My main is a night elf druid - took me about 5 months to get him to max lvl. (around 2-3 hours a day workdays and 5-6 on weekends) -- im in no hurry to lvl because i was doing other stuff as well. (exploring, professions - herbs, skinning, fishing, first aid + archaeology and other stuff). He's generally an achievement junkies. I intended for him to stay that way.

My 1st alt to hit 85 was a holy paladin. Took me 2 months to work it (heirlooms only + Guild Perks) with max on both professions - herbs and alchemy. Both my 85 toons are DS geared.

Currently working on another alt Discipline priest. Working on it for 1 month now (lvl 62 currently). Profession - tailoring and inscription (Max at current lvl - TBC) . expecting to ding 85 in another 1-2 weeks. Hopefully before MoP goes live. I USUALLY lvl the toon and their profession simultaneously, thts why it took them awhile for me to get them to 85.

I wish a hv the time to lvl faster, BUT thats just not my way of playing WoW. I want to enjoy it.. learned all they can offer or do..

for fast lvling, you need heirloom gears, Guild Perks (Fast Track) and Recruit A Friend (RAF).

Sorry, i hv no idea how RAF works. Since it can grant you lvl up til 80. i think WotLK expansion is enough. but after 80, you still need to do quests or dungeons to get to 85.

then again, i might be wrong.

lvling is tedious work without RAF or heirlooms (BoA). My lvling time is cut in half with BoA, no RAF yet tho. (went on around my workplace trying to "persuade" colleague to play WoW.. ). Went to ALL IT the other day, they sell WoW package -- Battlechest (vanilla + TBC), WotLK and Cata for RM299..

I first started out with a druid, with gathering profession (herbs and skinning). mainly because i hv no other toon and its the easiest way to gather a few gold at early stage. Flight form FTW.. If you really want to make lots of gold try Mining and Jewelcrafting. You can get gems from mining. However other mats for it such as sockets you'll hv to get it from AH.