Canadian in Houston here... We have 2 contracts. Bought our first in '99 (BWV) when we lived in Oshawa, and our second (VWL) after our move to Houston.
We now go twice per year, June and November. We've used our points for 1 trip to california, and the rest of our trip are to WDW.
Susan: Regarding WL at 7month window... Of course, it depends on what time you want to go. For the most part, I have never had any problems making ressies at non-home resorts at the 7 month window, but if you tried to get WL for xmas week, I'd say you'd be out of luck. You should base your decision on where you want to stay the most. As more resorts come on line, I think these smaller resort like VWL will become harder to get. Also, "cheaper" is hard to predict. Most of your costs will end up being the maintenance fees. It's hard to predict future fee trends. VB, as an example has had dramatic MC increases over the years. Good luck!
Stay warm everyone...