Credit: DisneyThere is a specific kind of nostalgia that belongs almost exclusively to millennials who grew up in the early 2000s, and it is the nostalgia for a very particular kind of Disney movie. Not the animated classics. Not the theme park spectaculars. The live-action films that felt made specifically for teenagers, figuring out who they were and finding something deeply reassuring in a story in which the most awkward girl in school turned out to be royalty all along. The Princess Diaries, released on August 3, 2001, was that film for an entire generation, and its combination of Anne Hathaway’s genuinely accidental physical comedy, Julie Andrews at her most regal, and a story about a girl who discovers her own worth through the least likely circumstances possible turned it into something that has held up across 25 years in a way that most films from that era simply have not.
The 25th anniversary of The Princess Diaries is this year, and Disney is marking it with something that goes well beyond a streaming banner and a social media post. D23 members are invited to step into the actual filming location used as the Genovian Consulate in the original film for an immersive pop-up experience featuring original props, costumes from the Walt Disney Archives, and the specific rooms where some of the movie’s most memorable scenes were filmed.
The catch is that this is exclusively for D23 members. If you are not one, this is either a reason to become one immediately or a reason to feel the specific kind of frustration that comes with watching something you want be available to a group you are not currently part of.
What the Disney Experience Actually Is
The D23 Genovian Pop-Up Experience takes place at the Doheny Mansion, the historic Los Angeles location that served as the Genovian Consulate in the original 2001 film. This is not a recreation of a set or a themed environment designed to approximate the look of the movie. It is the actual building, and Disney is filling it with original furnishings and decor from the film to recreate the specific atmosphere guests remember from the screen.
Guests can pose in the parlor where Mia first met Queen Clarisse, visit the dining room from the famously chaotic royal dinner where Mia broke a glass and set a guest’s sleeve on fire while a butler who had appeared in Pretty Woman muttered that it happens all the time, and walk through the ballroom where Mia officially accepted her crown. For anyone who has seen the film enough times to have those moments memorized, standing in the rooms where they were actually filmed is the kind of experience that transcends standard fan merchandise.
The Walt Disney Archives is opening its vault for the event, which is genuinely significant. Tiaras, jewels, costumes, and props from both The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement will be on display. This marks the first time the Doheny Mansion has hosted an event officially themed to the franchise, and the first time these specific archive pieces have been accessible to fans in this format.
Every ticket includes the full Genovian Consulate walkthrough, a red carpet entrance with a photo opportunity in front of the mansion, the archive display, the ballroom finale, an exclusive royal swag package featuring a themed junk journaling kit with a soft-cover journal inspired by Mia’s diary along with custom sticker sheets and die-cuts, and a commemorative event lanyard.
Why The Princess Diaries Is Worth This Kind of Disney Celebration
The film being honored here earned its nostalgia. The Princess Diaries starred a then-unknown Anne Hathaway, who famously fell out of her chair during her audition for director Garry Marshall, a moment that Marshall cited as one of the reasons he cast her because it was so perfectly Mia. It marked Julie Andrews’ return to Disney for the first time since Mary Poppins in 1964, a return that Andrews agreed to specifically because of the opportunity to work with Marshall. The film was produced by Whitney Houston through her BrownHouse Productions company, and it was filmed on the same Disney soundstage where Mary Poppins had been shot decades earlier, a stage dedicated as the Julie Andrews Stage in 2001, with Roy E. Disney, Richard M. Sherman, and Dick Van Dyke in attendance.
The sequel brought Chris Pine to the screen for the first time. It featured Julie Andrews singing in a film for the first time since her 1997 throat surgery, a moment she helped create by co-composing the song. It included the mattress surfing scene, performed by Julie Andrews without a stunt double, that children and adults have been attempting to recreate on staircases everywhere since 2004. Stan Lee made a cameo. Garry Marshall embedded references to Pretty Woman throughout both films. The fictional country of Genovia, according to Marshall, exists somewhere between Spain and Italy, which explains why it has never appeared on any map.
The D23 Requirement
This experience is exclusively available to D23 members. Tickets went on sale May 15. The event takes place at the Doheny Mansion in Los Angeles, the actual filming location, and the combination of archive access, original props, and the physical space of the consulate makes it the most substantive Princess Diaries fan experience ever organized.
For millennials who grew up watching Mia Thermopolis learn to walk in heels and shake hands without creating diplomatic incidents, twenty-five years is a long time to wait for something like this. The wait is apparently over, provided you have a D23 membership.
