Board Thread:Show-Related Questions and Answers/@comment-24386552-20141230181356/@comment-1894786-20141231042534

WorldHopper22 wrote: But time stood still in all the realms before Emma came to Storybrooke. Does this mean time just didn't move or was everyone in every realm frozen like Hook, Cora, Philip, Milan, etc. within protection spell? We've actually never had it specified if everyone was frozen in place or if everyone could go about their business but frozen in time like in Storybrooke. I'd imagine frozen in time, with people unaware of the Curse just "going through a routine" like the people of Storybrooke did. (Because otherwise, Alice would've mentioned being in the asylum for 28 years instead of 1. And all evidence points to the Curse having hit during her year in the asylum.)

It's implied that when Emma arrived in Storybrooke in October 2011, all the lands unfroze (from which of two states I mentioned above is unknown) which was a few months before Emma officially broke the Curse. (She probably broke it about late February, early March of 2012)