REI Co-op - Wonderland 6

I have a Big Agnes Copperspur 1 for solo backpacking. I have a Half Dome for backpacking with my daughter. And I have what we fondly call the party tent, for car camping with my husband (who refers to himself as the Great Indoorsman!) and/or the whole family. It’s an REI Wonderland 6 and is cushy as hell.

REI Wonderland, it's the successor to the Kingdom model. Lots of ventilation and allows for the mud room add one.  https://www.rei.com/product/202982/rei-co-op-wonderland-6-tent

Husband and I have the REI Wonderland 6 (with vestibule) for just us and the dog (60 lb lab) and we love it. We love being able to stand up and walk around, we love having separate beds with a walkway between, we love having a space that the dog can stretch out and not be touching one of us, we love not trying to cram our gear into every little corner and then having it get damp in the morning because of the dew. We still kept our two man dome and we'll use it if we ever go just one person (+/- dog) because it's small and easy to setup solo. I'm legitimately considering getting a second vestibule for the times when we're going out for a few days and want a dry/mostly secure place to stash the bikes & paddleboards so we can leave the other open as a porch for wet weather.

Honestly if you see your self using this for multiple years why not buy a quality tent and be done with it??. You could buy the ozarj this year and have that deteriorate then a Coleman and have that lad a couple. You could do all that or just buy a good quality tent. A tent like this…. https://www.rei.com/product/202982/rei-co-op-wonderland-6-tent Can last many years and will be quite comfortable for your family of course unless there are more than like 4 people. I had a similar one from LL Bean that I bought before my daughter was born and it cost me $500 back in like 2004. I still have and use it all the time. Before you say it I am not rich and actually you could almost call me poor but I get buy. I simply consider myself too poor to buy something I use as much as that cheaply. Buy once cry once is my philosophy.

I'm 6'4" and my go to car camping tent is the REI Wonderland 6. It's got plenty of square footage and room for a double height air mattress but just importantly it's 78 inches tall inside and I can stand up.

We got the REI kingdom 6 (now the wonderland) for just the two of us. Hubs can stand up we have room for our stuff we love it. Bit crowded now that we added two kids but we head out long before they came.

I lean towards the Wawona 6 for the patio. I personally ended up going with the Wonderland X on sale (<$400). Neither will fit 2x queen mattresses and have much room for anything else. Queens are 60x80 so both would literally be wall to wall to fit both with about 10-20" available space. Bear in mind if they are directly against the walls if they are too thick they may not fit properly as most walls slope inwards. Far better if you need individual mattresses to get 2x Full at 54x75 ish which would still be plenty roomy for 1 person + 1 dog each. Or a Queen + twin at 38x75 for 1+2 dogs and 1. (don't know why I thought you had 2 adults and 2 dogs, might have confused another post) Could also go Queen + Full for adults/children if that is the case. Wawona is 120x90 floor 76" peak height Wonderland 6 is 120x100 floor 78" peak height Weights are comparable with the Wawona slightly lighter at 20lbs vs 22lbs but negligible difference as you'll most likely be using this for car camping anyway. Wawona 6 has a usable vestibule with room to sit under to have some shade in the day or when raining while the wonderland is only big enough for gear. To me this makes up for the slightly smaller floor.

Having a large porch area is great if there is inclement weather. The screen canopy would still require you to run through the rain unless you had raingear or a umbrella, or setup your tent adjacent to the picnic table which isn't always possible depending on the site. In addition, tent porches tend to be more wind resistant than the standing canopies. I definitely like the Wawona series, I was looking at the 6 before picking up a Wonderland X on steep discount instead. Also worth noting, the Columbia has fiberglass poles while the Wawona has aluminum. DEFINITELY prefer aluminum myself as I've had wicked splinters before from fiberglass poles as well as they just last significantly better. Nearly all premium tents now use Aluminum for this reason.

