Time of year- May (after Easter breaks) is ideal! Nice weather, not humid, low crowds!
Poly- nice, comfy beds, great pool, great location to parks, walk to TTC to shorten non-monorail direct trips, good Cafe'.
Water- drink plenty, but don't drink water at AK or MK (Yuck!)
Purchases- take advantage of "ship to room"
Laundry- too expensive and far location (at Poly), but saves packing room
Character meals- skip Villians and do Chef Mickey's for dinner instead. For max character interaction at breakfast, do Garden Grille.
Water slide Parks- for thrills, do Blizzard Beach-for more subdued, do Typhoon
Disney Quest- Parks are more fun, don't bend over backwards to get to this.
Best Park- for those who like rides-MK, then MGM. For more "observation attractions", Epcot and AK are both equally enjoyable, but Epcot has more to do.
Itinerary- Don't overplan! Just have a general idea and maybe some meal reservations, then have fun!
Poly- nice, comfy beds, great pool, great location to parks, walk to TTC to shorten non-monorail direct trips, good Cafe'.
Water- drink plenty, but don't drink water at AK or MK (Yuck!)
Purchases- take advantage of "ship to room"
Laundry- too expensive and far location (at Poly), but saves packing room
Character meals- skip Villians and do Chef Mickey's for dinner instead. For max character interaction at breakfast, do Garden Grille.
Water slide Parks- for thrills, do Blizzard Beach-for more subdued, do Typhoon
Disney Quest- Parks are more fun, don't bend over backwards to get to this.
Best Park- for those who like rides-MK, then MGM. For more "observation attractions", Epcot and AK are both equally enjoyable, but Epcot has more to do.
Itinerary- Don't overplan! Just have a general idea and maybe some meal reservations, then have fun!

You've got some great tips there. I'll be using some of them soon!
, but the Star Wars thing and grad nights did not affect us (didn't even see a hint of them). As far as the parks, they closed at 9pm (except Sun, Mk closed at 8pm and MGM at 10pm)unless you bought the e-night pass for the designated parks.