hairy_hen said: they don't have to bother to do anything at all to make a profit at this point. The work has already been done, from their point of view. Clearly, alienating a percentage of longtime fans isn't something they're concerned about,
Your post is incorrect and based off inaccurate assumptions about revenue and profit projections.
What GlastoEls posted is much more inline with what Disney will be considering. Questions like, "would a particular release expand the existing market and would it potentially increase/drive Ep7 revenue higher?"
Your post about, "bother to do anything at all to make a profit" is again inaccurate and a rather naive assumption about how the business works. Yes, it is Star Wars and yes it is likely to generate a profit, but Disney will still carry out the necessary market research, profit/revenue projections/marketing strategy etc. Disney will be thinking of making money off its 4 billion dollar investment both long term and short term. They will not sit in their offices and think, "gee, it's star wars, release any old shite and we're guaranteed profits!"
Disney need to create, foster and maintain a certain brand quality and image in order to make profit years from now. Ep7 is merely the start to drive their Star Wars business, and the most ideal way to start is to create goodwill and trust with the existing and lapsed fanbase before driving it further with the sequels to sell merchandise.
Their starting strategy is pretty clear (discount any EU stuff to show that they're series about Star Wars as a movie series). Shoot using film, practicals, sets, models etc (Disney have purposely been showing this side of their direction. They've kept the use CGI very low key, even though the film will use plenty of CGI). This isn't out of heart felt concern for fanboys, but the beginning of their marketing and hype strategy.
If an original trilogy release would help their overall business to sell the Star Wars brand, Disney will do it.