Yes, I pulled the intake and cleared out the carbon this weekend... 72k on the odometer. What an absolute difference it made.... Got 3 mpg more on the highway to boot.

Anyway, the purpose of this post.... I went the chemical treatment route. The poison / product I used is called Carbon Off.... I choose it because it's specifically designed to dissolve Carbon, yet is not supposed to interact with metals. I felt that made it safe enough to use on the engine.

Dozens of gun cleaning patches, some compressed air and new intake and throttle body seals and I'm good to go.

Thanks to everyone for their advice, experience and knowledge.