Board Thread:Show-Related Questions and Answers/@comment-26186122-20161205174000/@comment-27060727-20161205175026

All of these questions can be explained by the fact that the Wish Realm is a fake realm where no previous timeline logic has to be followed. Regina was persistent about this in the episode and said that it wasn't even an alternate reality. So really, anything goes and anyone can show up in any form.

I would not take this as writers' actual vision for a "What if the curse never happened?" scenario.