Driving in December - Worst Idea Ever?

[roxysmum123]

We're planning on going to WDW from December 23-January 3 and flight prices are currently outta control. We're travelling from Burlington, Ontario and can fly from YYZ or BUF and both are showing 800-1000$ for two. There's still plenty of time for the prices to come down, but if they don't, how bad of a drive is it that time of year? Are the roads really bad or do you get into better weather fairly quickly? Two adults travelling, both licensed drivers, so not as concerned about length of travel more safety.

 

[m3owbox]

Shoot I wish my Jan tickets would be 800-1000 for two. I'm looking at more than double for that

 

[SaraMc]

Being that your in Burlington, have you thought of flying out of Niagara Falls international? We live in Hamilton and almost always fly out of There even with the exchange rate.

 

[Sue M]

I wouldn't drive in winter conditions. Especially after the last winter we had out west. Snow non stop all winter it seems.
Not to mention how much it would shorten your trip.

 

[chartle]

Is that price for both round trip?

I looked into driving a little further than Buffalo to Pittsburgh and looked at Southwest prices and came up with 2 non stops at maybe maybe not convenient times for $911 plus fees.

 

[chartle]

Oh and as for weather the Pittsburgh area really doesn't get much snow until after Xmas but south of us they can get ice storms.

 

[roxysmum123]

Shoot I wish my Jan tickets would be 800-1000 for two. I'm looking at more than double for that

It's considerably more than what we're used to paying for flights so we're having a bit of sticker shock i think We just did flights out of Toronto for 500CDN in May/June, and our January flights are usually even better than that. We've been spoiled I think

Being that your in Burlington, have you thought of flying out of Niagara Falls international? We live in Hamilton and almost always fly out of There even with the exchange rate.

I have never looked into that airport to be honest, but I definitely will! What airline do you prefer from there? This isn't the Buffalo Niagara airport right, a separate one?

Is that price for both round trip?

I looked into driving a little further than Buffalo to Pittsburgh and looked at Southwest prices and came up with 2 non stops at maybe maybe not convenient times for $911 plus fees.

I didn't even think of that, will check out Detroit too, thanks for the idea!

 

[purple hippo]

We too are planning to drive down in December as DS cannot fly due to a medical condition and my DD is starting high school and therefore cannot miss school. We are planning on leaving the afternoon of December 25 from Oakville (Roxysmum123 we're practically neighbours!) and returning on January 6. We have driven to Florida four or five times now, but usually in the fall. I am curious to hear what other posters say as well. We normally take the 77/79 but am a little concerned about the mountains in WV. We have driven the I75 once was well but I can't remember if the mountains are further south and therefore less of a issue if there ar snowy/icy conditions. Can anyone comment which route is better in the winter?

Also, anyone have any idea what the border crossing would be like on the afternoon of Christmas Day? We were planning on leaving in the afternoon to get there sooner than leaving early in the morning of Boxing Day.

 

[minnie56]

We're driving ...done it many x in December. Leaving December 21 -- home Jan 02
21 Hours door to door ..
Just watch the weather, pick your route accordingly.

 

[chartle]

I didn't even think of that, will check out Detroit too, thanks for the idea!

I've seen a few people that drive down from Buffalo to get better deals at Pittsburgh.

You just have to drive I90 thats known for feet of lake effect snow and past the I80 snow belt but snow seems to be coming later and later each year.

 

[isabellea]

Every year we drive to Orlando for our Spring break, the first week of March. I live in Mtl so our route choice is different than you but the principles are the same. For winter driving, you have to be flexible! We check the weather along different itineraries (either I-81 or I-87). Accuweather has an option to see the weather forecast along specific interstates. We make sure we can leave 1 day early or 1 day late and we choose the best route last minute based on weather. Our favourite is I-81 but lake effect around Syracuse, NY can means a lot of snow...

In Qc we are required by law to have winter tires between Dec 15 and March 15 but we can get an exemption for travel. Again, our decision to change to our all-season (aka summer) tires is taken last minute based on weather forecast. So far we have been lucky and were able to change to our summer tires the last two years but I wouldn't risk it if they were forecasting snow.

 

[LindyWebb]

I have driven in December a couple of times and we had no issues. I have done the trip about 15 times in my life always during Winter and the only issues I ever had was freezing rain in February! It actually closed the highway! We got a hotel and got up early the next morning and headed out. Probably added an extra 3 hours to the trip. Often when driving through Tennessee you will hear of the school closures and terrible weather but it's nothing like what we face on a typical snowy day. If you like driving then go for it. If the weather happens the delay will slow you down a bit, but as long as you don't fret over some small delays (like the traffics in Atlanta!) you will be fine!

