Yes! Exactly how I felt about it! Especially when it came to King Bulblin and what he said after you defeated him.
Yeah. I was pretty disappointed in it for a final dungeon. I can get it being small... that didn't bug me... it was how it wasn't all that challenging, or as you put it, a final gauntlet...
It's another of the qualities of Twilight Princess that make me not like it quite so much. Seems like the game was rushed and they threw things in without having enough time to properly polish them. Especially towards the end with Hyrule Castle and Ganondorf (whom I'm pretty convinced was not originally supposed to be in the game and was thrown in at the end).