Let's recap where things stand at the end of A Dance with Dragons:

• You will have the Battle of Winterfell and the Battle of Mereen within the first few hundred pages.
• You will be dealing with the Sand Snakes in King's Landing.
• Cersei will attempt to assume the regency following the death of Kevan.
• Both Margaery and Cersei's trials are going to take place.
• Arya is beginning her apprenticeship under Izembaro.
• Sansa/Alayne will be with Littlefinger at the Vale.
• Samwell Tarly is in Oldtown, forging his maester chain with Alleras/Sarella Sand.
• Victarion and perhaps Marwyn the Mage are moving ever closer to Dany in Mereen.
• Jaime is with Brienne seemingly heading to Lady Stoneheart.
• Bran is learning the greenseeing ways from Bloodraven.
• Davos is on his way to return Rickon, Shaggywolf and Osha to the North.
• Stannis holds Asha and Theon several leagues outside of Winterfell.
• Roose Bolton is losing his grip over the North by the minute.
• Young Griff and Jon Connington have returned to Westeros to reclaim his birthright.
• Arianne and Doran Martell are going to be making a big power play now that Young Griff is in Westeros.
• Dany finally realizes that she has to show her enemies the meaning of Fire and Blood.
• Tyrion is finally rehabilitated after killing his father. He was such in a such a mess at the beginning of Dance, but by the end he seemingly has returned to his normal self.
• Jon is dead or dying, but who the hell knows where his story goes from here. The Night's Watch is about to be slaughtered by the wildings that remain.

That is where the majority of the story stands at the end of A Dance with Dragons. If you think that there is going to be "lots of build-up, characters moving around on the map, a few loose ends being tied up", then I don't know what to tell you. The Winds of Winter has tremendous potential to be as action packed as A Storm of Swords.