Gas pedal problem?

[Befuddled]

Got my Yaris Hatchback 5 speed a few weeks back. The problem I am having is that at the top of the gas pedal there is about 1/2" of play. This makes coordination of starting out/shifting quite difficult. I didn't have this problem on the HB that I test drove. When I first got the car I was stalling it out @ 5 times a day but now just @ once every other day. I am finding that I've started to rev a bit before starting out. I'm not new to 5 speeds as I drove my Geo Metro for 11 years and 211,000 miles before it got totalled out on 5/22/06. I haven't taken it to the dealer as yet as they are @ 60 miles away. Has anyone else experienced this? Have a fix?
Also the engine doesn't seem to 'rev down' very quickly when shifting. Makes for some pretty sloppy shifts.