But sit-down dinners such as the aforementioned can be pricey, so I'd suggest doing mostly fast food.....which is also really good. Some of the places I love are Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe (Magic Kingdom), Electric Umbrella (Epcot), Sunshine Season Food Fair (inside the Land at Epcot), the fish n chips stand in the United Kingdom at Epcot, ABC Commissary (MGM), Sunset Ranch Market (MGM), and *phew* Tusker House (Animal Kingdom). There are so many delicious choices at all of these places! Oh, I almost forgot, the main street bakery in Magic Kingdom and bakery in france in Epcot have awesome desserts/pastries/breakfast items.
And if you're wondering what to do with friends, don't worry.....anything is fun in disney with friends.
Can't help you with the all star question, i've never stayed there. but i've heard good things about it.
I personally am not a big fan of Animal Kingdom. I'm usually done after the 3 big rides, especially since you can see most of the animals on the safari. It usually only takes me the morning to finish what I want to do there. If you're really into seeing animals, you'll definitely want to spend the day here, but otherwise just come for a few hours or skip it altogether. I will say the few hours there are worth it, however.
Hope this helped, have a great time!