^I mean, they'll use it... for 2018. This isn't the first time they have decided to take two years to build a new coaster. If I recall, I went on a construction tour of Outlaw Run in August of 2012 and it was practically finished except for the station area.
They seem to like working in spurts. Every time they start, things start flying together and I think they'll go ahead and get something finished, but then they disappear and leave it still for weeks at a time. The clearing happened very quickly, then it was still for weeks. Then the footers appeared and the bathrooms were torn down in the space of a couple weeks or so, and now nothing again... Who knows what kind of spurt they are planning for the off-season.
They could build this entire thing in the space of a couple of months if they really wanted/needed to, but they simply aren't choosing to. They will space things out accordingly I guess.
Tunnels would make me happy. Enclosing large portions would make me even happier. We'll see what materializes over the break.