I'm not a huge Star Wars fan but I think it's odd that they didn't theme the lands after the movies, and instead made it its own thing. I 100% understand it for Pandora, but people didn't have any emotional attachment to the characters and specific places on Pandora in the movie. Star Wars is maybe (probably?) the most beloved movie franchise of all time. People want to be immersed in that story and with those characters, not - as Kevin put it - the neighborhood down the road.
For me, Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones/ASOIAF is my "Star Wars"; my nerd-fanboy thing. And if a theme park land was was being created based on one of those IPS but it will take place in some made-up kingdom that I never heard of, I wouldn't be nearly as excited.
As much as I don't like them, Universal clearly did it right with Harry Potter. They didn't get cute and try to make their own thing, they gave the people what they wanted - a chance to hang out in their beloved fantasy world.
I also think it's weird that the big headliner attraction ISN'T the ride based on the original trilogy, but rather the new trilogy that no one seems that passionate about. I get that these are Disney's movies, but the original trilogy is why people love Star Wars. People have been dreaming about piloting the Millennium Falcon for decades... how do you NOT make that the headliner???