Is a Mortgage an Investment or a Savings Plan?

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Tips for Preparing English Exams

Preparing for exams is always a daunting task, whatever age you are! Many people remember their school or university days and the worry that came with exams… Will I know the answers? What do I do if I don’t know the answers? How do I prepare? If you’re an adult you may have thought those days were over but if you want to learn English (or need to learn English for your job) then you will probably need to partake in some English exams.

If you are learning English for personal reasons and attend a traditional or an online English academy, the likelihood is that you will need to prepare and pass an English certificate exam in order to move up levels and gain more skills. These tests are informal but obviously you need to pass them if you want to progress with your learning. If you are learning English because you need to (perhaps for a university course or to work abroad), you may need to pass official exams in order to prove your English skills. The lead up to these exams might be quite stressful; especially if you’re out of touch with exam layouts. Because of this, we’ve put together some tips to follow when revising for an exam to hopefully put your mind at ease a little and to make sure you feel confident on exam day!

Review past papers and complete practice papers

One of the best ways to revise for an exam is to look at past papers and complete practice papers. If you’re studying at an academy and need to pass their exams to move to the next level then ask your teachers if there are any practice papers available or for a review of the layout of the exam. The practice papers of many official English exam companies can be found online. One of the main companies that offer official english exams is ‘Cambridge English’ and many tips and advice can be found on this page of the Cambridge website.

It’s one thing to know and understand the topics or grammar you will be tested on but you also need to study the layout of exam papers as sometimes this can be quite confusing. By accessing practice papers you know exactly what type of questions will come up, for example, multiple choice questions, essay style questions, missing word questions, and then when you sit the exam none of this will be a shock to you.

If you understand the different sections of the exam you are preparing for you can split your revision time into manageable chunks. If you know there will be reading, writing and vocabulary sections you can dedicate a certain amount of time to each topic thus managing your time wisely in the run up to an exam. This also means you get some variety when revising which is great to keep your mind interested!

Immerse yourself in English

A very effective way to practice your English in general, but especially in the lead up to an exam, is to practice as much as possible! You can practice your reading skills by reading online magazines, newspapers and articles. If you commute to work you could use your time wisely and read a book in English. Why not listen to a British or American radio station when you’re getting ready in the morning? The ‘TuneIn’ app allows you to access many different radio stations on your smartphone or tablet. Another great way to practice your listening skills is to use the site: https://lyricstraining.com/ which can be accessed online or downloaded as an app. On  this site you listen to songs and fill in the missing gaps. The settings of many TVs can now be changed so that programmes and films can be watched in original language. This is great to practice your listening skills. If you find the dialogue a little too fast then switch on the subtitles so you can read anything you might have missed.

Take online English classes

Online classes are great at any time because they are so convenient and usually much cheaper than traditional academy prices. However they can become even more convenient in the run up to an exam. Perhaps you need to brush up on some last minute topics but feel like you don’t have enough time; online classes would be ideal as you can have them whenever and wherever you want! If you don’t have time due to work or studying commitments you could have a class during your lunch break without even leaving the office! Perhaps you have a busy family schedule and just can’t find the time to travel to an academy, again, online classes are perfect because you can also do them from the comfort of your own home. Whenever you have a little spare time and an internet connection you can have an online class to help you with your exam revision. Break Into English offers 1 to 1 English lessons with highly qualified native teachers who are trained to prepare students for English exams and they offer free trial lessons! Try them out and find out if their method is right for you: https://englishclassviaskype.com/method/

Go on a trip!

One of the best ways to practice your English is to fully immerse yourself and visit an English speaking country! If you have the time and budget to be able to study this way it really is a good idea. You can practice speaking and listening with natives for free and might even make some friends to keep in touch with for the future. You can also have an amazing time exploring different cultures and experiences which for many people is why they want to learn English!

Don’t panic

When preparing for English certificate exams it can be a little overwhelming and people often feel stressed about the situation. The best thing you can do is give yourself as much time as you can to prepare, this way you can easily divide information into topics and manage your revision time efficiently. On the day of the exam remember to keep calm, relax and take a breath! If you follow these tips you’re sure to ace it!

