brewing question

Last Saturday I picked up a Dopplebock extract kit from Northern which came with a yeast smack pack. I see on the new smack packs you can activate the yeast 1 - 3 hours before brewing. Any advantage or disadvantage to activate the night before you are going to brew?? When pitching the yeast, I heard it was better to have the wort temperature pretty close to the temperature of the yeast. How important is this? When lagering, should I wait until the fermentation activity starts to slow before cooling the beer down. Is it better to wait until I rack it over the the secondary and then put it in the refrig for a couple of weeks? Our basement is in the upper 50's - is this OK or should I lager it in a refrig at cooler temps? Thanks in advance. Jim Voosen Stillwater, Mn