It's not the down payment, it's the total cost...
We are in the process of buying two contracts, one Disney, and one other timeshare. We paid cash for the other timeshare, and wanted the DVD offer too because:
(1) The financing -- when we told our guide we might not buy, he came up with lower interest and lower monthly payments than the original offer.
(2) Magical Beginnings -- makes the cost comparable to most resales we've seen.
New points come soon anyway, and the other timeshare comes with 2 free weeks.
(3) DVD pays closing costs -- brings down the total cost.
(4) We wanted VWL because it is the smallest and may be hardest to get into.
So we went with DVD because the total cost isn't all that different, we need financing, and we got the resort we want...