I totally expected Carrie to be back in one form or another. Personally I think it’s cool, there’s no need to have real life tragedy influence the story out of pure convenience. More worried about the writing quality of the overall plot more than anything else.
News of a body double dressed as Leia would no doubt also leak early. It’s a wonder Yoda being in TLJ didn’t leak at all, AFAIK.
Besides the John Williams score (which I didn’t hear before seeing it) I don’t think so.