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4 Signs You’re Ready For Homeownership

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Use of English B2 First (FCE): Guía Completa con Ejercicios

El B2 First (FCE), como ya hemos visto en otras ocasiones, está formado por 5 partes distintas, también llamadas papers o components: Reading, Use of English, Writing, Listening y Speaking. Si en otros artículos te hablaba de cómo superar el Writing o el Speaking, en este vengo a contarte exactamente cómo es el Use of English B2 First (FCE), describiéndote cada parte al detalle y enseñándote algunos ejercicios exclusivos de ejemplo creados por mí. ☺️ ¡Así que al lío!

Use of English B2 First (FCE): Qué es

El término Use of English, literalmente “uso del inglés”, hace referencia a la habilidad para poner en práctica tus conocimientos léxicos y gramaticales del inglés. El Use of English B2 se trata de una mezcla ingeniosa de vocabulario y gramática que evalúa cómo de bien sabes usar los elementos del inglés por escrito.

Lejos de ser la típica amalgama de ejercicios fill in the gaps, los ejercicios de Use of English del B2 te ponen a prueba de manera intuitiva, determinando el nivel de control que tienes sobre collocations, idioms, phrasal verbs, sinónimos, puntos gramaticales, transformación de palabras, transformación de oraciones, etc.
Aunque puede convertirse en una pesadilla para algunos candidatos, el Use of English de nivel B2 es una de mis partes favoritas del B2 First (FCE), y si la trabajas lo suficiente, puedes obtener muy buenos resultados de manera rápida y eficaz.

Use of English B2 First (FCE): Qué partes tiene

Antes de 2015, el Use of English del B2 estaba dividido antes en 4 partes, pero desde 2015 consta únicamente de 3 partes, ya que la parte restante realmente contabiliza con el Reading, aunque se haga de manera conjunta.

Para entender esto, debes saber que el Reading y Use of English del FCE, a día de hoy, se hacen de manera conjunta, constando de 7 partes en total. Por un lado, el Reading es las partes 1, 5, 6 y 7; y el Use of English las partes 2, 3 y 4. Sin embargo, en esta guía voy a hablarte de la parte 1 como si fuese Use of English, pues realmente se parece más al uso del inglés que a la comprensión lectora.

B2 First (FCE): Use of English Part 1 – Multiple Choice

En esta parte del Use of English del B2 First, que realmente contabiliza como parte del Reading, tienes que completar un texto que tiene 8 huecos. Para cada uno de estos huecos tienes 4 palabras de entre las cuales tienes que elegir únicamente una, la correcta. A priori, el hecho de tener 4 opciones puede parecer un elemento facilitador, sin embargo, debes tener en cuenta que a un nivel B2 ya debes conocer una serie de collocations, idioms, phrasal verbs, y otra serie de elementos que pueden hacer que la elección de entre estas 4 opciones sea una difícil tarea.

Para que conozcas mejor cómo es la parte 1 del Reading & Use of English del B2, te dejo a continuación un ejercicio de Use of English B2 sacado de un examen oficial.

B2 First: Use of English Part 1

Por si quieres realizar el ejercicio a modo de práctica, a continuación te facilito las respuestas:

1. B
2. C
3. B
4. D
5. C
6. A
7. D
8. B

B2 First (FCE): Use of English Part 2 – Gap fill

En la parte 2 del Use of English del FCE, al igual que en Part 1, también tendrás un pequeño texto con 8 huecos que rellenar. Sin embargo, en esta ocasión no tienes 4 opciones, sino que tienes que encontrar la palabra tú mismo. Por este motivo, esta parte puede resultar algo complicada para los nuevos candidatos del B2 First (FCE). En esta parte del Use of English B2 es común que el candidato que demostrar su nivel de conocimiento y uso de preposiciones dependientes, phrasal verbs, pronombres relativos, expresiones idiomáticas, two-word verbs, etc.

Aquí debajo te dejo un ejemplo de Use of English Part 2, sacado de un examen real de FCE, y para que practiques, justo debajo te dejo las respuestas.

