Oh, I totally understand- and agree. I just really enjoyed the opening. 
There is one version of the LOTR EE that has seamless branching between versions.
The LOTR EE was not stretched. The theatrical version was brutally compressed, then the pressure was eased slightly for the EE. They’re still a lot shorter than a full treatment would have been.
They do, however, put most extended scenes on a separate track and have an “*” on the menu selection and are indicated in the booklet. Basically, you could write them down and skip those questions.
bienville - it’s all good. I’m too touchy.
and Mahaloth, et al gave CK Dexter Haven a much more complete answer. I think I need to go back to work now.
March? Wow, that was quick, not that I’m complaining. I watched all three LOTR films last week (theatrical versions), so I’m still in a bit of a Middle Earth haze at the moment, and I can’t wait for the Hobbit DVD. And while I think an EE DVD for the Hobbit is, from a filmmaking standpoint, completely unnecessary, I know come November I’ll be like wound up like a strung out tweaker until I get my copy. Like the LOTR EEs, I’ll probably watch it once straight through, once with Peter Jackson’s commentary, and once with the obligatory cast commentary, then let it gather dust on the shelf until the next EE.
I do have to wonder what the hell PJ’s going to add to The Hobbit. Was there anything from the original story that didn’t make the theatrical version? I got the conceptual art book for Christmas, and it seems like a lot more Shire based scenes were planned, like a scene at the Green Dragon, a hobbit marketplace, and the Old Took’s party where, presumably, little Bilbo meets Gandalf. This all points to pacing suicide, except that every time I see hobbits on screen, my brain tends to shut down and marinate itself in happy juices. I have a feeling I’ll be glued to the TV in much the same manor as a stoner examining the wonder of his hands for three hours.
Huh, multiple drug metaphors here. I guess Tolkien is my poison.
Here, have some pipe-weed. 
Your love of the Halflings’ leaf has clearly dulled your mind.
I thought that the lack of Shire and non-Baggins hobbits was a major weakness. There was not nearly enough sense of what hobbits are, or how the Shire is Home, given that the current movies aren’t meant just as a rendering of The Hobbit, but also to provide a bottom for the LOTR films. I’d certainly trade some scenes, or time within scenes, from the theatrical release, for the ones you mention.
Maybe I’ll buy An Unexpected Journey EE after all; I had been leaning not.
I’m still wondering whether they’ll do a single-disc Hobbit edit after the trilogy is finished.