Gold is a term used to describe the disk color (self burned or in house burned basically). Usually you outsource (if you are a small studio…and sometimes even large studios do this) to a company that specializes in the mass process of printing the disks and packaging them up…it usually takes just a few weeks from the time that the proofs of labels, packages, etc are approved before you start getting loads of pallets with your packaged game either delivered directly to you for distribution or if you already have them in place and ready to receive to retail locations for sale. Nowadays though things are moving more and more towards digital distribution which takes a layer of cost out of the equation when it comes to the distribution/release of a game.