I think it's worth noting, most of the fandom had the exact same opinion at the time. There was a lot of widespread rejoicing (without regard to politics) at the thought that not only were we going to get more Star Wars movies, they'd be made with the same care and attention as the early MCU movies. Disney's decline wasn't nearly as apparent. Rogue One came out and there was even more rejoicing because it was good, had a female lead that wasn't woke, and generally everything looked rosy as we prepared for the main event.
Then we got the sequel trilogy and places like SB had to lock every thread about them for a couple of years straight to make sure there wasn't any wrongthink going on and people weren't generating reports.
That's true, although there were worries from the start and throughout. My recollection of events (which I
try not to distort with my own opinions, to be clear):
1. Sale of LucasFilm to Disney is announced in late 2012. Fans generally overjoyed, as you say. The prospect of new sequels is seen as a big positive. The most recent MCU film at this point is
The Avengers, and people hope that Disney will do with LucasFilm what they did with Marvel. Even most hard-core EU fans are readily willing to accept that this means the end of the post-Endor EU. The Denningverse is pretty controversial ayway. Some fans hold out hope that some of the post-Endor EU (like, through
Vision of the Future) will remain canonical. Most people are realistic enough to know that's not happening.
2. Disney announces the
entire EU is scrapped. Even everything pre-Endor. That wasn't so universally expected, and there's some real grumbling about this. Casual fans of course don't give a fuck, but to hard-core fans, this seems like a pretty big shock.
3. The notion of Abrams as director (but
not writer!) is received very well, as is the idea that they're using an outline provided by Lucas. This, after all, fits with the general understanding that Lucas is a great "ideas guy" but bad at writing it out in detail (and particularly bad at dialogue/charactisation).
4. Abrams takes over as writer. Lucas's notes are, apparently,
not being used. That's again of no concerne o casual fans, but to peple who are really into SW, I recall this being viewed as pretty worrisome. ("Ah shit, this better not be another
Into Darkness...")
5. Trailer for TFA comes out. Looks really good. Additionally, they've
really stressed in the previous year that Kasdan (whose reputation, rightly or wrongly, is at this point that he had a big role in "fixing" the writing for Lucas) is the co-writer. Overall enthousiasm is enormous.
6. TFA comes out. Overall reception is positive, with the big complaint being that it's a re-hash of ANH and basically a soft-reboot. But there is a minority of fans who point out that it has
all the typical Abrams-isms (which usually don't cause problems initially, but further down the line). But overall, the opinion is: "It was spectacular but un-original, and it left a lot of questions. If we can get a good follow-up addressing that, everything's golden!"
7.
Rogue One comes out. Generally received very positively. Things still looking good.
8. In the run-up to TLJ, its writer-director shows himself to be an utter ass, actively trying to crap all over the fans. The mood begins to shift.
9. TLJ comes out. Most of the older fans (meaning "those who were SW fans before Disney") hate it. It's heavily pushed by the critics (because Johnson is part of their clique, and Disney is pushing for positive reviews) and defended by a cadre of new fans (meaning people who only got into SW with the sequels). In actual fact, the wider public, while not caring so much, doesn't like the film very well.
10. Which is demonstrated when
Solo comes out, and audiences stay away in droves. This has little to do with
Solo, which is okay-ish on its own terms, but with the fact that TLJ has killed audience enthousiasm. By this point, the people who were worried from the start have been vindicated. Abrams was a hack, and Johnson is a jerk.
11. TRoS comes out, and it is
crap. From this moment on, Disney is forever fighting an up-hill battle. Which could be fixed by moving to the small screen and delivering great content there, but...
12. ...That doesn't pan out, either.
Rebels is okay but not the "new TCW" they were hoping for.
Rebellion is crap and nobody watches it. Releasing a final season TCW is a good move, but it's a one-off by default, and they put in some
really annoying new characters, which confirms that "Disney additions" are just detrimental.
The Mandalorian starts off promising, but loses speed too quickly.
Book of Boba Fett is a mess,
Obi-Wan Kenobi is even worse.
Andor is actually good, but you're left wondering: will it
stay good, or will it deteriorate like everything else...?
All of this has been a long way of saying that I agree with you. Things really went off the rails after
Rogue One, namely with TLJ. But of course the rot was already there. If they wanted things done right, they shouldn't have rushed it. They should've given Arndt the extra year he
knew he needed to write a good script for VII, they should've kept Abrams from being involved in the writing, they should've kept Johnson out altogether, and they should've assembled a behind-the-scenes writing/continuity team to map out the overall plan for SW (and that team should've consisted of actual writers, with someone experienced in charge -- the way Luceno ran things for the NJO series).