No it's not autosave unless you see the disc in the corner. This started happening to me too after Mistlands came out on the test server. It was reported in feedback. I hope they fix it.

I was used to the freeze during autosave, which they seem to have moved to dawn instead of in the middle of the day. I wasn't even all that bothered by the first load freeze that happens the first time my character tries to walk after loading in because that only happens once. This is a new one.