By Hannah Yasharoff

Copyright hellomagazine

Disney Night on Dancing with the Stars invited celebrities to celebrate their favorite Disney films and Disneyland rides, but not everyone’s wishes upon stars came true — for one contestant who had continuously been deemed by judges as a frontrunner, the dream of becoming the next Mirrorball Trophy winner came to an end. Hilaria Baldwin, wife to actor Alec Baldwin and the controversial contestant of the season, said goodbye to the DWTS ballroom Tuesday night after weeks of backlash over her prior professional ballroom dance experience, which used to be a disqualification on the show.

“This has been an incredible experience,” Hilaria said following her elimination. “I am so grateful to all of you. and I’m grateful to my children and my family. This has been wonderful. I’m cheering on everybody in the cast because this has been an amazing time.” Hilaria’s pro dance partner, Gleb Savchenko, had a glowing response: “I’m so proud of you,” he told her. You are a superhero in the dance studio, incredible mom to your amazing seven kids and you put so much love and passion into dance and you’re a true inspiration. I’m so happy I had a chance to dance with you.”

For fans who can’t get enough of DWTS, co-host Julianne Hough revealed that the show’s annual tour will have tickets available for purchase to the public this Friday, but fans can access the presale beginning Wednesday. But for now, here’s how all your favorite stars brought the magic in this Disney-centric episode.

The Traitors winner Dylan Efron and pro Daniella Karagach

Fifth Harmony singer Lauren Jauregui’s elimination last week rocked the cast, which Dylan acknowledged without naming names in his opening package. “I’m more motivated to stay in this competition, because one off week and you could be gone,” he said. Dancing to a song from the animated movie Cars, Dylan adds “this song brings me right back to growing up,” recalling road tripping and rock climbing with his friends. (We personally think a song from High School Musical would take him back to growing up as younger brother to HSM star Zac Efron, but OK.) Dylan and Daniella opened the show with a lively, country-inspired quickstep that led judge Derek Hough to dub him “Dylan McQueen, the quickstep king.” Bruno “hitting the highway to the final,” highlighting Dylan’s ability to put in the work on the details and listen to every bit of critique sent his way. Dylan also claims he has “something special for next week,” should he survive this week. (Spoiler alert: he did.)

Dance: Quickstep to “Life Is a Highway” from Cars

Score: 23/30 (Carrie Ann: 7, Derek: 8, Bruno: 8)

Actress Danielle Fishel and pro Pasha Pashkov

Dance: Quickstep to “I Wan’na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)” from The Jungle Book

Danielle grew up in California and recalls watching Disneyland fireworks from her grandfather’s driveway in Anaheim, where Disneyland is located. “No matter what’s going on in the outside world, you can leave your problems at the gate,” she said. With fast feet and space buns meant to represent bear ears (Danielle was Baloo the bear, Pasha was King Louie the monkey), the two further amped up the Disney Night energy. Bruno said the dance properly encapsulates the energy of the film, but the timing for part of the dance was off. “Never apologize, my darling, because you learn from it,” the judge said. “Otherwise, it was really, really a very good, dynamic dance.”

Score: 21/30 (Carrie Ann: 7, Derek: 7, Bruno: 7)

Pentatonix singer Scott Hoying and pro Rylee Arnold

Dance: Salsa to “Bop to the Top” from High School Musical

At least we get some sort of High School Musical acknowledgement, even if it isn’t from an actual Efron. Scott played Ryan’s (Lucas Grabeel) love interest in season four of the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series reboot, “which is the reason Ryan comes out on the show, which was really cool for me,” Scott said. Scott and Rylee make the perfect Ryan and Sharpay stand-ins with a dance that mirrored the energy, fun and competitive nature of the original HSM performance. “Content was great, choreography was fantastic, you two together: wonderful,” Carrie Ann said.

Score: 21/30 (Carrie Ann: 7, Derek: 7, Bruno: 7)

TikTok star Alix Earle and pro Val Chmerkovskiy

Dance: Viennese Waltz to “Once Upon a Dream” from Maleficent

Alix is bad in the best way as the villain from Sleeping Beauty, decked out in Maleficent’s horns and long, black talons. “I think it ‘ll be so much fun to channel an evil character for me. I want to prove to everyone I am taking it seriously,” she said. Their dance is an ode to a toxic relationship, and judges agreed she nailed the creepy, haunting fantasy with technical movement and major attitude. “That was mesmerizing, it was magical, it was spellbinding,” Derek said. “To have that power, that grace, that fluidity to really sell like you are manipulating Val, that takes such awareness of your own body.” Alix said her “once upon a dream” was to get her highest scores yet, and those dreams came true.