B2 First: Use of English Part 2

Respuestas:

1. where
2. so
3. myself
4. in
5. which/that
6. out/on/at
7. from
8. any

B2 First (FCE): Use of English Part 3 – Word Transformation

En el Use of English Part 3 del FCE también trabajarás con un texto corto con 8 huecos. Sin embargo, en esta ocasión la tarea es bien distinta de las anteriores. En esta actividad de uso del inglés a nivel B2, para cada hueco te proporcionan una palabra. Para rellenar los huecos tendrás que transformar esas palabras de manera que encaje bien tanto gramatical como semánticamente. Por ejemplo, pueden proporcionarte el verbo “know” para uno de los huecos, donde te hará falta un sustantivo. Para rellenar el hueco deberás transformar “know” en “knowledge”, que es el sustantivo del verbo “know”. Lo interesante en este caso es que por un lado debes saber cómo transformar la palabra, pero por otro tienes que saber identificar qué tipo de palabra te hace falta en cada hueco: verbo, sustantivo, adjetivo o adverbio. Yo diría que, debido a la cantidad de raíces comunes que tienen muchas palabras en inglés y en castellano, provenientes del latín, esta es la parte más sencilla para la mayoría de los candidatos, aunque no siempre es el caso, obviamente.

A continuación te dejo una tarea. Recuerda que debes transformar la palabra en mayúsculas al final de algunas líneas para encajar en el hueco en la línea correspondiente. Es decir, las palabras vienen en orden, por lo que la tarea únicamente consiste en transformarlas.

B2 First: Use of English Part 3

Y aquí tienes las respuestas:

1. producer
2. illness(es)
3. effective
4. scientists
5. addition
6. pressure
7. disadvantage
8. spicy

Si quieres practicar el Use of English Part 3 del B2 First (FCE), te recomiendo mi ebook 101 Word Transformation Sentences for B2 First (FCE). Se trata de un ebook de ejercicios con 101 oraciones que contienen las transformaciones más comunes que han aparecido en exámenes de B2 First (FCE) pasados. Si quieres echarle un ojo, simplemente haz clic en la imagen inferior.

B2 First (FCE): Use of English Part 4 – Key Word Transformation

Y llegamos a la última parte, probablemente la que resulta más difícil para la mayoría de los candidatos: Use of English Part 4 Key Word Transformation. En esta parte del FCE, tendrás que transformar 6 oraciones utilizando una palabra clave para formar una oración que signifique lo mismo. Al transformar cada oración, tendrás que utilizar la palabra clave sin modificarla de ninguna manera, y utilizando entre 2 y 5 palabras, incluida la palabra clave. Mola, ¿verdad? A mí la verdad es que me encanta, pero entiendo que puede ser bastante difícil algunas veces. Veamos un ejemplo para que entiendas mejor cómo es la parte 4 del Use of English del B2.

I decided to stop smoking only 3 days ago.
GIVE
It was only 3 days ago that he made _____________________________ smoking.

Si prestas atención a la oración, verás que hay cierta información que ya está reflejada (Ej.: only 3 days ago) y otra que no (Ej.: decided to stop smoking). Genial, pues ahora debes encontrar una forma de reflejar esa información utilizando la palabra give. En este caso en particular, con esta oración te estoy planteando dos retos léxicos:

• Busca una expresión con “made” que signifique “to decide”.
• Utiliza una expresión con “give” que signifique “stop”.

Bonito, ¿verdad? A mí me encanta. Venga, piensa la respuesta.

¿Ya? Genial, compruébala con la solución debajo.

Solución: It was only 3 days ago that he made the decision to give up smoking.

Y para que veas más ejemplos, aquí te dejo otras 6 oraciones para que practiques, con sus respectivas soluciones más abajo.

B2 First: Use of English Part 4

Respuestas:

1. a good idea | to go
2. talented | that she/he
3. if he/she knew | what/the
4. spent/took/was | a long time
5. are/is said | to be OR it is said
6. not | call off OR you/we didn’t/ did not| call off

Contenidos comunes del Use of English Part 4 del B2 First (FCE)

Aunque ya has visto algunos contenidos comunes de esta parte, es importante que sepas lo que te espera, por lo que a continuación te dejo una pequeña lista de contenidos léxicos y gramaticales que son comunes en esta parte del examen de Use of English:

• Oraciones condicionales
• Oraciones comparativas
• Oraciones pasivas
• Verbos y estructuras de estilo indirecto
• Todos los tiempos verbales
• Verbos modales y semimodales (simples y perfectos)
• So y Such / Too y Enough
• Cuantificadores
• Sustantivos contables e incontables
• Transformación de palabras (sustantivos, verbos, adjetivos, etc.)
• Collocations comunes
• Preposiciones dependientes
• Expresiones idiomáticas
• Phrasal verbs
• Y un largo etcétera.

