I agreed to bake a cake for a friend's daughters birthday this upcoming Fri. Now as it turns out we are leaving for vacation on Sat and I need more time on my hands. I want to bake the cake today and freeze it until Thurs? Then decorated Fri? Is this possible? Will it be as fresh? How do I thaw it, fridge or counter, covered or uncovered? Do I wait until it is completely thawed before putting fondant on it?
Lots of questions....any tips would be helpful! Thanks....

I always read to bake your cakes ahead of time and then tightly wrap and freeze,so I tried it and it is great.The cakes are actually moister and easy to crumb coat and fill while still cold.Just thaw it at room temp covered.

Yep you sure can freeze then decorate. I do it all the time. About the fondant My guess would be don't get a lot of moisture in there let it unthaw good. I don't have people wanting much fondant covered cakes here. They don't want to pay for them. Good luck.

Yes, freezing undecorated cakes is a great thing, just like KristasKakes78 and debster say. They settle better and are moister, though I don't know why. Just make sure you wrap them up tightly - I generally use two layers of plastic wrap and two zip-top bags per layer - or they'll dry out instead of being moist. If you don't live in a high-humidity area, you can actually crumb-coat them and cover them with fondant after they've thawed but while they're still cold. Some people even refigerate fondant-covered cakes till they need them. I can't where I live, because with 60-70% humidity every day the condensation that forms when I take it out of the fridge is enough to melt the fondant. Even in low humidity there will be some condensation, but usually not enough to interfere with the design of the cake, and it usually dries up in a few hours. Good luck and have a nice (and, I'm sure, well-deserved) vacation!