It does not matter, have you seen the Phase II ship? The TMP ship is the same size and shape. There is simply no way it is the same ship., unless TOS was wrong. But those movies are full of errors and fans have been trying to make them work for ages.
You can't be all hard-ass on one point with the "creators said so" because you agree with them, then turn around and try to shove your own interpretation in because you disagree with something.
That's hypocrisy.
In Star Trek, the 1701-refit is a continuation of the 1701 from TOS. Live with it.