driving from mississauga

[quandrea]

How crazy is it to attempt to drive from Mississauga with three year old twins, and an eight year old at the end of January.

 

[mommytodarlings]

Not crazy at all IMO. We have done the drive many times. We are leaving in 5 days, kids are 10, 9, 8 and 6. Our first drive was Dec 2007, the kids were 5,4,3 and 1. We drove straight through from Cambridge, ON. Now we stop for a night on the way down. The kids had lots of activities to do and watched movies.

 

[quandrea]

Not crazy at all IMO. We have done the drive many times. We are leaving in 5 days, kids are 10, 9, 8 and 6. Our first drive was Dec 2007, the kids were 5,4,3 and 1. We drove straight through from Cambridge, ON. Now we stop for a night on the way down. The kids had lots of activities to do and watched movies.

My biggest fear is hitting bad weather.

 

[bababear_50]

Hi
I'm all for driving,it can be a separate vacation all on it's own. BUT

I would ask my self some important questions.

1.How do I feel about driving on unfamiliar roads and highways?

2. How do my children travel in a car--some kids travel well in cars --others not so great.

3. How many days do I have for vacation and how many of them will we be driving.

4, Can the driving be shared.

5. Will we take a hotel break along the way.

6. Total cost of a driving trip,,
fuel
car,emergency repairs if needed
food,drinks
hotel room

7. Do I drive well in different types of weather.
What if we get a snowstorm.

8. Have I looked at other options
---going off season
===airlines that fly out of buffalo or other airports in USA.


Have fun planning
and Happy Holiday
Hugs
Mel

 

[quandrea]

Just checking Westjet prices for our dates in Jan. We can go for $$2100 for the five of us. To me that is better than taking five extra days for our holiday and risking bad weather. Your planning check list pp is great. Everything on it is a check except the bad weather. I hate, hate, hate driving in snow. Scares the daylights out of me. Hubby doesn't care what he drives in, but bad weather literally takes years off my life. Although flying is a hassle in its own right, I can't help but think that it's the way to go. I think for hubby the issue is germs right now. We have all been sick for over a month and the thought of being on a plane with recirculated, germy air causes him panic.

 

[minnie mum]

Just checking Westjet prices for our dates in Jan. We can go for $$2100 for the five of us. To me that is better than taking five extra days for our holiday and risking bad weather. Your planning check list pp is great. Everything on it is a check except the bad weather. I hate, hate, hate driving in snow. Scares the daylights out of me. Hubby doesn't care what he drives in, but bad weather literally takes years off my life. Although flying is a hassle in its own right, I can't help but think that it's the way to go. I think for hubby the issue is germs right now. We have all been sick for over a month and the thought of being on a plane with recirculated, germy air causes him panic.

I know what you mean about travelling in bad weather. If driving, you just have to closely watch the weather forecast for your route for the days preceding your departure. And plan to leave a day early or a day late if necessary. If flying, you have to closely watch the weather for your departure airport for the days preceding your departure. And plan for possible delays or cancellations if necessary. In other words- winter vacations are always a craps shoot.

 

[quandrea]

My hubby likes the flexibility of driving. ie if we all end up sick, which just happened (we had to cancel our Dec 9 nine night trip to WDW), we won't incur any flying penalties. We'd just cancel the hotel and that would be the end of it. If all is well, you load up the car and go. I think we are leaning towards driving. I guess I can look at it as an adventure...eight nights at SSR await

 

[webworm]

Just checking Westjet prices for our dates in Jan. We can go for $$2100 for the five of us. To me that is better than taking five extra days for our holiday and risking bad weather. Your planning check list pp is great. Everything on it is a check except the bad weather. I hate, hate, hate driving in snow. Scares the daylights out of me. Hubby doesn't care what he drives in, but bad weather literally takes years off my life. Although flying is a hassle in its own right, I can't help but think that it's the way to go. I think for hubby the issue is germs right now. We have all been sick for over a month and the thought of being on a plane with recirculated, germy air causes him panic.

We are a family of 5 as well but always fly out of the US because I think the fees and taxes from Pearson are ridiculous! I don't know your dates but I see return flights from Niagara Falls to Orlando/Sanford with Allegiant for $125 (pay by debit Jan 21 - 28) if you are flexible with your dates. They charge baggage fees $25 for a checked bag or $15 for carry on bag. If you get to the airport 2hrs ahead of time you should be able to get seats together. That has been my experience.
Southwest also has nonstop flights for $219 rt and you can check 2 free bags. Basically you can get 5 tickets for $1100 or less from Buffalo or Niagara Falls.

 

[webworm]

I also see that JetBlue has a 1 day sale (must book Dec 11th) with fares as low as $96 one way nonstop from Buffalo - Orlando during January and into first week of Feb.