Here's the thing - when they are planning the ride, they'll naturally consider the theme, as they need to choose colours etc. Any new ride is probably going to need conversation \ negotiation with DC regarding what theme they wish to use, so that it can be added \ negotiated onto their license.
During that negotiation, the likely time of opening \ construction would be known, so if DC had been planning any changes to the character, they would need to advise them at the time.
That said, paint \ colour scheme wouldn't have had to be that far in advance, so even if the change was known in say June 2016, there was still plenty of time to change artwork and colour scheme before shipping.