6-Person Tents · Vs review
REI Co-op Kingdom V.S. Wonderland Tents (Old V.S. New!)
REI replaced the Kingdom with the Wonderland, then discontinued that too. 9 things changed, and not all of them for the better.
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Discontinued: REI pulled the Kingdom years ago and has now discontinued the Wonderland too, so there are no buy links left on this page at all. Every figure I measured stays put. It is still the yardstick if you are weighing up a second-hand one. For a 6-person tent you can actually buy today, my top pick is The North Face Wawona 6.
REI Co-op Kingdom 6Not a tent I own
- Peak75 in
- Windows2
- Pockets22
- Weight21 lbs 6 oz
REI Co-op Wonderland 6The replacement
- Peak81 in
- Windows4
- Pockets8
- Weight23.6 lbs
The short answer
The Wonderland was the airier tent. The Kingdom was the better-protected one.
The Wonderland 6 gained double the windows, a lot more mesh and 3 inches of peak height. It lost the Kingdom's front vestibule, its full-length rainfly and its backpack carry bag, and the pocket count dropped by more than half. REI has now discontinued both, so this is a second-hand buyer's guide, and the Wonderland is the one I'd still take for hot summer days.
Side by side
Where they actually differ
| Measured | Kingdom 6 | Wonderland 6 |
|---|---|---|
| My score | No score, not a tent I own | 7.5 / 10REI Co-op Wonderland 6, tested |
| Vestibule | Yes1 vestibule, 1 awning | No2 awnings; a mud room is sold separately |
| Rainfly length | FullAlmost to the ground on 3 sides | Partial |
| Heavy rain | Not tested | FailedDivider loops leaked, both lengths |
| Windows | 21 per door | 4Plus 2 triangle windows at floor level |
| Pockets | 22 | 8Less than half |
| Peak height | 75 inchesMarketed | 81 inchesMeasured; 78 marketed |
| Carry bag | Top-loadingBackpack straps, wide mouth, separate compartments | Side-loadingSingle shoulder sling |
| Poles | 3Hubbed poleset plus 2 doorway poles | 5 |
| Set up | About 10 minutes2 people, per the reviews I have seen | 19.5 minutes1 person, timed by me |
| Mesh | Plenty, but a fair amount of fabric on the non-vestibule side | Roof and down the sides, over half the tent |
| Packaged weight | 21 lbs 6 oz | 22 lbs 15 oz23.6 lbs on my scale |
| Floor dimensions | 120 × 100 inchesMarketed | 120 × 100 inchesI measured 120 × 99 |
| Capacity | 6 | 6 |
| Room divider | 1 | 1 |
| Season rating | 3-season | 3-season |
✓ = the better result. I have never owned a Kingdom 6. Its figures are REI's marketed specs plus what I could see and count on a friend's tent, so they are not measured the way every Wonderland figure here is.
Which applies to you?
Which one applies to you?
You'll miss the Kingdom if…
- You wanted the front vestibule for wet gear.
- You wanted the full-length rainfly: the Wonderland leaks exactly where its fly stops.
- You used the storage: 22 pockets against 8.
- You loved the backpack carry bag. It is still the only one I've seen.
Hold out for a Wonderland if…
- You want the views: 4 windows instead of 2, and 360 degrees of them.
- You camp on hot summer days and want all the mesh you can get.
- You want the headroom: 81 inches measured, 6 more than the Kingdom.
- You're pitching it on your own. I don't think I could have managed the Kingdom's hubbed poleset solo.
Vestibule
| Measured | Kingdom 6 | Wonderland 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Vestibule | YesOn 1 of the 2 doors | No |
| The other door | Weather-protective awning | Weather-protective awning |
Both tents have 2 doors. On the Kingdom, one has a proper vestibule and the other an awning. On the Wonderland, both get the awning and that is it.
REI sold a separate mud room to act as a vestibule, but that cost extra, which is usually not a good thing.
Rainfly Length & Rain Protection
| Measured | Kingdom 6 | Wonderland 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Rainfly length | FullAlmost to the ground on 3 sides | Partial |
| Heavy rain | Not tested | FailedDivider loops leaked, both lengths |
The Kingdom's rainfly runs almost to the ground on 3 sides (the vestibule side and both lengths), leaving only a small gap for ventilation. The Wonderland's stops well short, in a sort of upside-down V.
I put my Wonderland through an overnight test: about an hour of heavy rain, then light rain. By morning the divider loops at the bottom were leaking, on both lengths. And they sit exactly in the strip the partial fly doesn't cover. With the Kingdom's fly over them, I honestly don't think it would have happened.
Windows
| Measured | Kingdom 6 | Wonderland 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | 21 per door | 4 |
| Where | On the doors | 2 on the doors, 2 triangle windows at floor level |
This is what REI markets as 360 views, and it holds up. I had a view out whichever wall I faced. The 2 extra windows are the triangle ones at the bottom of each length.
