Ugh, that just sounds like badness all around. At least the prof, if not a fount of morale, is being honest with you about how much it's going to suck?

I cannot imagine that being the guinea pigs for all-new experiments will be any kind of fun. On the upside, they can't expect perfect results from you. (Can they?) Although, making that kind of change while having all inexperienced grad assistance does not sound like good planning. Feh.

Good luck with everything, and yay for it being your last class! Does that mean you're done at the end of the semester, or do you still have research to contend with?