Lo bueno es que la mayoría de estos contenidos vienen cubiertos en los mejores libros para preparar el B2 First (FCE). Entonces es “simplemente” cuestión de estudiar y practicar.

App para el Use of English B2 First (FCE)

Además de las actividades de Use of English B2 en PDF que puedes descargar en el siguiente apartado de este artículo, existe una app que recomiendo a todos mis lectores y alumnos para practicar el uso del inglés de cara al examen de B2 First (FCE). Esta app se llama FCE Academy, y puedes ver una video-reseña que hice de su hermana gemela de C1 aquí, para hacerte una idea de cómo funciona.

FCE Academy, desarrollada por la compañía Prosperity Education, es una app disponible para iOS y Android que ofrece 36 ejercicios de Use of English del B2 First de las partes 1, 2 y 3, y 12 ejercicios de la parte 4, que puedes realizar en el móvil sin necesidad de estar conectado a internet. Una verdadera pasada de aplicación, pues los textos han sido escritos y revisados por expertos en exámenes de Cambridge Assessment English, aunque obviamente no pertenecen a dicha organización.

La buena noticia es que, a pesar de que el precio completo de esta app es de únicamente 9,99€, tras hacer la video-review y contactar con los propietarios, he conseguido sacarles un 50% de descuento para mis suscriptores y alumnos que decidáis adquirirla. Para conseguir este descuento simplemente tienes que introducir tus datos para suscribirte al blog, y yo te mandaré el código de descuento además de un examen completo de Use of English B2 First (FCE) creado por mí. No se puede pedir más, ¿eh?

Ejercicios de Use of English B2 en PDF

Uno de los problemas más comunes que me plantean mis alumnos y lectores es que no encuentran muchos ejercicios de Use of English B2, y claro, el problema es que la mayoría de la gente busca ejercicios de Use of English en PDF para descargar gratis, sin pensar en el trabajo que conlleva hacer estos ejercicios. Sin embargo, en la web de KSE Academy hay muchos ejercicios de Use of English en PDF que además también puedes realizar online. De hecho, justo aquí debajo puedes suscribirte al blog y recibir un examen completo de Use of English B2 First en PDF que he creado yo mismo.

Si lo quieres, simplemente tienes que hacer clic en el botón debajo, introducir tu nombre y tu correo electrónico et voilà! Tras confirmar tu suscripción recibirás un correo electrónico con un enlace para descargar los ejercicios de Use of English y cupón de descuento del 50% para desbloquear todos los ejercicios de FCE Academy Lite.

Consejos para mejorar el Use of English a nivel B2

El Use of English, sin importar el nivel, suele costar bastante a la mayoría de los candidatos. Yo creo que el problema que encontramos aquí es que, en general, no estamos acostumbrados a realizar este tipo de ejercicios en las clases tradicionales de inglés, ya que no se trata, por ejemplo, de hacer actividades con un tiempo verbal en particular, sino de saber aplicar los conocimientos de dichos tiempos verbales sin que te digan qué tiempo verbal has de utilizar. Y esto se aplica a todos los contenidos que solemos estudiar del inglés. Por ello, el método de estudio que debemos utilizar para practicar el Use of English y asegurarnos un aprobado debe ser diferente. Así que a continuación te doy los consejos que debes seguir para mejorar tu Use of English:

