I'm not super happy about Nintendo reusing the same overworld, but at least they picked the best one (in my opinion) if that is that case. I always appreciated how there were multiple ways to enter the forest, multiple bodies of water, and one of the best mountain regions in a Zelda (Death Mountain is practically a mini-dungeon if you explore every nook and cranny). Maybe since Nintendo is going back to it, they'll see what made
ALttP's overworld so great. Same goes for everything else in
ALttP.
I'm guessing this game started off as a straight up 3D remake of A Link to the Past, but they got more ambitious as they went on (like what happened with Ura Zelda to Majora's Mask). I think it would be really effective to put up this front that the overworld is the exact same, then completely throw off the player when we find out that Lake Hylia now has an underwater Zora City, or the Lost Woods now leads to a completely new area not seen in
ALttP.
BTW, have you played the Oracle games? I know you weren't a fan of Link's Awakening (

), and the Oracle games run on the same engine. I like them, but I'll always have a soft spot for Link's Awakening. Hey, since this is the same Link from those games, maybe we'll see returning content from those games? Maybe.