Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-24846659-20140813193020/@comment-24674051-20141013181716

And as for why Rumple did no go himself, let's remember that he is addicted to power, and we know from Manhattan that he is powerless outside of storybrooke. So he would not dare go somewhere he is powerless. (at least not without some way of getting back).

We'll have to see how the story plays out, but I suspect that, just like Pinnochio, Bae, and Emma, the trip for the Snow Queen was One Way until the original curse was broken and Magic was brought to Storybrooke. In which case, she may have been stranded in the LWM until after Snow's curse, if she didn't get back to SB prior to Regina destroying her curse.