• Lee y escucha mucho de manera activa: Leer y escuchar textos en inglés es fundamental para aprender y perfeccionar el inglés. Sin embargo, si quieres mejorar tu Use of English, debes hacerlo de manera activa, por lo que no sirve únicamente ponerte Netflix con subtítulos en inglés y a volar. No. Si quieres de verdad mejorar tu Use of English, vas a ponerte los subs en inglés y vas a coger una libreta y un boli para ir apuntando expresiones idiomáticas, phrasal verbs, preposiciones, etc., que vayan apareciendo en las conversaciones. Si no, únicamente mejorarás tu Listening y no tanto tu vocabulario y gramática. Lo mismo has de hacer cuando lees. Cógete un texto corto, un artículo o algo así, y después de leerlo, reléelo subrayando expresiones interesantes, combinaciones de palabras inusuales que no conozcas, etc. Lo que tienes que pensar es: ¿sabría yo escribir esta expresión sin leerla antes? Si la respuesta es no, apúntala y estúdiatela bien.
• Apuntes ordenados: El orden en el estudio es fundamental, ya que nos ayuda a categorizar los conocimientos en nuestro cerebro cuando estudiamos los contenidos, especialmente si eres un poco cuadriculado/a como yo. Por ello, debes tener una o varias libretas, divididas en categorías. Para ello puedes elegir dividirlas por partes del Use of English (Parte 1, 2, 3 o 4), por puntos gramaticales o léxicos (conditionals, modals, phrasal verbs, idioms, etc.), por campos semánticos si se trata de vocabulario, etc. Puedes hacerlo como quieras, pero hazlo de manera ordenada y sistemática.
  Repasa y repite regularmente: Esto parece obvio, pero no sabes la de veces que tengo que repetir en clase el significado de ciertos phrasal verbs, por ponerte un ejemplo. ¿Por qué? Pues porque la mayoría de la gente no repasaría ni aunque su vida dependiera de ello. Sin embargo, hoy en día es facilísimo repasar y practicar, y no tiene por qué ser aburrido. Yo con mis alumnos utilizo la plataforma y aplicación móvil Quizlet, con la cual puedes crear tus propias unidades de repaso y estudiar tanto en el móvil como en la tablet o el ordenador. Quizlet mola mucho.
• Escribe, habla y practica: Como todo en un idioma, si no lo practicas, se olvida. Por ello, si quieres mejorar tu Use of English, es absolutamente necesario que pongas tus aprendizajes en práctica al hablar y escribir. Obviamente, te va a resultar más fácil hacerlo al escribir, ya que tienes más tiempo para pensar. Por eso te recomiendo que hagas muchos Writings y que te esfuerces al máximo por incluir expresiones nuevas y collocations que hayas aprendido leyendo o escuchando.
• Recurre a una academia o un profesor de inglés: Las academias y profesores de inglés somos, obviamente, profesionales y muchos como yo somos especialistas en exámenes de Cambridge Assessment English, por lo que sabemos qué tipo de contenidos van a aparecer en el examen y podemos prepararte mejor de lo que tú puedes prepararte por tu cuenta.

Cómo se puntúa el Use of English del B2 First (FCE)

En general es muy fácil puntuar el Use of English B2 First, pero debes recordar lo que te he explicado anteriormente: el Reading y el Use of English se hacen de manera conjunta, pero puntúan por separado, y la parte 1 del Reading & Use of English en realidad forma parte del Reading, capisce?

Sabiendo esto, el Use of English del B2 se puntúa de la siguiente manera:

• Parte 2: 8 puntos (1 punto / 1 item)
• Parte 3: 8 puntos (1 punto / 1 item)
• Parte 4: 12 puntos (2 puntos / 1 item)

Como ves, las partes 2 y 3 son muy fáciles de corregir. En cuanto a la parte 4, cada oración puede puntuar 1, 2 o 0 puntos. Cuando hagas los ejercicios de Use of English en PDF que he puesto a tu disposición en este artículo, verás que las respuestas vienen divididas con este símbolo “|”. Eso es así para asignar un punto a cada parte. Es decir, si tienes una mitad mal y otra bien, conseguirás 1 punto; si tienes ambas bien, 2 puntos; y si tienes ambas mal, 0 puntos.

Para saber si has aprobado debes sumar todos los puntos y obtener 18 o más puntos. Como máximo puedes obtener 28 puntos, y 18 es el mínimo para considerar esta parte como aprobada. Si quieres saber más sobre el sistema de puntuaciones de Cambridge, léete mi post sobre cómo calcular la puntuación de tu examen de Cambridge Assessment English. ¡Todo un clásico de este blog!

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En fin, creo que no me queda nada por decir ni explicar del Use of English del FCE. Espero haberte ayudado con esta guía del Use of English B2 First, y que te sean útiles tanto los ejercicios en PDF como el descuentazo que te he sacado para la app FCE Academy. Si aún así tienes alguna pregunta, no dudes en dejarme un comentario debajo. Siempre respondo a todos los comentarios personalmente. Hasta la próxima, don’t forget to keep smiling!

