i been a raider since 2005/6...i stopped about 6 years ago due to burn out (high level end game raiding)

restarted 2 months ago cos my brother assured me its very casual now and hardly any grinding. he was right..i have 2 kids now and the nites of raiding 4 times a week are long gone.

but WOW now is very very diffrent. it took me just 3 weeks with help from my brother to be raid ready 

here are the big diffrences that made wow much more casual friendly

- boost to 90 for new accounts
- tokens for raid level gear and lvl 100 gear (no need vendors, no more gettting gear you cant use)
- dual spec...u click one button...u can be healer or tank, all your spells and toolbars change and your gear changes automaticly
- raids that scale..last time..if you full 20 or 40 raid party didnt show up..u were screwed, now raids scale...more ppl u have..better loot drops and boss have more HP
- Garrison, you have your own garrison with mineshaft,herb garden, JC etc...just logging in for 15min every morning, you can gather all the ores, herbs, food you need. As well as followers and ships that go out to gather gold and gear for you
they split the raids into many categories now...for pure noobs and casuals..up to the cutting edge, hard core raiders

but if you want to come in..might as well wait for Legion Expac in 2 months, everything will change again...no point starting now. Legion will have boost to 100

There are different modes of play, so you will have to decide which is the "end game" for you.

If you are satisfied with clearing the final boss on LFR or even Normal mode, then I'd say it's achievable via "casual play".  However if you are planning to go all the way, defeating the bosses on the Mythic levels, no, I don't think being a casual is realistic.

I used to raid with a progression guild back during WOTLK, and my schedule was more like a 5 day raid week (3-4hrs commitment per session).. and that's only on my main.  We were also expected to raise decent alts in the event that they are needed for certain situations.  Those were awesome days, but gotta say that WoW ended up feeling like a 2nd job to me.

So if I buy physical box I wont get 100 boost?