Spoke with one of the guys who recently went to NY, his view was spend 1 night tops at DC, and spend another 2 at NY. He wasn't much fussed with DC, did a day trip and was happy with that. Toronto is for the falls, may look at staying at the falls, iteself, not sure yet.
If you've been to Surfers Paradise, you've been to Niagara Falls. The place is tacky. The falls themselves are a grand sight, and the Maid of the Mist ride is fun with a blue plastic jacket. Toronto is Sydney without the Harbour. Niagara on the Lake is one of the sweetest little villages you could hope to find. Icewine is worth a taste.
New York, I could spend a year poking around and not run out of things to do. It's that sort of place, with a story on every street corner.
DC: my first visit there was six days and I could have doubled that easily. There are some fantastic museums and galleries and sights around. Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial is to stand in majesty. The two huge Air and Space Museums are a must for anyone with the slightest interest in planes.
Orlando, I dunno. For myself, a day at Kennedy, a day or two at Disneyworld, maybe a swamp tour.
Hawai'i. Again, Waikiki is Surfers Paradise without the golden beach. Tacky. Pearl Harbor is worth a look, but the feeling there is that nuking civilian Japan was legitimate payback for a military attack, and I felt quite uncomfortable with that, having been to Hiroshima a week or so earlier. Getting away to one of the other islands for a night or two could be good value.
I'm never going to put together the perfect holiday anyway. My philosophy is that if I miss something, I'll catch it next time around.
But you'd have to go out of your way to be miserable with the destinations you've selected. You'll do just fine.
Actually, one bit of advice, and you've got to be a really geeky kind of guy to follow it, is to buy the
National Parks Passport and hunt down the stamps for national parks, monuments, buildings and so on. I bought the big
Explorer book at Antietam last year and had a lot of fun at the various visitors centres. If you have any interest in history, you'll find all sorts of amazing places, often with a cafe and clean toilets attached.