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The Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek: A Great Orlando Hotel For Families!

Thanks for checking out today's post. After reading I'd love to hear your thoughts on the comments by clicking here ---> The Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek: A Great Orlando Hotel For Families!

(Please note: Wyndham compensated us including providing rooms and meals. However, we still think this is a great place! Read on to learn why.)

It’s officially summertime!

Our children are a ton of fun, and I love traveling with them…so…I pulled Noah out of school a day before his summer break began, and went on a road trip to Florida with him, his brother and two of my friends! (Mom and baby Koen stayed home on this trip.) The first day of our trip we drove from Dallas to Tallahassee where we stayed the night before finishing up the drive to Orlando the following morning.

We went to SIX THEME PARKS over the course of three days, which I will be writing about in future blogs, but before we went to any of theme parks, we had a chance to hang out at the mini-theme park at our hotel, the Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek.

Check out the view from our balcony!

After a full day and another hand full of hours of traveling, we were glad to arrive at the hotel. If you’ve ever made a trip out to Orlando then you know there are LOTS of hotel options. We’ve stayed at two of Disney’s “official” hotels on past trips, and the Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek ranks right up there with them for sure! One of the things that stood out to me about this hotel is how kind the staff was! In fact, upon checking into our hotel room, we were greeted with fun gifts for our boys!

Pools, Pools, and More Pools!

Our boys are HUGE fans of pools. In fact, I think they may even be tempted to stay at a pool all day instead of visiting a theme park if given a choice. The day we arrived at the hotel we headed down to the pool, and I think we were all impressed with what we saw.

This hotel is connected to a Wyndham timeshare property, and hotel guests can use any of the pools at the timeshare property in addition to the hotel pool. I don’t remember the exact count of the pools, but I think there around ten which include a splash pad, a lazy river, a pirate ship theme, and hot tubs! This is a BIG, beautiful, complex. The property goes around the entire lake in the first picture I shared in this post.

Here’s a few snaps of the boys hanging out around the water during our stay.

Hanging out pool side!

Two thumbs up for these pools!

Cooling off!

There were so many pools at this property, and our kids (as well as the adults) had a blast hanging out in some of them! I wish we would have had some extra days to enjoy the pools (and the property) even longer.

Deep Blu Seafood Grille

After spending some time at the pool(s), we were treated to one of the best dining experience of my life. I’m not kidding. The Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek Hotel has several restaurants ranging from counter service / quick food to fine dining, and on this night we invited to eat at their fine dining restaurant, Deep Blu Seafood Grill.

Deep Blu Seafood Grill isn’t the type of restaurant I would suggest to a family of five. I say that not because it isn’t a great restaurant, but because this restaurant is geared towards a couple out for a nice date night, or a business dinner, and is certainly more expensive than our family of five our spend on an evening meal. But perhaps you are the type of family that eats fine dining when you’re on vacation, or you’re in Orlando on a honeymoon…in that case, this is a great place!

I was impressed with not just the food at Deep Blu Seafood Grille, but the service! The staff at Deep Blu Seafood Grille was exceptional! Shortly after arriving they brought out these fun Mickey Mouses made out of oranges…

…and the manager came by and talked to us, took our kids to get gelato, showed them the tank where they kept the crabs (before being eaten!) and even took us to a private balcony where we could watch the fireworks from EPCOT!

It was fantastic!

This guy was great!

Gelato!

Fireworks from EPCOT!

You notice I haven’t really gotten to the food yet! That’s because I was impressed with how kind the staff was, seriously, they were great! However, their food was excellent as well…man did we eat some great food!

Here are a few pictures from our evening. (No, the boys didn’t have any raw oysters!)

These crab cakes tho…

Noah gives his dinner a big thumbs up!

Noah is super easy to please. Pretty much no matter where we are, we can order him a side of buttered pasta and he’ll be good! I love this kid.

So many desserts!

Dessert!

On top of this incredible dining experience the restaurant even gave us customized menus (notice #PROVETHEMWRONG on the menu), and after dinner they presented us with the menus signed and laminated. Seriously!?

So. Awesome.

A Beautiful Property!

