Snow Place Like Home

"**Snow Place Like Home**" is the forty-fourth episode of the Disney Channel animated series, *Elena of Avalor*. It premiered on November 24, 2018 and is the nineteenth episode in the second season.

## Plot

It's Noche Buena in the Kingdom of Avalor. At Avalor Palace, Esteban is searching for his gifts and finds one. Elena catches him and puts the gift he took to open back. Isabel, Luisa, and Francisco come in and wish them a happy almost Navidad. Luisa notes how beautiful Elena looks. Elena tells her grandmother she wanted to get into the Navidad spirit. Isabel picks up a gift and states "Found it." Elena tells her "Isa, you're as bad as Esteban." Isabel explains that the gift she picked up is for Cristina and that she and their grandparents are going to Cristina's village to drop it off. Elena asks them if they're coming back for Noche Buena. Luisa answers "Of course, mijita." Elena is relieved because, after everything they went through that year because of Shuriki, she just wants to spend Navidad with her family. Isabel and her grandparents then set off for Cristina's village in the coach.

Suddenly, there's a knock at the door. Elena thinks her little sister and grandparents changed their minds about taking gifts to Christina and opens the door. However, it's Naomi and Mateo. They've come to deliver presents to for the Royal Family and Gabe, who's still not back yet. Elena explains that Gabe is still hunting down the Delgados. Elena also hopes he's okay. Meanwhile, Gabe is indeed still pursuing Victor and Carla with two of the Royal Guards on Jaquins. The pursuit has gotten to the bridge Elena built at the border between Avalor and Cordoba. Victor tells Cruz "Go faster, Beast." Cruz tells Victor he and his sister have names. Vestia adds that the Royal Guards are pursuing him and Carla, not her and Cruz. To lose them, Victor conjures a huge blizzard. The Delgados lose the guards in the blizzard. The blizzard spreads all over Avalor.

Naomi and Mateo are about to go home when the blizzard hits, trapping them inside. Esteban frets about how Isabel and their grandparents will get home while Naomi and Mateo fret about how they will get home. To cheer them up, Elena tells them they should have a snowball fight. The others shoot down this idea by telling her it's too cold. So, to warm them up, Elena takes them to the kitchen to make Ponche Navideno. Naomi and Mateo like it but Esteban refuses to even drink his on the grounds that he only drinks his with Luisa's tamales. Elena tells him they will make tamales when their grandparents and Isabel get back. Esteban moodily asks "But when will they get back?" Elena tells Esteban "Esteban. Primo. I've got a surprise for you." Esteban tells her he's not interested. Elena reveals that it's a Navidad treasure hunt. The trio agrees to it. Elena then goes to hide the presents. When she gets back, Elena gives them a riddle: In this meeting place, the ends don't meet; A novel approach will reveal your treat. Naomi figures out that it's the Grand Council chamber as the meeting table is a semicircle. When they get to the Chamber, Naomi finds it on the bookshelf as a novel meant book. The present is Dulce. However, the gift only makes Mateo and Esteban more depressed. To cheer them back up, Elena decides they should decorate the Parlor.

Later, they have decorated the Parlor. Mateo is still feeling depressed as he has made a gingerbread house and a cookie shaped like his mother. Esteban makes him feel worse by eating the cookie shaped like his mom. When Mateo protests, Esteban complains about how Luisa's not there to make her tamales. Suddenly, there's a knock at the door. Esteban thinks it's Isabel and his grandparents and goes to get it. However, when he opens the door, it's just Luna who's there to drop some apples off for Elena before returning to Vallestrella. However, when she tries to leave, the blizzard blows her back inside. Luna asks Mateo if he can cast a spell that will end the storm. Mateo asks "Why didn't I think about that?' Esteban states "I agree. Why didn't you?" and they head to Mateo's Workshop to get one. They find one and head back outside. Unfortunately, Mateo gets the incantation wrong and the spell just makes the blizzard worse by making it more powerful. Elena leads everyone back inside to make tamales.

Meanwhile, the more powerful blizzard forces Gabe's group to seek shelter in a cave where they celebrate Navidad. The more powerful blizzard also makes problems for the Delgados. Victor insults Cruz, prompting him and Vestia, who have had enough of the abuse and insults they've been subjected to by Shuriki's group, to throw the Delgados off and ditch them to fend for themselves. This forces the Delgados to strike out on foot. When Carla hurts herself in a way that makes it so she can't walk, Victor carries her back to their cabin. But when they reach the door, they are shocked to find a woman there as well. The woman reveals herself as Victor's wife, who is also a wizard.

Back at Avalor Palace, Elena's group are making tamales. However, they rush so much that they just get the dough on Elena's face. Naomi, Mateo, Esteban, and Luna blame each other and then Elena. Elena tells them she's been trying to cheer them up and they didn't even notice and leaves. Esteban blames Naomi, Mateo, and Luna, only for the three of them to blame him with Naomi asking him if he cares about anyone other than himself. Esteban tells them he cares about his grandparents and adds that he lost his parents in a blizzard just like the one that's currently raging. When he was a boy, younger than Isabel, his parents went out on a voyage across the Great Ocean, despite him telling them not to due to having a bad feeling. There was a sudden blizzard across the Northern Sea. Their ship went down with no survivors. Luna notes he still has family in the Palace. Luna also notes they owe her an apology as they haven't been treating her right.

To make it up to Elena, they arrange a Navidad treasure hunt for her that ends in the kitchen, where they have resumed making tamales. While they make the tamales, Mateo realizes what made the spell go wrong. He recasts the spell and finally ends the blizzard. Naomi and Mateo invite their families to the Palace. When Isabel, Francisco, and Luisa get back, the Turners, the Royal Family, and the de Alvas celebrate Navidad together.

## Cast

* Aimee Carrero as Princess Elena
* Jenna Ortega as Princess Isabel
* Jillian Rose Reed as Naomi
* Joseph Haro as Mateo
* Christian Lanz as Esteban
* Jorge Diaz as Gabe
* Yvette Nicole Brown as Luna
* Chris Parnell as Migs
* Lou Diamond Phillips as Victor Delgado
* Myrna Velasco as Carla Delgado
* Mario Lopez as Cruz
* Diane Guerrero as Vestia
* Julia Vera as Luisa
* Emiliano Diez as Francisco
* Josh Keaton as Miguel and Andres

## Songs

* Home for Navidad
* Hearts Full of Cheer

## Trivia

* The Royal Family, the Turners, and Mateo have returned to Avalor City
* Gabe is still hunting the Delgados since the events of Finding Zuzo.
* Cruz and Vestia finally get fed up with all the abuse and insults they've been subjected to since they've joined Shuriki and ditch the Delgados.
* Victor's wife and Carla's mother makes her first appearance in this episode.
	+ She's also revealed to be a wizard.
* Esteban reveals how he lost his parents in this episode.
* **Moral:** The holidays are a time to have a good time with loved ones.