I hope so. I'd rather have a smaller laptop.
I had mixed feelings too, but I'm over that. If I'm doing something like copying CDs or DVDs, I'll do that at home. I'm so used to never watching a physical DVD, but instead handbraking it and watching it on the hard drive. A lot more convenient.
And who installs software from a CD or DVD anymore? It's all downloaded over the internet now.
Really, the benefits of a smaller and lighter laptop far outweigh the convenience of having a CD drive on the occasion you need it. You can always pack an external CD drive in your backpack if you feel you need it, and the weight and size of it is not much larger than putting it into the laptop.
If you want a smaller Mac laptop, buy an Air. That's what they're there for. cMBP will be phased out, sorry.