Firstly, allow me to agree with the common theme. Different martial arts have different things to offer, same goes for the teachers.
Now, on wing chun. Personally, I studied shao lin. Wing chun was developed by a shao lin nun, it's a very direct, agressive form of kung fu. Fast, furious. NEVER let an angry wing chun person near your wrists.
On practicality, having studied traditional wing chun, I can say being good at it made me a serious handful in a fight. It's not as effective as muai thai for 1 on 1 face-front fighting but is FAR more adaptable. Having said this, I learned a lotof moves you'd never use on anyone... well not unless you MEANT to kill them anyway.
It was brilliant for flexiblity and fitness. I reccomend studying a martial art form, so long as you aproach it maturely, for the right reasons.
On a side note: Jackie Chan's style is wing chun. HE'S AWESOME!