Board Thread:Show-Related Questions and Answers/@comment-34924658-20150819004304/@comment-91424-20150819194329

DigificWriter wrote: Season 4 cannot take begin in late 2013, as you claim, because Emma is still 29 years of age as of the conclusion of Season 3, having celebrated her 29th birthday during the time jump between Season 3a and Season 3b.

There is also the documented fact that none of the characters in Storybrooke recognize Anna, Elsa, etc., which they very much would were your assertion that Season 4 begins in late 2013 to be correct.

Actually, it is never stated how old Emma is in season 4. In "The Tower" from Season 3, David states that it's been nearly thirty years since Emma was born, but that was many episodes ago. We know that she turned 29 in October 2012, during the one year gap. Since Mother Superior went missing in November 2013, Emma must be thirty by now. We also have this piece of dialogue from "Best Laid Plans" (it's about Lily, who was born shortly before Emma):

Maleficent: "I've never seen my child. I don't even know what I had... a boy, a girl. I don't care how much it hurts to know its fate. I need this." Mr. Gold: "Now, remember, this was 30 years ago..."