 

[alohamom]

I didn't even think of that, will check out Detroit too, thanks for the idea![/QUOTE]

We flew out of Detroit for the first time 2 years ago in December because Frontier airlines had a Black Friday special and the round trip for 4 of us cost just under $200 CANADIAN. It was such a crazy price we went down and did MVMCP for the weekend. This included paying in advance for one bag under and seat assignments. The thing with Frontier is that the flights themselves are cheap but you pay for everything else including carry on. You are allowed one personal item that MUST fit under the seat in front of you, like a lap top or a purse so we packed 4 small bags with toothbrushes, undies, bathing suits and electronics and then put changes of clothes and other things in the one big suitcase that went underneath the plane that we paid a fee for. It worked out amazing, it was such a great flight. Clean, new planes and the staff was good too. I had read that they were really rude and brisk but we actually enjoyed it. The only issue you might run into is the weather going to Detroit in December. We had no problems, but you can get lots of blowing snow on that stretch of the 401. Spirit Airlines out of Niagara Falls runs the same way. I am seriously thinking of giving them a try too, you cannot beat the prices.

 

[Disneylover99]

We drove down right after Christmas last year. We left from my MIL's place (near London) so we drove through Detroit. We left in the morning and stayed near the Ohio/Kentucky border the first night. We could have gone further, but we did not want to drive in the dark. We kept watch of the weather and I have to say, I'm really glad we had snow tires. The roads were slippery in Tenessee.

On the way home, there was a snowstorm in Atlanta. Again.....really glad to have the snow tires. Just watch the weather and adjust your route/plans accordingly. We actually ended up loving the drive.

 

[SaraMc]

It's considerably more than what we're used to paying for flights so we're having a bit of sticker shock i think We just did flights out of Toronto for 500CDN in May/June, and our January flights are usually even better than that. We've been spoiled I think



I have never looked into that airport to be honest, but I definitely will! What airline do you prefer from there? This isn't the Buffalo Niagara airport right, a separate one?

We usually fly Southwest. We also try to fly midweek if we can. Weekends are always more expensive. Buffalo Niagara is about 30 minutes from the border


I didn't even think of that, will check out Detroit too, thanks for the idea!

 

[TFC_UNTIL_I_DIE]

I drove to Miami two years ago but from Ottawa - we left on Dec 22 and it was 25 degrees out that day. As the poster from Montreal mentioned - I81 from the Thousand Islands to Syracuse can be dicey with lake effect snow (sometimes they even close the highway) but I find generally once you get through Scanton you are clear of the weather. The route is a bit different from Toronto and as you know Buffalo area can be deep deep snow. But once you are through NY state etc winter shouldn't be too bad on average driving down. Its cheap and its not a bad drive. But winter is winter and it can snow all the way down really to Virginia

 

[marisabuzz]

We were originally planning on driving for our Christmas trip, but stumbled upon the Auto Train. Cost wise, it's not all that better. We chose to do one-way only (in a sleeper) and drive back. It would have been less cost if we did coach. We are doing it for the experience. We're in Mississauga, so not that far from you. We tried pricing flying down a number of ways and it's just way too much. We should have booked before Southwest released their December schedule because out of YYZ, WestJet was doing flights for $1200 CAD for four round-trip non-stop to MCO for our dates. But NOOOOOOO I had to wait until SW released their flights and BOOM flights out of YYZ where $1600+ RT for bad times and with stops. We checked flights out of Toronto, Hamilton, Buffalo, Niagara, Detroit, Flint, Pittsburgh, and Rochester.

Before we decided on the train, I planned out the driving route. I was completely torn on doing the route through Detroit (I75) or the route through Pittsburgh (I79/I77). We chose to do the I75 to avoid the snow belt under Lake Erie, although I don't know which is actually better: driving through the Canadian side (Cambridge to Windsor) for a longer period in snow or driving through on the American side in snow.

 

[lisaviolet]

I used to fly out of Pittsburgh all the time in the winter. Tons of direct flights. Stay lower than Buffalo and even better stay lower if you make a last minute decision. Great compact airport and short flight time.

However, we have hit some very nasty storms the last couple of times across the I-90. Really horrid ones. So I haven't done Pittsburgh in the winter in the last couple of years.

Weirdly enough I wouldn't hesitate to drive instead of flying. With driving you can watch the weather and get out ahead of it or wait until after it goes through. You can stop for the night when things get bad. With flying you have chosen your timing for the most part. I often booked PIT days after work finished to give a window to choose for weather.

Also, we often forget that people go about their lives and work schedules in these places we drive through. insert wink.

So I don't think the choice to drive is ever as bad as we make it out to be.

Whatever you choose, have fun!

 

[JETSDAD]

We will be driving down this coming December. We've done February previously but this will be the first December trip for us. We're near London so we could fly out of either Buffalo or Detroit but whenever we work the numbers we come out quite a bit ahead by driving. Yes it takes a few extra days but we like the convenience of being able to load up whatever we want to take with us and kind of wing it. Often times we find our schedule will clear up early so we take off a couple of days early and just book a hotel when we get to Florida to give us a couple extra days away from winter.

 

[Roobear77]

If you are looking at the Niagara Airport, you would be booking with Allegiant. We've done, it no problems at all, but you have to remember it doesn't fly into MCO, it flies into Sanford. You will need to either rent a car or book a shuttle to get to WDW. No Magical Express from that airport. Alternatively, you could book transport from the Sanford airport to MCO and hop on the ME from there.