Hi all! Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I'm doing my son's 2 tier cake and decorating it with buttercream/fondant. It's my first stacked cake and I'm freaking out. I already made the fondant. I already made (and am freezing) two 12-inch cakes and two 8-inch cakes. This is my thought process. PLEASE provide any feedback or things I may be overlooking or days that need to be changed.

Wednesday - color fondant. Cut out his name and let name cut outs dry so they wiill dry out. Cover cake board.
Thursday - Defrost cakes. Make buttercream. Fill and frost cakes. I use a true buttercream, but it's winter, so I think I can leave on counter to settle overnight. I've heard it needs time to settle so it won't bulge. Is that right?
Friday - Put iced cake in fridge to let buttercream (true butter - no shortening) harden for a bit. Cover with white fondant. Add decorations with color fondant accents and everything. Leave out on counter overnight.
Party is Saturday at 2:00 PM.
Questions
Do I decorate each layer and THEN stack, or stack and then start decorating?
If I'm doing a border of black race track around bottom layer, do I need to do that in advance so it hardens a bit before Friday?

ANY feedback is greatly appreciated!!!

Hi there,
All in all, I think youve got your time frame nailed down. If possible, I would cover the cake board earlier than Wednesday to allow it plenty of time to dry. Youre right that you will need time to let your cakes settle overnight to prevent bulging.
To answer your questions, you can stack and then decorate or decorate and then stack. I prefer to stack then decorate. I find it easier to do this, and I dont risk messing up the decorations in the stacking process. As for the race track, if it were me, I wouldnt do that in advance. I think that it would be easier for you to place a rounded track on the cake board if the fondant was soft. Good luck, and have fun. HTH!

Thank you so much! I appreciate it. Can you think of anything obvious that I'm forgetting to list?