If you catch the Wonderland X on sale it's like the older, Ivy League version of the Kingdom line. I don't know much about Canvas tents, newer materials may have changed things but when I last camped in one (over 20 years ago) if it was wet and you touched it you would get wet. It would basically hold water and not allow a flow through, but if you touched it that held water would wick onto you. Had to make sure you weren't close to the walls when sleeping or you could make contact and wake up wet. They to breathe very well unlike plastic tents so mesh isn't quite as needed as the fabric (when not wet) will allow vapor through.

If I understand correctly, the Wonderland X is basically the same tent at the Kingdom 6, but with a very different way of erecting the tent. With the Wonderland X, you setup the rainfly and then the tent, again - about the same size as the kingdom 6, hangs from the rain fly. I bought one and thought it was a reasonably clever idea. Initially I liked it. But I quickly found that the thing was a friggin' sail that just wanted to head south to the tropics unless the weather was almost dead calm. Even with 16 guy lines I ended up with two bent poles in just four or five trips. And the pegs for the guy lines are worthless unless you're in good soil, which is often not the case. So I took advantage of REI's return policy and took that one back.

1 year warranty, REI will not sell you parts and they do not repair gear. The Wonderland also doesn't have a full coverage rainfly. However at 50% off (which is more than likely because it is discontinued) it's a good deal.

Check out the Wonderland series from REI. Mine withstood hurricane Debbie last year. Plenty of headroom plus they included some nice mesh pockets along the walls to maximize the vertical storage. It's a little much for one person but I usually pack heavy so it's nice to be able to fit EVERYTHING in the tent and not have to change lying down.

We tried a Kodiak canvas tent and traded it for an REI Wunderland (or whatever it’s called). The canvas one took up massive space in the truck. It’s huge folded up. It’s heavy af. The REI huge one was perfect.

Yes. Been camping my whole life. 43 y/o married father of two kids (10, 8). We have 4 tents for different occasions. I use the Half Dome for solo trips (or my bivvy if going lightweight). Use the Camp Dome for all 4 of us if doing a quick 1 or 2 nighter. Will use our massive Wonderland tent if going for many nights. My wife and I love the extra space, but the bigger tents are really only worth the hassle if out more than 2 or 3 nights (we’ll go out for a week at a time - love the long trips). So, yes bigger tents are nice, but more work, and often only worth if staying long.

Same. Upgraded to the Base Camp from my Half Dome once I became a family man. Kids got bigger now we have a roomy REI Wonderland. Up to 4 tents now (and a solo lightweight bivvy).

Most tents are relatively easy to set up. However, if your girlfriend has never camped before, I suggest getting a couple of things: A tent where she can stand and change. Pee gel/funnel so she doesn’t have to leave the tent at night. If car camping…of course… It was game changing for my wife. I mean she already liked camping to begin with, but those two things just made it game changing. We have the REI Wonderland and a smaller Nemo. Both expensive, but we love it. Coleman’s work too…

I bought a Wonderland and one of the poles broke in two the very first time I set it up. Thankfully we weren't out in the woods yet but that was a pretty shitty thing to have happen the day before we left. On a $400-500 tent I expected better from REI, but at least now I know to stay away. We ended up going with the Marmot Halo 6 based on a lot of recommendations here and elsewhere, and that has been fantastic. It's big, roomy, I can stand up fully at 6 feet tall, and it's simple to set up. It fits two cots without issue. Plus it has a big vestibule for storage and a full rainfly for weather coverage. That thing went through a hailstorm on our first trip and handled it without any problems. Highly recommend.

In that price range my top two would either be a Wawona or the REI Wonderland. Both have space to stand up inside, more roomy design that the Base Camp style l, and do great in even super rough weather with a couple guy-lines staked out. Go for at least a 4P, but we have a 6P, and it was worth it the few times we've been stuck inside it for hours waiting out a heavy rain storm.

Used to backpack and all my gear was oriented for that. Now 62 and can't quit camping, so we have a standup tent and I have a cot and love both items. I recommend spending a bit more for quality as that also adds to the 'older' experience. I went with a 6ppl REI tent and it is fabulous. 2 adults and 2 standard poodles fit in and I can stand up and not step on a dog on the way out. Totally a good investment IMO. Good luck.