Jeets2: I'm finally seeing this tonight. Everytime I saw this thread I've wanted to open it and take a peek but was able to resist till now. Still haven't read any posts but really tempted. Must resist for another few hours........
Went to see it last weekend and avoided spoilers beforehand. You're making the right call. :) Get to the theater early if you want decent seats, showings are still really crowded.
I don't care for Episodes I-III, but for this one I walked out of the theater feeling like I'd finally seen a Star Wars movie again. It felt a bit "short" though---I'd have liked an extra 15 minutes of scenes that filled in a bit more backstory. They may have trimmed just a bit too much during editing, but OTOH they avoided dragging it out too long (3 hours would have been overkill).
Overall, IIRC they said "Force Awakens" was supposed to be a meet-and-greet for the new characters and filling in of what happened to the old characters, and I think they accomplished that goal. I'd give it 4 out of 5.