6-Person Tents · Vs review
REI Wonderland 6 V.S. The North Face Wawona 6 (I Bought Both Tents!)
The roomiest 6-person tent I own against the toughest one: 11 head-to-head tests.
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Discontinued: REI has discontinued the Wonderland 6, so the buy links for it have come off this page. Everything I measured stays. It is still the right yardstick if you are looking at a second-hand one. For a 6-person tent you can actually buy today, my top pick is The North Face Wawona 6.
The short answer
The Wonderland was the better tent to live in. The Wawona is the better tent to camp in, and the one still on sale.
Both are 3-season summer tents, so the split isn't the season. It's the weather. The Wonderland 6 wins on space and views: 81 inches of peak height along its whole length, 2 queen beds, a room divider and 4 windows. The Wawona 6 wins on everything that goes wrong: DAC MX poles that never bent, a 51.0 sq ft porch, 4 real vents, and days of thunderstorms with the tent sitting in floodwater and not a drop inside. REI has now discontinued the Wonderland, and honestly the Wawona was the one I'd have pointed you at anyway: the Wonderland failed my 1-hour rain test and 2 of its 5 poles bent in nothing worse than a breeze.
Side by side
Where they actually differ
| Measured | Wonderland 6 | Wawona 6 |
|---|---|---|
| My score | 7.5 / 10 | 8.1 / 10Best overall |
| Peak height | 81 inches | 77 inches |
| Where you get it | Along the whole length | At the centre only |
| Tent shape | CabinNear-vertical side walls | Dome |
| Length × width | 120 × 99 inches | 116 × 94 inches |
| Base area | 82.5 square feet | 75.7 square feet |
| Queen beds that fit | 2 | 2 almost-queensTight at the sides |
| Room divider | Yes | No |
| Door zippers | YKK | SBS |
| Holding a door open | Door pocket, 4 seconds | Toggles, 15 seconds |
| Windows | 42 half-door, 2 triangle | 3 |
| Vestibule area | None | 51.0 square feet |
| Vents | 2Above the doors, and tiny | 4 |
| Heavy rain (1 hour) | FailedDivider loops leaked | Passed |
| Poles | Aluminum | DAC MX |
| Bent poles after testing | 2 of 5 | None, not in the slightest |
| Guylines | 14 | 11 |
| Carry bag | Side-loading | Top-loadingVery wide opening |
| Pack away (1 person) | 16.5 minutes | 14 minutes |
| Set up (1 person) | 19.5 minutes | 20 minutes |
| Weight | 23.6 lbs | 19.4 lbsMore than 4 lbs less |
✓ = the better result, from my own testing. Shared: both are 6-person tents I bought myself · both are 3-season summer tents · both have 2 doors · both take 6 sleeping pads.
Which applies to you?
Get this one if…
Hunt down a Wonderland 6 if…
- You want to stand up anywhere in the tent, not just under the middle of it.
- You're fitting 2 queen beds in and want a room divider.
- You want the 360 views: 4 windows, and mesh down the sides as well as over the roof.
- You camp in fair weather only, and you've found a good second-hand one.
Get the Wawona 6 if…
- Rain or wind is on the cards: DAC MX poles, 11 guylines, every seam taped.
- You want a covered porch: 51.0 sq ft, tall enough to stand up in.
- You want 4 real vents for rainy-day ventilation.
- You're carrying it: 4 lbs lighter and quicker to pack away.
Peak Height & Livable Space
| Measured | Wonderland 6 | Wawona 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Peak height | 81 inches | 77 inches |
| Where you get it | Along the whole length | At the centre only |
| Height at the far walls | 77 and 76 inches | Head touches 2 steps out |
| Side walls | U-poles, near vertical | Slope inwards |
| Sat up on a pad at the side | Wall a good 10 inches off my head | Head grazes the wall |
Four inches on paper, a different tent in practice. The Wawona is a dome, so its 77 inches is at the centre only. Two steps out and my head is on the side.
The Wonderland's U-poles hold the walls near vertical, so I get the peak height give or take a few inches along the entire length. Sleeping right at the side never felt squished: I could raise my arms without touching anything, and sitting up my head was still 10 inches clear. In the Wawona, even with only 2 almost-queens in, my head grazed the wall sitting up, and with 6 pads down it was worse.
Base Area & Bed Fit
| Measured | Wonderland 6 | Wawona 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Length × width | 120 × 99 inches | 116 × 94 inches |
| Base area | 82.5 square feet | 75.7 square feet |
| Queen beds that fit | 2 | 2 almost-queensTight at the sides |
| Measured vs marketed | 1 inch under on width | 10.4 square feet short |
The Wonderland measured 120 by 99 inches against a marketed 120 by 100, close enough that REI gets a thumbs-up. The Wawona is supposed to be 86.11 square feet, and I measured 75.7. That difference is humongous, and not in a good way.
Room Divider
| Measured | Wonderland 6 | Wawona 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Room dividers | 1 | 0 |
| Rooms | 2 | 1 |
The Wawona doesn't come with one. The Wonderland's has a zip down the middle so I can move between rooms without dropping the whole thing, fabric that isn't too see-through, and no big gaps.
Doors & Zippers
| Measured | Wonderland 6 | Wawona 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Doors | 2 identical, 66 × 64 inches | 21 full size, 1 small back door |
| Holding a door open | Door pocket, 4 seconds | Toggles, 15 seconds |
| Back door | n/a | Unzip the window fabric first, then duck |
| Door zippers | YKK | SBSA grade lower |
Both front doors unzip snag-free, one-handed, in about 3 seconds. After that the Wonderland's fabric tucks into a pocket beside the door, while the Wawona's has to be rolled and tied to 2 toggles.
