Aiport traffic patterns: heavy traffic; runway directions.?

First Question: remember in the 2nd Die Hard movie, when the terrorists shut down the runway lights and traffic had to remain in a traffic pattern? how unrealistic is that? would planes keep circling like that waiting to land, or would they head to alternative airports? Is something like that enough to make an airline pilot crap his pants? he'd be burning fuel, and the traffic pattern would get more and more congested with airplanes! Second issue: When the airport changes runway instructions, and you're landing at the one end instead of the other, do the traffic patterns remain the same? the so-called downwind legs: or do traffic patterns change when the runway changes? (landing at the north end instead of the south end. east end instead of west end.)