Cinderella is identified as just Ella, hinting at the true origins of her name being Ella who is covered in Cinders or Cinderella for short, making her name actually Cinder Ella. Cinders are also known as ashes, which leads to her Storybrook name, Ashley, which could be taken as an adverb being used as an adjective to imply she too is covered in ashes (cinders).
Two objects of Emma Swan's childhood are hidden in this episode:
-The glass unicorn mobile from Emma's crib in Pilot (2011) can be seen hanging in Mr. Gold's pawn shop.
-The purple and white baby blanket she was found in, also from the pilot, is visible in a suitcase behind Emma as she unpacks boxes.
When Henry loses his shoe on the stairs towards the end of the episode, it is an allusion to Cinderella losing her glass slipper on the stairs.
Ruby mentions that Ashley is taking night classes, which implies that Storybrooke has a university or at the very least, the high school offers nighttime college classes.
Several of the guests in the background of Cinderella and Thomas' wedding celebration ball are computer-generated.