The back door is the bigger problem: small enough that I duck through it, and propping it open means unzipping the inner window fabric, tying that, then tying the door. The Wonderland's two are identical, each taking up almost a whole wall.
Hot-Day Ventilation
| Measured | Wonderland 6 | Wawona 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Mesh | Roof and down the sides, over half the tent | Front wall and a mesh ceilingDoesn't extend as far down |
| Cross-ventilation | 2 full-wall doors | 1 full-size door |
| My ventilation rating | 7.5 / 10 | 7.0 / 10 |
Rainfly off, the Wonderland has an insane amount of mesh, it doesn't stop at the roof, it runs down the sides too. Add the cross-draught from 2 full-wall doors and summer ventilation is simply incredible. The Wawona has a nice front wall of mesh and a mesh roof, but it doesn't come down the sides the way the Wonderland's does.
Windows
| Measured | Wonderland 6 | Wawona 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | 4 | 3 |
| Sizes | 2 half-door at 54 × 26 inches, 2 triangle at 32 × 28 | 1 back, 2 side |
| The view | 360 views, sitting or lying down | 2 of 3 open from outside only |
REI markets the Wonderland as 360 views and for once that's accurate. I had a view out whichever wall I faced. The 2 triangle windows at floor level are what do it: I could sit or lie down and still be looking out.
Vestibule
| Measured | Wonderland 6 | Wawona 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Vestibule area | None | 51.0 square feet |
| What fits | — | 2 camping chairs and a big camping table |
The Wonderland has the bigger inner tent; the Wawona has the biggest, most awesome vestibule I have ever seen. My REI Camp X Chair and Camp Xtra Chair, two of the biggest camping chairs I own, both fit in it with room to spare for a table, in any arrangement I tried. On rainy days that is where the wet gear goes, and the Wonderland has nowhere for it.
Rain Protection
| Measured | Wonderland 6 | Wawona 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy rain (1 hour) | FailedDivider loops leaked, both lengths | Passed |
| Days of thunderstorms, sitting in inches of water | Not tested | Passed, no leaking at all |
| My weather protection rating | 6.7 / 10 | 9.7 / 10 |
The Wawona went through days of thunderstorms, the heaviest rain I saw all year: my whole yard flooded, the bottom of the tent sat in inches of water, and it passed with flying colours. Easily one of the best rainproof family camping tents I have ever tested.
The Wonderland got an hour of heavy rain plus a few hours of light rain after, and by morning the divider loops at the bottom were letting water in. They sit exactly where the rainfly stops covering, which makes them the most vulnerable seam on the tent.
Vents
| Measured | Wonderland 6 | Wawona 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Vents | 2 | 42 window, 2 front |
| Size | The tiniest I have ever seen | 2 full window vents |
For rainy-day ventilation the Wawona walks it: 2 window vents, one each side, plus 2 smaller ones nearer the front. The Wonderland has 2 over the doors. They are the tiniest I have ever seen, they didn't help at all, and I wouldn't count them as vents.
Poles & Wind
| Measured | Wonderland 6 | Wawona 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Poles | Aluminum | DAC MX |
| Bent poles after testing | 2 of 5An orange side pole and the Y-pole | None, not in the slightest |
| Tent shape | Cabin, vertical walls don't shed wind | Mostly dome, sheds wind |
| Guylines | 14More than most cabin tents I own | 115 a side plus 1 at the vestibule |
| Wind tested | Light to moderate only | 10-15 mph, held up |
DAC MX is top-of-the-line aluminum. The poles snap together easily and they are a lot stronger than regular aluminum. Through weeks of crazy rain and some wind, not one of the Wawona's bent even slightly.
The Wonderland's are regular aluminum: softer, likelier to bend. Two of my five did, an orange side pole and the Y-pole, both at the end. And that was from using it in my own yard, where I don't camp in crazy weather.
Credit to the Wonderland on guy-out points though: 14 of them, far more than most cabin tents I own, so it holds up better than its shape suggests.
Carry Bag & Weight
| Measured | Wonderland 6 | Wawona 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Carry bag | Side-loading, smaller opening | Top-loading, very wide opening |
| Pack away (1 person) | 16.5 minutes | 14 minutes |
| Weight | 23.6 lbs | 19.4 lbsMore than 4 lbs less |
The Wawona's bag has a huge top-loading opening and everything drops back in; the Wonderland's loads from the side through a smaller hole, which is the 2.5 minutes. The 4 pounds is probably the poles. DAC MX is lighter than regular aluminum as well as stronger.
My recommendation
If you camp in summer and you love cabin tents and the livability inside them, the REI Co-op Wonderland 6 was a really great pick, and that is the best thing about it. I can walk the whole length of the tent with my arm stretched up, or with my arms out sideways. I wouldn't take it out expecting heavy rain or any kind of wind though: the softer aluminum poles will be wrecked in a strong one. REI has now discontinued it, so a second-hand one is the only way in. The Wonderland itself replaced the old Kingdom; that matchup is Kingdom V.S. Wonderland.
That's where The North Face Wawona 6 comes in. Like the Wonderland it is a summer tent, but rain or shine in the summer it has you covered, which is why it scored 8.1 and took best overall out of the seven 6-person tents I tested. Just don't expect tons of room: it is meant for 3, maybe 4 adults at the absolute most.
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 figure on this page comes from my own measurements of the tents I bought and tested in my own yard, not from a spec sheet.
