Every mid-season permiere since Season 3 has been named after a Bruce Springsteen song. "Secret Garden" is from the soundtrack to the movie "Jerry Maguire".
Leota's speech to Hook and Zelena is taken straight from the Ghost Host's dialogue from the Stretching Room in the Haunted Mansion.
Gothel's line "choose now, which mother knows best?" is a reference to the song "Mother Knows Best", sung by Donna Murphy in Tangled (2009) which also features Mother Gothel.