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This pond holds a portal to the Underworld itself.

The Darkness, under Rumplestiltskin's appearance, to Hook src

Storybrooke Heritage Park[1] is a Storybrooke location on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the fourteenth episode of the third season.

History

During Second Curse

When Henry returns to Storybrooke during the second curse, he has no recollection of his adoptive mother, Regina, and growing up there. He spends the day with Regina (although he only knows her as the mayor of Storybrooke), who treats him to ice cream, and they take a walk in the Storybrooke Heritage Park, by the duck pond. Henry relates his concerns about his biological mother to Regina, suspecting she dragged him to Storybrooke for more than work-related business, and believes Emma is struggling since turning down Walsh's proposal. ("The Tower")

On a different day, Henry meets up with Emma by the duck pond. Emma sadly reveals her reason for coming to Storybrooke was to save his biological father from bad people, but she was too late and he died as a result. ("Quiet Minds")

After Second Curse

During a celebration at the diner, Hook hints that Emma desires to leave town. Emma eludes the issue by leaving the diner. Hook finds her sitting on a bench by the pond. He comes over and hands Emma Henry's storybook to show her the family she will be leaving behind. Emma, however, only sees fairytale stories in the book and believes she doesn't belong. The conversation is cut short when Emma notices the strangle light coming from Zelena's time portal. Together, they run off to investigate. ("Snow Drifts")

Emma is planning to get rid of her own magic in an effort to protect her loved ones. As she's standing beside her car, overlooking the Storybrooke Heritage Park duck pond, Emma calls her mother and informs her that she found a way to fix everything. Mary Margaret is shocked by what Emma has to say next, and tries to reason with her daughter, before being hung up on. After finding out about Emma's plans, Elsa proceeds to use a Locator Spell to track down her friend. After pouring a potion on Emma's scarf, Elsa follows it through the Storybrooke Heritage Park, to an abandoned mansion. ("Smash the Mirror")

During a trip to the park, Robin Hood and Regina sit at a bench while Zelena, who is masquerading as Robin's wife Marian, plays with his son Roland beside the duck pond. Robin tells Regina that he wishes to be with her, but suddenly, Roland calls to them after "Marian" fainted. Regina, recognizing "Marian" is freezing because of remnants of Ingrid's ice magic, suggests leaving town will save her life. Sacrificing her chance at happiness, she pushes Robin Hood to go with "Marian". ("Heroes and Villains")

On a rainy evening, Mary Margaret meets up with Regina by the duck pond. She confesses to Regina that she and David caused Maleficent to lose her child, and she asks her to keep the secret from their daughter Emma. She asks Regina to go undercover as a villain to find out Maleficent's plans. ("Unforgiven")

After the mysterious Author runs away, Emma and her parents search for him in the Storybrooke Heritage Park. David and Mary Margaret admit to Emma that they already know him, because he was the one who put them on the path that caused Maleficent to lose her child. Emma, who is already angry with her parents for lying to her about these events, is deeply upset. Her parents assure her that they've changed since then, and they only lied to her about this one incident, but Emma does not care care, and says that none of that matters now, since they need to find the Author before Mr. Gold does. ("Heart of Gold")

After Third Curse

A Fury, hoping to collect the price for unpaid magic, shows up and abducts Robin Hood. The demon brings the unconscious Robin to the park's duck pond. As the moon reaches zenith, a portal opens, and the ferryman, Charon, appears as the Fury prepares to drag Robin's soul to the Underworld. Regina, David, Mary Margaret, King Arthur and Leroy band together to save him, and the Fury backs off. The ferryman disappears into the mist. ("The Price")

Hook, who is now a Dark One, is standing at the spot where the Fury tried to abduct Robin. The Darkness informs him that the pond contains a portal to the Underworld. For a Fury, the portal only appears when the moon reaches zenith, but it's always existed. Hook opens the portal, and a boat appears, carrying all of the past Dark Ones, in the flesh. The first one to step off is Nimue, who tells Hook that it's time to get to work and snuff out the light. ("Broken Heart")

The Underworld only provides the Dark Ones with a temporary stay in the land of the living, and the only way for them to stay here is to trade places with living souls. The Dark Ones take Henry, Regina, David, Mary Margaret, Robin Hood and Mr. Gold to the duck pond to prepare them for transport to the Underworld. When Emma, who is also a Dark One, shows up to stop them, Nimue hits her with magic, telekinetically choking her. As Hook watches the woman he loves suffer, he has a change of heart. He takes all the Darkness into Excalibur, and all the Dark Ones, minus himself and Emma, are absorbed into the sword. He then sacrifices his own life by having Emma drive the sword through him, releasing them both from the darkness.

Emma is determined to bring Hook back, and returns to the pond with her family. Mr. Gold cuts his hand and drips the blood into the duck pond, opening up the portal. Charon appears, ready to transport them to the Underworld. As they begin their journey, Emma promises that she will find Hook. ("Swan Song")

After Emma and her family return to Storybrooke, Regina and Robin are standing by the pond when Regina's sister Zelena walks up to them. Robin wants to know where his infant daughter is, and Zelena answers that she is with Hades. Regina tries to convince her sister that Hades is not to be trusted, but Zelena angrily tells them that if she and Robin try to hurt him, there will be consequences. She teleports away in anger. ("Last Rites")

Emma, Hook, Regina, Mary Margaret, David and Dr. Jekyll notice a dirigible from the Land of Untold Stories flying over Storybrooke. They follow the aircraft on foot, and end up in the Storybrooke Heritage Park, where they run into Mr. Hyde. Emma and Regina combine their forces and blasts Mr. Hyde with their magic, but it does him no harm. Everyone watches as the dirigible goes lower and lower and flies right over the duck pond, before crash landing in the forest. ("The Savior")

