SPECULATION Thank you Disney

Bob Iger off course.

 

I agree with the general sentiment of the OP*. Disney has done an excellent job with the franchise so far, most letting Lucasfilm work on their own, with Kathleen Kennedy proving to be the best person for the job.
While it was sad to lose The Clone Wars, I've enjoyed Rebels more (it's the focus on one set of characters that does it for me). The Force Awakens is the most enjoyable movie I've seen in a very long time and is still putting a smile on my face whenever I think about it. I'm nothing but pumped for Episode VIII. Rogue One looks to be good. Bloodline is the best Star Wars book I've personally read.
This is the most I've been excited about Star Wars since it's not just love of the series that's fueling it: it's excitement for seeing what happens next in these stories.


*with the exception of the Pirates movies, which did go down hill, with the ending of Dead Man's Chest signalling the end of enjoyability for me.

 

Best time ever to be a Star Wars fan!

 

It really is. I was just thinking that. I'm of the PT generation, so I honestly don't know the answer to this question: did the series ever have this much vitality pre-Disney?

 

The closest to it that I remember was around the time The Phantom Menace came out. You couldn't escape it. But after a few months, the fervor died down, partially due to the film, but even more so due to the fact that there wasn't going to be much for the next three years outside of books.
It's nothing compared to this. I mean, here's 18 December 2015 - 16 December 2016:
The Force Awakens theatrical release
Second half of Rebels Season 2
DVD/Blu-Ray release of The Force Awakens
LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Chronicles
Episode VIII production wraps
First half of Rebels Season 3
Rogue One theatrical release

That's more Star Wars within a calendar year than any other year. And that's not going into video games (which includes Battlefront DLC and LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens)!

 

No never, indeed as the poster above said, before the theatrical release of The Phantom Menace. Nowadays SW is all over the place and everyone seems to like it very much. That couldn't be more different a few years back I can assure you. There is so much Star Wars, and so much of it is really very good.