Score: 24/30 (Carrie Ann: 8, Derek: 8, Bruno: 8)

Hilaria Baldwin and pro Gleb Savchenko

Dance: Quickstep to “Cantina Band” from Star Wars: A New Hope

Hilaria and Alec Baldwin are apparently both huge Star Wars fans, and were thrilled to get to bring their entire family to Disneyland to visit Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. “The fact that we get to combine that with dance is incredible,” Hilaria said, claiming she’s never done the quickstep before. “The force is still with you,” Bruno told a Princess Leia-inspired jumpsuit-wearing Hilaria. “I watched very closely to everything you did tonight, really analyzing. I was looking for something wrong. I didn’t see anything.”

Score: 23/30 (Carrie Ann: 8, Derek: 7, Bruno: 8)

Comedian Andy Richter and pro Emma Slater

Dance: Viennese Waltz to “Le Festin” from Ratatouille

Andy has opened up about feeling overwhelmed with emotion after the public rallying behind his DWTS run, even if his scores are consistently on the lower end of the spectrum. “Last week, I experienced what dancing was all about,” Andy said. “I started to cry, and I was so happy doing this dance. I want to stay here as long as I can.” Dressed in chef’s attire next to Emma in a full mouse beat, Andy “cooked,” as the kids say, bringing a performance that showed clear improvement and showmanship from the comedian. “You produce such memorable moments, and everybody is going to remember this dance from tonight,” Carrie Ann said. But as the competition heats up, judges want Andy to add more content to his performances.

Score: 18/30 (Carrie Ann: 6, Derek: 6, Bruno: 6)

Wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin and pro Witney Carson

Dance: Cha cha to “Try Everything” from Zootopia

It’s another animal-themed performance for zookeeper Robert, who said his “family had quite a bit to say after the show” last week, when he went viral after ripping his shirt off mid-performance. Robert voices a character named Robert Furwin in Zootopia 2, in theaters November 28, and he and Witney caught an early screening at Disneyland this week. “This song embodies my spirit,” Robert said. Entering the dance floor from a lift hanging in the air, Robert implemented hip action that would make Shakira proud. “You turned from a snappy salty into a cuddly koala. I saw a completely different side, which means you can play different parts,” Bruno said, though judges didn’t think it was Robert’s best performance of the season.

Score: 22/30 (Carrie Ann: 7, Derek: 7, Bruno: 8)

The Parent Trap actress Elaine Hendrix and pro Alan Bersten

Dance: Quickstep to “Space Mountain” from the Space Mountain ride

Elaine has appeared in a few Disney films herself, but this week she’s celebrating her connection to the iconic Disney Parks ride, Space Mountain, instead. “I was part of the pre-ride entertainment,” Elaine said, recalling playing a news anchor in videos that would play for guests prior to boarding the actual ride. “This is a whole full-circle moment for me.” She aimed to implement judges’ feedback from last week in a joyful, extraterrestrial quickstep. Elaine was “going at warp speed,” Bruno said, adding that she was “keeping up with it without making any error.”

Score: 24/30 (Carrie Ann: 8, Derek: 8, Bruno: 8)

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Whitney Leavitt and pro Mark Ballas

Dance: Foxtrot to “The Room Where It Happens” from Hamilton

It’s not a typical Disney production (and doesn’t have any ties to Disneyland), but the Broadway hit is currently available to stream on Disney+, which makes it Disney enough for Disney night. Whitney danced like she was running out of time in a smooth musical theater adaptation full of just as much energy and effort as Lin Manuel Miranda brought to the titular Hamilton on Broadway. “I was watching it and my lip was quivering. it’s so good,” Carrie Ann said. “The precision, the technicality, the gliding, the painting of the picture was incredible.” Derek added some more high praise: “Get these two on broadway, stat.”

Score: 25/30 (Carrie Ann: 9, Derek: 8, Bruno: 8)

Olympic Gymnast Jordan Chiles and pro Ezra Sosa

Dance: Quickstep to “Special Spice” from Tiana’s Bayou Adventure ride

Splash Mountain was rebranded and redesigned to celebrate The Princess and the Frog in 2024. “She’s the first Black princess,” Jordan said. “As a little girl I was able to be like, ‘you know what, if this is her story, my story can be as magical as hers.” The gymnast was more than “almost there” with her performance dressed as Princess Tiana, which Bruno called “brilliant, vivacious and always elegant.”

Score: 24/30 (Carrie Ann: 8, Derek: 8, Bruno: 8)

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Jen Affleck and pro Jan Ravnik

Dance: Jazz to “Friend Like Me” from Aladdin

Jen promised to “kick it into gear this week” after receiving lower scores than she had hoped. Jen, her husband and children hopped on the It’s a Small World ride, joined by “Uncle Jan” — who, BWT just appeared in Taylor Swift’s new music video this week. The duo served as the grand finale for Disney night with a glittering Aladdin tribute featuring cartwheels, back walkovers, breakdancing and more flips. Bruno called the performance “spectacular, theatrical magic”; but Carrie Ann lamented that it wasn’t quite as challenging as she had hoped.

Score: 23/30 (Carrie Ann: 7, Derek: 8, Bruno: 8)