So some back-story, I've been playing Wizard101 for almost the entire span of time that the game has been out, and out of the dozens of characters I've made, I have kept only two. My first one that I kept is a level 64 and my second one who is now my main is a level 33 . The big difference about these two characters is that my I rushed through the entire game and am now half way through Zafaria at level 64 and it is very hard. Meanwhile, my level 33 is now at the very end of Krokotopia at the final dungeon and boss (no spoilers here) and I have done 2 runs of Mount Olympus and have finished Wysteria 100%, including the Zeke quest.
After 7 years, I learned from this character is that you really should do every single quest in the game, including side quests, because it really makes a difference. At this point on my I was already half way through Mooshu and it was pretty hard. So I highly suggest that you accept every single side quest no matter how crazy they are, because you will have a major advantage on the rest of the game.