In addition to the pools, the lake, and the yummy food…they also have a beautiful boardwalk. We spent an entire day at the property swimming and walking around the property…including their beautiful boardwalk!

Brothers!

It’s a lot of fun hanging out with our two boys. They don’t mind if they are eating at McDonald’s (by the way, the breakfast buffet here was great!) or a fine dining restaurant..they have a blast! I enjoyed our full day at the pool watching the boys play, and swim. (There was a fun waterslide, but our boys were to short to slide down it…for now!)

We only took one full day to hang out at the hotel, but if I were planning on going on vacation, I’d put some more “rest” days in our vacation and take some time to enjoy the resort for more than just one full day. We had a blast hanging out at the pool, and I wish we would have had more time to do that. As I mentioned, there are a lot of hotels in Orlando, and what sat this apart (besides how beautiful it is) is the staff! They made this stay excellent!

Should you stay at the Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek when visiting Walt Disney World?

One question you may have is; should stay at the Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek while visiting Walt Disney World? I would for sure put this property on my list of hotel recommendations for a Disney World vacation. It’s super close to the Disney parks, in fact, you are just down the street from Disney Springs, there is a lot for your kids and family to do, and it’s a BEAUTIFUL property!

One thing to be aware of if you stay at this resort is you don’t have access to the fantastic Walt Disney World Transportation System (bus/shuttle/boat/monorail.) The hotel does have a paid shuttle that will take you to Disney World. We like to stay until the park closes and the last shuttle came back from the parks earlier than worked for us, so I didn’t use it. We had our own car, so it was a quick drive to the parks. Also, we had park hopper tickets on one of the days we were there and went to four Disney Parks in one day (more on that in an upcoming post!) The great thing about Disney parking is you only have to pay to park at Disney once. So if you keep your receipt, you can park at all four parks for the one parking fee you paid.

I had a blast at the property with two of our boys, and I’m looking forward to coming back again with my wife and our other son! Have you stayed at this hotel before? What are some of your favorite Orlando properties? Leave a comment below and let me know!

You just finished reading The Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek: A Great Orlando Hotel For Families! on Noah's Dad! I'd love to hear what you think, please take a second to click on the link above and leave a comment. Thanks for being awesome! :)

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The Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek: A Great Orlando Hotel For Families!

Thanks for checking out today's post. After reading I'd love to hear your thoughts on the comments by clicking here ---> The Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek: A Great Orlando Hotel For Families!

(Please note: Wyndham compensated us including providing rooms and meals. However, we still think this is a great place! Read on to learn why.)

It’s officially summertime!

Our children are a ton of fun, and I love traveling with them…so…I pulled Noah out of school a day before his summer break began, and went on a road trip to Florida with him, his brother and two of my friends! (Mom and baby Koen stayed home on this trip.) The first day of our trip we drove from Dallas to Tallahassee where we stayed the night before finishing up the drive to Orlando the following morning.

We went to SIX THEME PARKS over the course of three days, which I will be writing about in future blogs, but before we went to any of theme parks, we had a chance to hang out at the mini-theme park at our hotel, the Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek.

Check out the view from our balcony!

After a full day and another hand full of hours of traveling, we were glad to arrive at the hotel. If you’ve ever made a trip out to Orlando then you know there are LOTS of hotel options. We’ve stayed at two of Disney’s “official” hotels on past trips, and the Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek ranks right up there with them for sure! One of the things that stood out to me about this hotel is how kind the staff was! In fact, upon checking into our hotel room, we were greeted with fun gifts for our boys!

Pools, Pools, and More Pools!

Our boys are HUGE fans of pools. In fact, I think they may even be tempted to stay at a pool all day instead of visiting a theme park if given a choice. The day we arrived at the hotel we headed down to the pool, and I think we were all impressed with what we saw.

This hotel is connected to a Wyndham timeshare property, and hotel guests can use any of the pools at the timeshare property in addition to the hotel pool. I don’t remember the exact count of the pools, but I think there around ten which include a splash pad, a lazy river, a pirate ship theme, and hot tubs! This is a BIG, beautiful, complex. The property goes around the entire lake in the first picture I shared in this post.

Here’s a few snaps of the boys hanging out around the water during our stay.

Hanging out pool side!

Two thumbs up for these pools!

Cooling off!

