When you say strategic reasons, do you mean to save money, or something else?
I've wondered if waiting to open something like this till next year would simply be done because they cannot open the park at 100% capacity, so they may not want to be promoting a new ride. If we're still social distancing, I doubt they'd want to see crowds waiting at 4AM in the morning like Runaway Railway.
(I know it's a ride clone, but it's also WDW, and every AP, blogger, and vlogger will want to be first and crowd the entrance like always.)
If social distancing restrictions are loosened, I see nothing wrong with opening later this year, but I'm not so sure we'll be seeing that and it just might be more prudent for them to not have to worry about wasting a new ride opening they can't really promote.
Just thinking out loud.
I can't say for sure what he means, but as I said, I really think "Strategic Reasons" would simply be to hold off on the ride until 2021 so they have something to promote. They already have RotR and MMRR. They may not be new to locals, but they are still brand spankin new and can be marketed as such all year.
If Tron and GotG are moving to 2022, it leaves a hole for 2021. Think of it like shuffling a movie release schedule around. The movie is done, but you don't release two films back to back and that's essentially what MMRR and Remy would be. MMRR was open for 11 days to the public. I've been on it 3 times, but most people haven't event been in the park since it opened. Hell, most haven't been to DHS since SWGE opened.
Strategically, it just makes too much sense to push Remy back if Tron and GotG are being pushed. Especially when you consider tourism isn't going to be booming right out of the gate.
Strategic Reasons exist for pushing to open it ASAP and exist for holding it back. Before I go through those, while I don't have 100% confidence in it, I would bet a lot on one of the two launch coasters debuting in 2021, if not both.
So...
Strategic Reasons for pushing to have open ASAP:
-Have something to market once restrictions are lifted (I know I am about to contradict an earlier statement of mine, but rides usually only get about 2 weeks of marketing/press after opening (lands excepted), and after that, it is up to guests and word of mouth to keep people coming. Ads for Rise were all but gone by the time Mickey and Minnie opened, and I would expect no new ads specifically for MMRR (aside from old billboards) upon reopening)
-Have extra capacity. While Epcot has plenty of walking space, it doesn't have too many draws for guests, which is why FEA, TT, and Soarin' get a disproportionate level of wait times compared to everything else. Especially if SSE is down when the parks return, Epcot will need all the capacity it can get.
-Better to get it done then awkwardly dawdle through the last months work of construction.
Strategic Reasons for Opening it Later in 2020:
-Doesn't force financial resources to be used rapid fire, but still gets things done relatively quickly.
-When the parks begin phased reopening, Epcot should be the last to reopen by most accounts I've heard (although some have the parks opening in a 1 park, 1 park, 2 parks manner), so this gives Epcot a little time open to adjust before bringing something new online
-Some Social Distancing measures will likely have partially eased up
-Gives something new to advertise in the void that Harmonious was originally in
Strategic Reasons for 2021:
-Creates a more direct link to the 50th
-Spread Out the Money
-Hope for even fewer restrictions
-Market in early 2021, a void that was abandoned by Guardians.