They are also the reason for the partial rainfly: a full-length fly would cover them, so REI cut it short to keep the view. That trade is the whole story of this tent.
Storage
| Measured | Kingdom 6 | Wonderland 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Pockets | 22 | 8Less than half |
| Where | Top of the tent plus all round the bottom, except the doors | Beside the doors, under the rainfly |
The Kingdom has 22 pockets: some up high, the rest running all round the bottom except where the doors are. Same configuration as the current REI Base Camp 6.
The Wonderland has 8, and the rainfly is why: pockets round the bottom would sit outside the fly and their seams would leak, so REI moved them beside the doors, fully covered. Storage is a fight the Wonderland loses to the current Base Camp as well. I count it all up in Base Camp V.S. Wonderland.
Peak Height
| Measured | Kingdom 6 | Wonderland 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Marketed peak height | 75 inches | 78 inches |
| Measured | Not tested | 81 inchesAlmost 7 feet |
Three inches on the marketing, six in practice: my own Wonderland measured 81 inches, a whopping 3 more than REI claims. To touch the top I have to stretch all the way up and go on tiptoes at the same time.
Carry Bag & Weight
| Measured | Kingdom 6 | Wonderland 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Carry bag | Top-loadingWide mouth | Side-loadingSmaller opening |
| How you carry it | Backpack straps | Single shoulder sling |
| Compartments | Separate for poles, stakes and fabric | One |
| Packaged weight | 21 lbs 6 oz | 22 lbs 15 oz23.6 lbs on my scale |
This is the downgrade that surprised me most. The Kingdom's carry bag wears like a backpack, still the only one I have ever seen, with a wide-mouth opening and separate compartments for poles, stakes and fabric.
The Wonderland's loads from the side through a much smaller opening, takes longer to squeeze everything into, and comes with a single sling. It is also the heavier tent, and its printed 22 lbs 15 oz came out at 23.6 lbs on my own scale with the stakes and guylines in, so take those packaged figures with a pinch of salt.
Ease of Set Up
| Measured | Kingdom 6 | Wonderland 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Poles | 31 hubbed poleset plus 2 doorway poles | 5 |
| Set up | About 10 minutes2 people, per the reviews I have seen | 19.5 minutes1 person, timed by me |
The Kingdom's 3 poles are a hubbed poleset into the four corners plus 2 doorway poles, and most reviews I have seen need 2 people for it. REI cut the hub for the Wonderland: one pole across the top first, then 4 more for the walls.
More poles, but a far more intuitive job. I got the Wonderland up in 19.5 minutes entirely on my own, and I don't think I could have wrestled the Kingdom's hubbed poleset up solo without a struggle. (REI's own set-up walkthrough for the Kingdom is still up if you want to see it.)
Amount of Mesh
| Measured | Kingdom 6 | Wonderland 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Mesh coverage | Plenty, but a fair amount of fabric on the non-vestibule side | Roof and down the sides, over half the tent |
Take the rainfly off the Wonderland (and on a hot sunny day I'd recommend exactly that), and the mesh doesn't just cover the roof, it runs down the sides. Easily more than half the tent. The Kingdom has plenty too, but the non-vestibule side carries a fair amount of fabric instead.
What REI Didn't Change
| Measured | Kingdom 6 | Wonderland 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Season rating | 3-season | 3-season |
| Floor dimensions | 120 × 100 inchesMarketed | 120 × 100 inchesI measured 120 × 99 |
| Base shape | Rectangle | Rectangle |
| Queen beds that fit | 2 | 2 |
| Capacity | 6 | 6 |
| Room divider | 1 | 1 |
| Side walls | Vertical | Vertical |
Both are strictly 3-season summer tents. All that mesh ventilates beautifully and holds no heat once it gets cold.
The floor is identical and, importantly, rectangular, which is what lets you squeeze 2 queen beds in; a square floor of the same area takes one, which is exactly what happens in my Base Camp 6. Six pads go in either tent, but shoulder to shoulder with nothing left over.
Both come with a room divider, and both have the same near-vertical side walls. The pole set-up changed; the pole structure really didn't.
My recommendation
There were real improvements in the Wonderland, and real losses. The gains: 4 windows instead of 2, a lot more mesh, and 3 more inches of peak height. The losses: the front vestibule, the full-length rainfly, more than half the pockets, and that backpack carry bag.
Of the two, the REI Co-op Wonderland 6 is the one I'd still take for the ventilation, the mesh, the 360 views and the livable space, but REI has discontinued both of them, so neither is something you can just go and order. If you want a 6-person tent you can buy today, my roundup is the place to start.
Bonus: I spent over $2,000 buying and 6 months testing seven different 6-person tents against each other (set-up timings, rain tests, base areas, the lot). Every figure on this page comes out of that run.
Every Wonderland 6 figure on this page comes from my own measurements. The Kingdom 6 is a tent I have never owned. Its figures are REI's marketed specs plus what I could see and count on a friend's tent.