While Jasmine is enjoying a quiet moment by the duck pond, Aladdin shows up. Jasmine, who hasn't seen Aladdin since before the first curse, is happy to be reunited with him. She begs for his help to save Agrabah, their homeland, from danger. She insists that they need the Savior, to which Aladdin begins telling her that he's not the Savior anymore. ("Street Rats")

Belle spends one evening at the park bench, where she holds teddy bear plushie, when Mr. Gold comes to give her the news that he cannot find their son Gideon anywhere. He removes her tracking bracelet to prove he's not tricking her, and then suggests she should call to check in with the Storybrooke nuns. Belle phones the convent, and upon learning Mother Superior returned in a battered state, she and Mr. Gold rush to her side to find out what happened. ("Wish You Were Here")

Gideon appears before Mother Superior in the park, where she apologizes for not being able to stop the Black Fairy from taking him, to which Gideon implies that although she couldn't help him then, she can now. He shows her the broken Hrunting sword and reveals he needs her magic. She attempts to resist by raising a hand, but he paralyzes her. Before he can finish her off, Mr. Gold arrives to do it for him, in order to spare his son from committing an act of darkness. Mr. Gold slices open Mother Superior's palm with the sword to drain all her magic, which flows into Hrunting and repairs the blade. Mother Superior passes out soon after, but unknown to Gideon, she is not actually dead, although her heart stops beating. Her body is brought to the pawnshop by Mr. Gold. ("Ill-Boding Patterns")

Fiona, the Black Fairy, confronts her son Mr. Gold, who now has some knowledge of his mother's past and his destiny to kill her. She insists he doesn't know everything that happened and then uses her magic to show him what led to her banishment. Mr. Gold is surprised to learn she did love him and left him unwillingly, however, he criticizes her for choosing power over love. Fiona defends her choice, stating that she needed her power to protect him and everything she has done was to keep him safe from the dangers of the world. She asks to start over as a family with him if he can forgive her for the things she's done. ("The Black Fairy")

Visitors

Trivia

On-Screen Notes

  • This location is separate from the Storybrooke Wilderness Park.
  • Two other Storybrooke parks, the Storybrooke Centennial Park and the Alder Park, appear on Greg and Tamara's map of Storybrooke.[3] ("Lacey")
    • In addition, three more parks appear on an illegible prop sign near the Storybrooke Cannery. They are named Winnowers Park, Gottling Park and Foreshore Park.[4] The prop sign can be seen by the cannery in "Lacey", but it is too far away to read.[5]
    • Yet another park is mentioned on a prop sign created for the episode "The Snow Queen", which reveals that the scene where Emma is sitting alone in her car at night is supposed to take place in Rowan Hill Park.[6] However, the sign does not appear on-screen.
  • The Storybrooke Daily Mirror has an article about a hiking location called the Storybrooke Heritage Trail.[7] ("A Tale of Two Sisters")
    • A location named Storybrooke Heritage Farm is mentioned on the cannery prop sign.[4]

Production Notes

Props Notes

Filming Locations

Appearances

References

  1. File:408FollowTheScarf.png
    TwitterLogo Adam Horowitz (@AdamHorowitzLA) on X, formerly Twitter: Night shooting. (December 11, 2014). (backup link)
  2. File:511AreYouAlright.png
    File:511Mom!Dad!.png
  3. File:219PlacesYouSawIt.png
  4. 4.0 4.1 TwitterLogo Jessica Matsler (@OnceUponAFrog9) on X, formerly Twitter: Sights of Storybrooke that I took during the setup of town yesterday...so sad to be flying back today when filming 😩😩😩 Love #OUAT forever! (September 29, 2016). (backup link) (archive screenshot) (photograph)
  5. File:219Aha!.png
  6. FlickrIconTemplate Lawrence Andreutti. Once Upon a Time set photos from Greenwood Park, North Vancouver, BC (Rowan Hill Park) taken on September 25, 2014. (September 25, 2014).  (archive copy)
  7. File:401Newspaper2.png
  8. File:511FerrymanArrives.png
  9. File:502ThereItIs!.png
  10. 10.0 10.1 File:508OurFuture.png
  11. Filming report for "Smash the Mirror":
    FlickrIconTemplate Lawrence Andreutti. Once Upon A Time October 3, 2014 (October 3, 2014).  "Once Upon a Time set photos from Central Park, Burnaby, BC (Storybrooke Heritage Park) taken on October 3, 2014.(archive copy)
    Filming report for "The Price":
    Gittins, Susan (July 24, 2015). SET: ONCE UPON A TIME's Camelot Set in Burnaby's Central Park. Hollywood North Buzz. “Set for the night shoot on the pond is below. Who was spotted? Outlaw Queen — Robin Hood (Sean Maguire) and Regina (Lana Parrilla) – and The Charmings – Prince Charming (Josh Dallas) and Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin). There are big spoiler photos out there but I left before filming started.” (Look at the photographs below the quote.)
  12. Filming report for "Swan Song":
    TwitterLogo What's Filming (@WhatsFilming) on X, formerly Twitter: Once Upon a Time getting ready for another night shoot @ Central Park Burnaby. Crew in wetsuits in Upper Pond... Strange? (October 23, 2015). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
    Filming report for "Street Rats":
    Jasmine and Aladdin Filming Once Upon a Time Season 6 Episode 5 (Photos). What's Filming (October 21, 2016). “While the episode was filming back in August, the pair were together for a quick scene at Central Park in Burnaby. The scene was set along the edge of the Upper Pond, an area frequently used by the show.”
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