I was just up at Bretton Woods, where I'll be teaching this upcoming season. The gondola will be done when they open the mountain for skiing; it's almost done now. It will definitely be used during ski season to deliver skiers to the summit. In the past it took two lift rides to get to the higher summit; the gondola will make that a shorter ride.
With the gondola in the game, there will be three lifts within walking distance from the lodge that get skiers to blue terrain, plus a beginner lift to beginner terrain. I'm guessing that weekend lines should be shorter. On weekdays there are no lines.
BWoods usually opens before Thanksgiving. They blow a ton of snow on grassy (not rocky) slopes, so it doesn't take them many cold nights to get terrain open. They offer those early December cheap tickets every year, for a limited time, just to get people there before Christmas vacation. I'm not sure you can still buy those tickets, but if they are still available, it's well worth it. But of course it's a gamble on how much terrain will be open before Dec 15.
If you are interested in views, Bretton Woods, when it's fully open, has them. You can look down on the Mt. Washington Hotel from its summit; that's a rush. Wildcat has great views from its summit; you can maybe just barely see skiers hiking up Tuckerman Ravine on a clear day. Cannon, from its summit, gives heart-stopping views of Mt. Lafayette across Franconia Notch -- whenever it's not socked in with fog.
As a rule, Sundays are less populated at all New England mountains.
