We live about 1.5 hrs (in good weather & no traffic) from YYZ. We booked this flight solely due to the very cheap price (less than 1/2 the usual cost). We drive ourselves and leave our car at an airport car park for short vacations but this trip is for 3 mos so we are leaving our vehicle at home. We have spent a few nights in various airports but always on layovers. A friend has stayed overnight pre-security when he has taken the GO Bus in from out of town the night before an early morning flight and he said its no problem.
We have booked a nearby hotel twice in the past for very early flights with poor results. One trip the shuttle bus driver overslept and missed the first run that we needed to be on, when he arrived for the 2nd run there were too many people for the size of the van and he was going to take the first few people that fought their way to the front of the line no matter what time their flight was. The other time we didn't get any sleep for the yelling and loud noise in the halls from the immigrants that were being housed there. We refuse to pay over $100 for a few hours in a motel. We will be fine in the airport, it will be worth it to escape the snow and cold for 3 mos.