I finally found an extension that changes the ctrl-tab functionality so it works like alt-tab and every other apps ctrl-tab.  I'm really not sure how this isn't an option in firefox but oh well.   If you want Ctrl-tab to tab based on use, not physical order then check out Ctrl-Tab or their (his?) web site, designoir.

Added bonus of some pretty thumbnails as well (an option to turn that off would be nice though).

Update: Turns out this extension is a prototype of the fix to Firefox so download it, try it and report issues :)