The more obstacle you use with physics, the longer you will need to wait for it to make the collision world.
Things to check for, that may increase this time. Entities not fully on the ground using poly collision.
Items with physics being close together, but the player will never be able to get in there. trees that the player will never get close to, turn off the physics.
Checking this may yield quicker start times for your level.
Thank you.
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz, 2400 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s), 8gb RAM, Nvidia gtx660, Windows 7 Pro 64bit