Aerobatic Flyer has summed things up rather well. At its worst, gliding is virtually a complete waste of time and money. At its best, soaring (vice gliding) is approximately 5,000% more satisfying than powered flight.
A lot depends on the weather, but other factors are the number of other pilots / students at the field (too many means you spend too much time waiting around) and the sort of people at your club (some can be authoritative jerks, as Aerobatic describes). Personally I have not always been lucky with the weather, but my club is a small one where everyone pitches in and gets along well, and waiting for a flight has never been a problem.
I have only winch-launched two or three times (always with an instructor), but from what I recall it is tremendous fun ... and its almost as enjoyable to watch as a spectator. You'll find the angle of cimb to be pretty spectacular (reminded me of a V1 rocket launch!).
Aero-towing is not particularly fun, but neither is it terribly difficult. Power pilots always find it rather daunting at first. Don't worry, it will quickly come together. It's kind of like learning to flying tailwheel: anticipate, keep your feet moving as needed, and make early small corrections rather than waiting until you have to make large ones.
I have found that most glider pilots turn their noses up at power flying and vice versa. Too bad, since both forms of flying are fun and challenging in their own rights, and neither is inherently superior. A well-rounded pilot can do both well! Fred Hoinville's book "Halfway to Heaven: Skywriting, Gliding, Stunting" (1960) has some pertinent comments.
MLS-12D
P.S. It should be noted that gliding / soaring is much more of a social activity than power flying. There's none of that "book your lesson show up go flying land pay and drive away" stuff.
P.P.S. Check out Chapter 15 of Robert Buck's book, "Flying Know-How" (1975), which is entitled "The Case for the Glider".
