It hasn't been confirmed and we're still waiting to see. The only reason fans jumped to that conclusion is based on prior art of Tiana holding a lantern. That caused some people to assume that she would be a reskinned version of the Belle figures from Tokyo. I'd like for this to be the case (a lantern would also cause even more problems with a face projection if it emits a significant amount of light that illuminates the figure). But it's not what I would call concrete proof or even rumor.
There's also a physical face animatronic of Barbossa in Paris' version POTC that holds a lantern.
I strongly disagree. And unfortunately, it's probably the only way to ensure there's not a mass reduction of the amount of AA's in the ride. I would also vastly prefer that they be repaired, upgraded and reused again than to see them thrown in a landfill or sit in a dusty storage unit for decades to slowly rot away.