I love Zeal, I love the overworld music, I love the floating island etc etc I LOVE IT
I am also a UT2004 addict so I know alot about that game too

In the orig game when you enter the caves to get to the palace, use the UT2004 little light pillars to warp to the next cave.

As for when your on the ground in the snow, a really sweet teleport animation should replace what was in the orig game to actually get to Zeal.