Disney World Calendars Year-Plus Construction Project at Coronado Springs Resort

Walt Disney World has added another hotel refurbishment for 2026 and 2027 to the construction calendar, this time at Coronado Springs Resort. As presently announced, the project probably won’t concern most guests, as appears confined to the convention center. However, the work will likely continue beyond what’s currently calendared, with room refreshes into 2028.

In the last few years, Walt Disney World has done a pretty good job of ‘catching up’ on room refurbishments that were deferred during the COVID closure and phased reopening. There have been several high-profile projects, a few of which are slated to wrap up soon that’ll free up resources for other big overhauls.

When that happens, it inevitably means that more new hotel renovations will be announced, which is precisely what we’re expecting with Coronado Springs. For a high-level overview of what’s currently underway, recently completed or upcoming, check our 2026-2027 Walt Disney World Hotel Construction Tracker.

Here’s the official announcement from Walt Disney World about the Coronado Springs Convention Center construction:

From August 10, 2026, through late September 2027, the Convention Center at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort will undergo a planned refurbishment. The El Centro Corridor and surrounding areas will also undergo a refurbishment tied to this work.

Work will be completed in phases, with individual spaces being temporarily inaccessible at times. The work will take place overnight to help minimize impacts to daily operations. During this time, Guests may see or hear construction activity in the area.

For reference, El Centro is the former lobby area of Coronado Springs back before Gran Destino was added and displaced it. The corridor that connects El Centro to the Convention Center runs between El Mercado de Coronado Food Court and Rix Sports Bar & Grill.

When Pepper Market was converted into El Mercado back in 2018, it received a refurbishment that basically just stripped some of its personality away. The most notable change was the removal of the gigantic Central American figures and all signs of a celebration, along with anything colorful. For a resort that’s not exactly brimming with personality, it was a bad move. But that’s not the point.

Rather, it’s that the upcoming refurbishment is unlikely to involve the food court. Our expectation is that, whenever the El Centro Corridor is unavailable (if that ever happens), it’ll be beyond the restaurants and into the actual area of the convention center.

The 220,000-square-foot Coronado Springs Resort Convention Center features 2 ballrooms, including the largest in all of Walt Disney World at 60,214 square feet, as well as an exhibit hall, and 45 breakout rooms.

Those ballrooms are so large that Coronado Springs was able to not only host the NBA Bubble (remember that?!) back in Summer 2020, but teams were able to set up multiple practice courts in each of them. It was also the preferred resort of teams, who felt Gran Destino was nicer than the Grand Floridian or Yacht Club.

While my basketball career doesn’t involve any playing time at Coronado (or anywhere), I’ve spent a lot of time at the convention center for various events. Most recently, last year’s Destination D23. I’m not surprised it’s getting a lengthy refurbishment, as I could see it being construed by conventioneers as dated. To each their own, but I like the way these spaces look.

Since it wasn’t really touched back in 2017-2019, the Coronado Springs Resort Convention Center actually has personality. That’s presumably why it’s getting a year-plus refurbishment now, and I’d expect it to emerge with a more vanilla appearance. That just feels like an inevitability here, unfortunately. Regardless, here’s hoping that it’s done in time for the 2027 Destination D23!

Speaking of the 2017-2019 refurbishment of Coronado Springs, that’s the last time the guest rooms were touched. Most of those were done by 2018, so it’ll have been ~9 years since the last refurbishment by September 2027.

Given that, it is our expectation that this project will be expanded at some point to include a room refresh. We’ve similarly (successfully) predicted such projects at Port Orleans, Animal Kingdom Lodge, and other resorts (jury is still out about whether we’re right when it comes to the All Stars).

In all likelihood, history will repeat itself again with Coronado Springs Resort. That’s because Walt Disney World undertakes soft goods and hard goods refurbishment on a set schedule.

Based on that, it’s likely that Coronado Springs will receive a room refurbishment in the next 18 months.

In all likelihood, it’ll be a smaller scale refresh rather than a top-to-bottom reimagining. You’ve probably seen the term “soft goods” refurbishment. That’s what this would be. This typically means updating furnishings, including but not limited to wall coverings, flooring, linens, decor, and some furniture.

