There’s no way to get around the ride being closed for HHN, whether it was this year or next. Right now it’s likely it’ll be both. At some point it was going to happen and we’ll just have to deal with the inconvenience until the next ride opens.
Universal did originally say September before moving to August. I also heard murmur of an even earlier closure which may have been a better option for a chance to open sooner for next HHN.