I take it that the mtgox delay in withdrawing funds only exists for mainstream currencies (GBP, USD etc), and not for bitcoin withdrawals?
If you don't live in Japan or don't plan to withdraw Japanese Yen from MtGox to a Japanese bank, don't use MtGox!
Withdrawing Japanese Yen is, what I heard, fast.
But withdrawing USD or EUR from MtGox is simply not possible... This since mid July!
Withdrawing bitcoins works perfectly. It takes about one minute to appear on blockchain.
When you withdraw bitcoins and the transaction doesn't show up on blockchain, then just wait 72 hours and don't panic.
The withdrawal will be made again but with another transaction ID.
Be aware that in the last couple of days fiat withdrawal from Bitstamp has been impossible. They acknowledged the problem and said they are working on it.
Bitstamp made an update about that issue.
They say that it is resolved.
https://www.bitstamp.net/article/banking-software-issues/