There were so many pools at this property, and our kids (as well as the adults) had a blast hanging out in some of them! I wish we would have had some extra days to enjoy the pools (and the property) even longer.

Deep Blu Seafood Grille

After spending some time at the pool(s), we were treated to one of the best dining experience of my life. I’m not kidding. The Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek Hotel has several restaurants ranging from counter service / quick food to fine dining, and on this night we invited to eat at their fine dining restaurant, Deep Blu Seafood Grill.

Deep Blu Seafood Grill isn’t the type of restaurant I would suggest to a family of five. I say that not because it isn’t a great restaurant, but because this restaurant is geared towards a couple out for a nice date night, or a business dinner, and is certainly more expensive than our family of five our spend on an evening meal. But perhaps you are the type of family that eats fine dining when you’re on vacation, or you’re in Orlando on a honeymoon…in that case, this is a great place!

I was impressed with not just the food at Deep Blu Seafood Grille, but the service! The staff at Deep Blu Seafood Grille was exceptional! Shortly after arriving they brought out these fun Mickey Mouses made out of oranges…

…and the manager came by and talked to us, took our kids to get gelato, showed them the tank where they kept the crabs (before being eaten!) and even took us to a private balcony where we could watch the fireworks from EPCOT!

It was fantastic!

This guy was great!

Gelato!

Fireworks from EPCOT!

You notice I haven’t really gotten to the food yet! That’s because I was impressed with how kind the staff was, seriously, they were great! However, their food was excellent as well…man did we eat some great food!

Here are a few pictures from our evening. (No, the boys didn’t have any raw oysters!)

These crab cakes tho…

Noah gives his dinner a big thumbs up!

Noah is super easy to please. Pretty much no matter where we are, we can order him a side of buttered pasta and he’ll be good! I love this kid.

So many desserts!

Dessert!

On top of this incredible dining experience the restaurant even gave us customized menus (notice #PROVETHEMWRONG on the menu), and after dinner they presented us with the menus signed and laminated. Seriously!?

So. Awesome.

A Beautiful Property!

In addition to the pools, the lake, and the yummy food…they also have a beautiful boardwalk. We spent an entire day at the property swimming and walking around the property…including their beautiful boardwalk!

Brothers!

It’s a lot of fun hanging out with our two boys. They don’t mind if they are eating at McDonald’s (by the way, the breakfast buffet here was great!) or a fine dining restaurant..they have a blast! I enjoyed our full day at the pool watching the boys play, and swim. (There was a fun waterslide, but our boys were to short to slide down it…for now!)

We only took one full day to hang out at the hotel, but if I were planning on going on vacation, I’d put some more “rest” days in our vacation and take some time to enjoy the resort for more than just one full day. We had a blast hanging out at the pool, and I wish we would have had more time to do that. As I mentioned, there are a lot of hotels in Orlando, and what sat this apart (besides how beautiful it is) is the staff! They made this stay excellent!

Should you stay at the Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek when visiting Walt Disney World?

One question you may have is; should stay at the Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek while visiting Walt Disney World? I would for sure put this property on my list of hotel recommendations for a Disney World vacation. It’s super close to the Disney parks, in fact, you are just down the street from Disney Springs, there is a lot for your kids and family to do, and it’s a BEAUTIFUL property!

One thing to be aware of if you stay at this resort is you don’t have access to the fantastic Walt Disney World Transportation System (bus/shuttle/boat/monorail.) The hotel does have a paid shuttle that will take you to Disney World. We like to stay until the park closes and the last shuttle came back from the parks earlier than worked for us, so I didn’t use it. We had our own car, so it was a quick drive to the parks. Also, we had park hopper tickets on one of the days we were there and went to four Disney Parks in one day (more on that in an upcoming post!) The great thing about Disney parking is you only have to pay to park at Disney once. So if you keep your receipt, you can park at all four parks for the one parking fee you paid.

I had a blast at the property with two of our boys, and I’m looking forward to coming back again with my wife and our other son! Have you stayed at this hotel before? What are some of your favorite Orlando properties? Leave a comment below and let me know!

You just finished reading The Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek: A Great Orlando Hotel For Families! on Noah's Dad! I'd love to hear what you think, please take a second to click on the link above and leave a comment. Thanks for being awesome! :)

from Noah's Dad https://ift.tt/2yCTbz5