There's a difference here though. Fictitious planet with unique architecture and landscaping is far more appealing than a carnival. Toy Story Land, Storybook Circus and Dino-Rama are good executions of poor themes. Pandora, Africa, and Galaxy's Edge are interpretative executions on excellent theme concepts. In each case you could have recreated a specific area (real or fictional) or you could have gone with the "inspired by" route.
It is also important to consider whether the place you are creating is actually a place where people want to spend time with their family and endlessly revisit in the future.
Using the far extreme to make a point, you can have an incredibly detailed, perfectly executed Alcatraz prison yard, but that doesn’t mean it is a successful theme park environment.
The intent is that Batuu is a very detailed, run down, remote trading port on the outskirts of the galaxy that is now under tyrannous First Order control where Jedis and the Force are outlawed.
Uh, OK. That sounds depressing, boring, and lacking fun and excitement (and (shocker) that is exactly how it turned out).
The ONLY way this direction could have worked is that the land was filled with unique Star Wars characters, wandering droids, aliens, bounty hunters, etc. at all times constantly interacting with you like an intergalactic Renaissance Faire, which they also chose not to do.
Whereas Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, New Orleans Square, Main Street, Cars Land, etc. are places we want to go to and return again and again.
That underlying, fundamental creative choice is the core of the issue. They didn’t have to go this unfortunate route as there are certainly other creative ways to create a Star Wars theme park area, this is their choice.