The definition of a soft goods refurbishment is a bit nebulous, and has included ambitious projects for certain resorts. Some have received soft goods refurbishments in the last few years that included installation of the new pull-down beds. Others have swapped out almost all of the furnishings and furniture, giving totally new looks to the rooms.

Others have simply refreshed the decor and infused more personality into the rooms by adding character art, more color, and little details. These rooms would very much be recognizable in a before vs. after comparison, but were still incremental improvements.

It’s really difficult to say what the next Coronado Springs Resort room refurbishment will entail, even if it is “only” a soft goods refresh. On the one hand, the rooms here have held up shockingly well. I stay at CSR more than anywhere else, and have zero complaints about wear and tear. If anything, that might be reason to kick the can down the road and prioritize a different room refurbishment first.

On the other hand, the reason I stay at CSR so often is because it always has availability in the outer buildings and often offers superior savings (see our Easiest Tip for Cheaper Hotels at Walt Disney World in 2026). Given that, maybe there’s incentive for Walt Disney World to do something more dramatic with at least some of the rooms at Coronado Springs.

Doing something like the upscale and underrated ‘Under the Sea’ rooms could be a hit with both business travelers (who don’t need the extra bed) and families (who could use the extra space).

Unlike other resort refurbishment projects that we’ve predicted, CSR receiving a room refresh is far less certain.

It’s not just because the rooms are still in good shape and Disney could conceivably push off the project. If anything, I think they’re less likely to do that sort of thing at Coronado since it caters to business travelers with more exacting standards. It’s more that our predictions are predicated on precedent, and a convention center refurbishment isn’t as strong a signal as some other projects.

Nevertheless, my guess is that a bigger-picture project happens. Once you take into account all of the above, it just seems more likely than not. The passage of time is more instructive than anything else, as is the reality that several other projects are or will have wrapped up by 2027, and there’s less on the table for the teams that undertake these projects.

We’re looking forward to the next refurbishment at Coronado Springs, whenever that does happen. Walt Disney World has been on a roll lately with room refreshes, and there’s the potential for this to be an interesting one that either introduces a new design or finally extends the ‘Under the Sea’ template. Even if it is a soft goods update, it should be a more ambitious one.

I also hope a bit is done to spice up the common areas of Coronado Springs. Back during the last big overhaul that added Gran Destino Tower, a lot was done to make the resort more muted. While I can understand what led to that, I also think it was an overcorrection. It’d be nice to see more personality peppered around the resort.

Once the CSR refurbishment project kicks into high gear, we’ll have progress updates as to which buildings are being renovated, so you can make room requests accordingly. We’ll do this both so you know which buildings to avoid to steer clear of construction, and what to request to increase your odds of getting a new room.

Whenever the CSR room refurbishment does start, expect it to be a year-plus project regardless of how ambitious the overhaul is. Coronado has 2,416 guest rooms and suites, and over 1,900 of those rooms are in the outer buildings. And presumably, by the time those rooms are done, Gran Destino will be due for its first soft goods refurbishment! Sign up for our Free Walt Disney World Newsletter for updates on this and other developments.

Ultimately, we’re looking forward to watching what unfolds with Coronado Springs Resort. This polarizing hotel was once far and away our least favorite resort at Walt Disney World. I still remember our first stay here, which put us firmly in the “hate it” camp.

We’ve since slowly fallen in love with Coronado Springs. Part of this is simply a matter of spending more time there, and discovering the hidden courtyards and appreciating its subtle details. Back in 2017-2019 while living in Florida, we were here frequently for full monthly photo updates on the construction.

More recently, I’ve stayed here a lot and have come to appreciate both the themed design and functionality of Coronado Springs. Here’s hoping this project entails more than just the convention center, and I’m able to enjoy a new room during the 2027 Destination D23 event. We’ll keep you posted!

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Your Thoughts

Thoughts on the Coronado Springs Resort Convention Center refurbishment? Are you a fan of the CSR guest rooms or would you like to see a major update to them? What other changes or incremental improvements would you like to see made during CSR’s next refurbishment? Would you like to see more personality peppered around the resort? Agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!