I've been going back forth on purchasing Timeshare for DW, but I won't actually be going there next year but to DL instead. Is it smart to purchase anyway and can it be used in DL? Is there property in DL? Should I just leave it alone until I get back from DL?
Our trip there will be in Dec of 2010.
Lots of great info in this thread, including some fairly sophisticated discussion by DVC members about most effective use of points. I thought I'd take a step back with some basics for OP, since we are in a similar position: Wanted WDW points but also plan to occasionally try to use points for disneyland.
The first thing to note, which others have alluded to, is that once disney builds a DVC and associates it with a resort -- as they have now done with VGC -- you cannot use points there to stay in the regular hotel. You can only only use points to stay in a villa at that resort. This is fairly significant if you're thinking of buying into a WDW DVC resort but hoping to stay at the Grand Californian. This is because people who own VGC as their "home" resort, get to book at 11 months out, but those who own points elsewhere, can only book 7 months in advance. There are only 50 units there, and many are dedicated 2 BRs. So, if you're planning to stay in 1 BRs or studios, there aren't a lot there.
There are many predicting that VGC, once it gets primarily sold, will be difficult to book by those who do not own there, because it is small. To date, that hasn't been the case. In fact, VGC has been surprisingly easy to book, even close to last minute. (I personally have a theory about this: I believe -- just a hunch -- that DVC is somehow obtaining inventory at VGC that should belong to central reservations and making it available to points owners. It's complicated, but my hunch on this is based on circumstantial evidence; although some posters suggest this not permitted under DVC documents.) Anyway, the key point is that nobody knows right now how easy or hard VGC will, ultimately, be at the 7 month window in the future. So, if you purchase at a WDW resort, and have your hopes up that you will be able to use it at the grand californian long term, we really don't have enough data yet to predict whether this will be possible. Who knows what will be available to the OP for December 2010? If OP buys a WDW resort to try to use at VGC in 12/20, the 7-month window will open in June. Tough to predict how availability will be then.
If, however, you're ok with using your DVC points at the PHP or the DLH, then you'll probably be good long term, since these reservations seem to be fairly easy to get. A few caveats to note there, though: (1) As bumbershoot notes, when you do this, your points become reservation points, not DVC-usable points, if you cancel. This, of course, would not be the case if you can use your points at VGC instead of the hotel; you'll keep them as DVC points even if you cancel. (2) Currently, DVC charges $95 to make, or change, a reservation using DVC points at non-DVC resorts. They have, for a while now, waived this fee for use of DVC points at disneyland hotels. But there's no assurance they will continue to do so into the future. In fact, now that there is a DVC resort on site, I think there's a decent chance that PHP and DLH stays will in the near future be subject to the $95 make and change fee. (3) I find the points required for DLH and PHP to be high for an ordinary hotel room, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. Just to give you a sense, rack rate on a summer weekend night ranges from $300 to $400 at the two hotels (and you can almost always find significant discounts from those rates or very good package deals, like the "get 5 for 3" deal). Points for the same nights are in the range of 38-53. When you consider that you're paying dues of $4 to $5 per night, and the rental value of points at a good WDW resort can be something like $10 or more, I'm not sure that owning WDW points to use at the DLH hotels is a really cost effective plan if you're planning to do it any more than sporadically. But for a one-time trip, it certainly is not a bad option.
I think a more compelling question is whether a person who wants to go primarily to WDW and occasionally to disneyland should purchase VGC points and then book at WDW at the 7 month window. I can certainly see this as a viable strategy, and I thought long and hard about doing just this for several reasons: (1) VGC points are cheap right now even direct, with the incentives (not quite as good as a few months ago, but still pretty good -- $95 per point or pay $112 and get about $3,000 in annual passes at the two parks). (2) There is a much wider range of options at WDW at the 7 month window. (3) Dues are low for VGC and there are reasons to expect this will continue to be the case (although predicting this is hazardous). (4) VGC points expire in 2060. (5) As already noted, there are so few villas at VGC, with the substantial upgrades planned for DLR and CA there is at least some reason to worry about availability at the 7 month window into the future. Ultimately, we wanted the monorail when we go to WDW, so we purchased BLT points and will try to use them from time to time at DLR as we can. As noted, though, VGC was a significant option that we considered and almost did.
We booked using points through the concierge collection. 
so that's another reason to buy I highly recommend reading the timeshare boards on disboards. I bought with lots of research sight unseen. I own at Saratoga and have stayed at AKL. I prefer Saratoga but thats me. You need to learn dues, pts etc before purchase. Every location is different and some are cheaper then others.
