My family was there Thursday, I got there Friday, and we drove past Saturday. They told me Thursday was indeed more crowded than we expected. They didn't get on the train unfortunately, but were able to do a few things and had a reasonable time. Friday was very busy during the day until 7ish. The crowds did die down in the evening, but one train ops and half the food stands being closed still made for long lines everywhere.
On Saturday the line to get into the park was as bad as I've ever seen it before they even opened, and I think it was only 1:30 or so before the park was posting their usual high crowd notice telling people to wait till 6:30 to come.
Didn't get to see the shows since I was with the niece and nephew and they just wanted to ride, which I am happy to oblige. We never did get on the train this year. For some reason it didn't open until 4pm on Friday. We actually ran to it first as a group and were disappointed. Very strange to not only have just one train running, but to open it so late. It sounded like they had two trains running later on though. Seems like another staffing issue?
We had a reasonable time all-in-all. Got to do most of the coasters and a number of GE rides with the kids, in addition to the mine with the whole family. I do feel that the crowds are getting to be more of a pain than ever. Maybe I'm just spoiled from the good old days when we could come in and do everything in the park easily. Of course back then there was technically less to do, but the experience feels more fulfilling when you aren't standing in lines most of the time.