DH and I have been die hard SW fans since back in the day. I was 7 in 77, and DH was 6. We relate to Cassian saying 'I've been in this fight since I was 6 years old.' I was even in the fan club in the early 80s, have my old Bantha tracks, etc.
My reminder that SW is for kids, is when I saw Phantom Menace the third time. By then, I'd developed a deep, seething hatred for Jar Jar, even now , when I watch, I like to skip all the Gungan scenes when possible. But there were 2 kids laughing and laughing at all the Jar Jar stuff, and it hit me, 'this is for them.'
My kids' favorites are the prequels and the Clone wars series, where DH and I are OT fanatics, BUT we also love CW, REbels,Solo (we just watched Solo last night) , , ROgue one, Mandalorian, etc. I liked RoTS. We're mixed on the sequels. I liked Force Awakens, love Rey ,. we both dislike TLJ , and both are of the mind that Rian Johnson ruined it. However, I LOVE the scenes w Rey and Kylo Ren. I watch those, skipping ALL the rest.
When they announced the SW hotel, DH and I knew it wasn't going to be for us, or really intended for the serious SW fans. From the start, it looked like what Disney-fied, like it was geared toward Disney fans, who also happen to like SW, OR families, whose kids are into SW, and the parents are just there because they have to be, or people who just have extra money to blow. We don't want to get all decked out in our costumes, trying to immerse ourselves, and then have the experience ruined by other folks who are not into it, or denigrating the folks who are. I've been to 2 SW Celebrations, (hope to go to more.) and being surrounded by, fans who love it as much as you, who all want to be there, is just beyond awesome. I hope the hotel will end up offering some things for the die hard fans. Maybe experiences/set ups/role playing etc for some, and the more casual fans can do something else. Can always tweak it all as time goes by.
Yeah, I don't think of Star Wars as "gritty" at all. It was always basically a live-action cartoon. Even the grittier aspects were pretty clean. Also, as much as people don't want to accept it, Han didn't shoot first, and honestly, I never understood why that matters so much. It didn't materially change the story at all.
Will agree to disagree.....Han shot first! Love that scene in Solo!
I think people do like gritty nowadays, which is why Rogue One was so well accepted. That scene where Cassian shoots/kills a fellow rebel, that's gritty. That's mostly not in Solo, which is more light-hearted, like feel good Ron Howard fare, but we still enjoy Solo, it's just different.