Great point, stelio! Perhaps Regina had control over what/whom she brought over from FTL to SB. Being able to hand-pick Maleficent to come over in her dragon form shows Regina had a lot of power. Of course, she’d want to leave Cora behind. Maybe she was able to choose to bring over Jefferson from Wonderland, because she knew he could be of use to her in the future. Only he seemed to understand the intricacies of the hat when Regina wanted to retrieve the poisoned apple.
Also, I think Rumpel designed the curse with the intention of wanting to return to the Enchanted Forest someday. I think going back there was always part of his plan, once he retrieved his son, Baelfire. I think there’s also some connection between Aurora and Rumpelstiltskin, as alluded to when we saw the spinning wheel by the place where she slept.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy