Lager Temps

I'm thinking of brewing an Oktoberfest Beer as my next beer. I was wondering at what temp to pitch my yeast at and how to bring to lager fermentation temp? Do I pitch at a warm temp like an ale then slowly bring it to lager temps, or pitch cooler? Last year I pitched at a higher temp like an ale then put it right into the fridge(controller set at 56 degrees) and it took a long time for fermentation to complete. The beer turned out great in the end, but fermentation took like 2 months alone.

I'd also like to hear people's routine on this. 

Pitch warm and then lower, or cool wort to ~50F and pitch then? 

I've only made three batches of lager, but I found that the yeast produced more heat than ale. I expect an ale to be two degrees warmer than its surroundings when fermenting, but both lagers were a full four degrees warmer.  I had an environment in the low 50s and the brew insisted upon pushing 60.

Just something to think about.

No Takers I guess?

Cool your wort down to pitching temp and that will depend on what yeast your using. white labs pilsner 800 works best at 52 for instants, you should be able to look that up on the makers web site. Build your self a starter at say 70 degrees and work it down slowly over a few days to your pitching temp. No more than a 4 degree drop each step. You should make your starter before hand so you have a chance to build up the amount of yeast as well as drop the temp. To get a good start on a lager your going to need about a 1/4 cup of yeast to pitch or pitch 3 to 4 packs at once for a five gallon batch. I use a 2 qt jug to make my starters in so I can put an airlock on them.  If you don't have the ability to check your temp inside the fermenter keep your fridge about 3 degrees lower than what your target temp is because it is going to build up heat as it ferments. Also a good trick is to take it out for a D rest after it gets down about 2/3 of the way to your FG. Let the temp come up to about 60 for about 48 hours than pull it back down. That will give your yeast time to clean up after it's self... Make sure you pore off any excess liquid from your starter and pitch only the yeast.