Basically, the first time I attempted to get to 85 from 80, with my paladin tank, awful experience, it took me a long time. I am now on my third 85 and as it only took me 2 days, approximately 19 hours to get from 79 to 85 and get in good enough gear to go to Cataclysm heroics I've decided to share my experience.
What do you need?
First of all, time! You won't get anywhere without it.
Secondly, patience. This is something I'm lacking but managed to endure it and get my head around it.
Thirdly, a flying mount! Whichever speed is fine, I don't spend my money on the artisan riding skill but on the fact I'll be able to fly anywhere. Something which you most likely already have by now.
Fourthly, tabards. When choosing your class and spec you should also make sure you can get the right enchants. So for your shoulder (unless you're an inscription fan) and head enchant you will need to be revered with a specific faction, just like Wrath of the Lich king expansion and so on.
The shoulder enchants are all from Therazane, yes that big lady in Deepholm. To even be allowed a tabard from her you must complete a set amount of quests in the area. I will come to this later.
The head enchants are from different factions for different stats, all of them requires revered;
60 intellect and 35 critical strike damage - Guardians of Hyjal
90 stamina and 35 dodge rating - Earthen Ring
60 agility and 35 haste rating - Ramkahen
60 strength and 35 mastery rating - Dragonmaw Clan/Wildhammer Clan
What you should already have is professions, in my case I went with herbalism and inscription from the beginning, this meant I could herb as I went and get free glyphs, which is as expensive as epic gems on my realm. I found it being easier with a gathering profession as every time you herb, you get experience.
When I found myself at level 80 I was going to go down the route of Vashj'ir as I had before, but decided against it, best decision of the day. Instead I went for Mount Hyjal, it is not only easier to navigate, not being water and all, but to me the quests are just more exiting. So grab yourself the quest of the board in your capital and begin your travels.
Since this is not a levelling guide I will not go through every quest in the area, because they are so nicely laid out, start at the beginning and keep going until you get the [Coming down the Mountain] achievement. At this point you should be level 83.
Boosting your experience is the important part of this, always be in the Dungeon finder, it will not only get you experience, but also brilliant gear and achievements to make the killing easier. The quests in the dungeons are also a brilliant source of free experience as you automatically do them when you run the dungeons, over and over again. Another way is of course to use your gathering profession to boost the experience coming in. I found myself surprised when I realised I got almost 4000 XP for every single plant picked. Now that is a mob killed without rested experience. What you shouldn't do is fly around looking for the herbs, massive waste of time and not worth it at all.
If you don't have a gathering profession and just want to quest, that is perfectly fine by me. I would suggest you kill every single mob you come across in your travels, if there is a patrol around the mob you want, kill it instead of waiting for it to move. You will get experience and you will complete your quest sooner = saving time!
Another way of getting that little extra experience is exploring! Last time I checked you received 2000 XP for each area discovered, and don't forget those achievements! Don't go out of your way exploring the first thing you do in Mount Hyjal, you will go to every single area, and if you are close by to something undiscovered, just fly over and get your free experience.
So one way or another you have got yourself to level 83. Doing it through quests + dungeon finder + gathering + exploring? You will be done within 6 hours, without being rested, if you are rested you'll just fly through the levels. When it comes to getting your spells, I didn't unless you came across a trainer in the middle on Mount Hyjal, very unlikely, unless the spell is the difference between life and death for your questing.
If you for one reason or another you did not reach level 83 you have a choice, you can go to Deepholm to become eligible for the Therazane tabard to get your shoulder enchant. This is approximately 75 quests, it seems to differ from person to person, but it an easy chain to follow if you do every single quest you get. And look at it from the positive side, you get more exploring done and will be on your way to the achievement [Explore Cataclysm].
When you have reached level 83 in Mount Hyjal and not yet started a new area you should have a think, do you want to become eligible for the Therazane tabard or start a new area. This is totally up to you, if you need the shoulder enchant, which you will unless you're an inscriptioner, you can do this now or at the end of your levelling experience.
If you've decided against the Deepholm chain, or have another character being revered to buy it for you then go back to your capital and pick up your spells. Yes you're allowed to, also get profession training if needed.
From there you should pick up the quest for Uldum from the board and make your way to Tanaris and enjoy the little caravan.
Uldum for me can be a little bit confusing. You will pick up a few quests and start the chains, you will get a quest to begin the chain for Harrison Jones, brilliant rip off from Indiana Jones, which I strongly recommend. Do not do the whole chain at once as other quests will go to those areas and you won't have to fly back and forth. A general rule here is complete one area at a time, when you are done with one part, hand everything in and move on to the next. A warning, some of the Harrison Jones quest have cut scenes that are not skipable and might make you miss a dungeon finder or two (five in my case) but they are worth it.
As Mount Hyjal, you will here constantly be in the dungeon finder and exploring and gathering herbs or ores. This will again boost your experience and make the last levels go a little bit quicker. When you have gotten all the random dungeon finder justice points for the week, you may as well do the higher level dungeons, Grim Batol, Halls of Origination and Lost City of the Tol'vir as the mobs in there will give you more experience, and the quest rewards will be better. Plus, you will be bored of Blackrock Caverns, Throne of the Tides, The Stonecore and The Vortex Pinnacle by now!
After 8-9 hours of questing and running dungeons and grinding you should be level 85! Congratulations and you can now start gearing up! That however is a different post, you may need some rest after all this as your brain is likely to be a little bit tired.
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