Behind the Scenes at Disneyland

INSIDE EDITION gets a behind-the-scenes tour of Disneyland.

Disneyland is known as "The Happiest Place on Earth." Everyone knows it has the Sleeping Beauty Castle, Main Street USA, and of course, Mickey Mouse.
    
But what you didn't know is that when the gates open at 8 a.m. and the crowd rushes in, a small army of workers has been up all night getting everything picture perfect.

INSIDE EDITION went behind the scenes to find out what really goes on at Disneyland after dark.

Disney ambassador Jolie Hales was our guide. She met us at the park when it was still very dark outside, before the park even opened.

Our first stop was the docks where they park the submarines for the Finding Nemo ride.

Scuba divers maintain the water ride and do their best to be invisible to the guests.
       
"They don't even know we exist, and that's kind of where we want to be...Tinkerbell's doing it all," said scuba diver machinist Tom Self.
    
At the crack of dawn, the topiary artists start trimming the 32 topiary sculptures, including a dolphin made from an olive tree.

It takes three years to grow and fashion the trees to look like Flipper, a horse, or even a reindeer.
    
"So you have to be gardeners and you have to be artists?" Hales asked topiary artist Zhanna Safiulina.

"Everything," said Safiulina.

Topiary artists use sheep shears to trim each sculpture, which need cutting every two weeks because they grow so fast in the California sun.

We saw a woman with a broom who, at first glance, might look like a janitor. But she's actually a sidewalk artist, and her broom is her brush.

Allison Alvarez dips her broom in water and creates images of the famous mouse.

She demonstrated her technique for drawing the perfect Mickey Mouse.    

"The most important part [is] his ears," she said.

On Main Street, there's the Candy Palace. Disneyland chocolate bars are made by hand and then rolled in chopped almonds.
 
There are vents on the storefront so they can waft the scent of freshly made candy all across Disneyland.
       
And here's one more Disneyland tidbit you may not know. A candle is always lit in the window of an apartment over the firehouse on Main Street. The apartment was used by Walt Disney himself, and the light is always on to symbolize Disney still being there, watching over his Magic Kingdom.