yes and yes. my only experience is in the $104.32s and even there(so far until more old DON regs join) I see the following:
The real fish play much too loose early
As I said I think its correct to play quite tightly early(tighter than 9-man but looser than DON)
If you do this you will have a nice tight image into the middle and later game. (Obviously, the weaker the overall players the less this will be significant) Still, I think it will help you accumulate necessary chips later on.
Finally, if you do get a dominating stack on or near the bubble you still have to be more careful about trying to pwn it if you perceive that your opponents are "too clueless" to let you. I do think, however, that the prevailing perception that "they are calling way too wide" is somewhat overstated as it is correct to call wider than in a DON
Hope this helps somewhat GL