I've now done both... and they each have their own flavor and charms. I went through the York Rite, chapter, council, and commandery first, and found that having done so, I understood a lot more of the things that went whizzing by during the Scottish Rite degrees. YR degrees are typically done in a lodge setting with just you or two other companions in some cases, so you have more participation and more "buy in" in the process. The Scottish Rite degrees are almost universally "communicated," e.g. you sit down and watch somebody else go through the motions. If you are principally a visual or aural learner, then this may work well for you; if you are more of a kinesthetic learner (e.g., learn by doing) you may have a harder time with the "festival" format degrees.
There is a tremendous amount of information to absorb in a short time, especially in the SR reunions. The Reunion basically gives you a familiarization with the content of the degrees; we actually walked out of the reunion with a black cap and an armload of books to start studying to fill in the holes in between the exemplified degrees ;-) And even in the exemplified degrees, it's a tough job to catch it as it goes by.
My preference, other than the blue lodge, is for the Chapter and maybe the Commandery, once I get my feet setled there a little bit. But one thing that really impressed me with the Scottish Rite was how it all wrapped up at the end of the 32nd degree, with a strong lesson that took me all the way back to the second section of the Master'... and suddenly all the little light bulbs started to glow ;-) The SR really is a set of capstone degrees, which give you a working system to seek and evaluate the light on your own. Even without going through all the books yet, the SR reunion gave me a lot that I could immediately take back home and to my lodge, and start putting into action.
The path I chose, York Rite first, then Scottish Rite, has worked for me. The folks in my class who were coming over from the York Rite noted that it was a lot easier for them to follow the stuff they were getting in the SR.
So, was it worth it? I think so. I was sort of suspicious about the SR due to all the Albert Pike stuff, but after the first couple of degrees, things started to gel, and you could see how the two stories linked from different perspectives. York Rite is very practical for the most part, and rooted in the Scriptures, where the Scottish Rite is very philosophical, and takes a broader, multi-cultural approach, due to Pike's varying interests.
I also had the privilege of taking my degrees with the Valley of Little Rock, in the Albert Pike Memorial Temple, with all the old original props and costumes. All that was awe-inspiring in itself... and cap off the final afternoon with a little stroll down the street from the Temple (7th & Scott streets) to Albert Pike's original home 4 blocks away at 7th & Rock. If you ever get a chance to come to LR, you need to check out the Temple!