Editor’s note: this article has been modified since it was originally published.

Michael Habersetzer , a junior in mechanical engineering, grew up as a Disney fanatic. In November of 2011, he found out he would travel with a group of students to engineer a Disney dream. 

The Disney Imagineering ImagiNations competition started 20 years ago and has selected teams of students to compete to create a Disney park experience that tells a story, integrates stimulating design and can entertain a wide audience.

N.C . State has consistently sent teams to compete in the finals in Glendale, Calif., and the Habersetzer and his team members won with their project, “The Mind of Molly Mouse .”

In the past, groups of four students proposed project designs for rides and theme-park attractions. Previous NCSU teams designed “Fantasia: the Lost Symphony,” and original ride, “Mickey’s Quest to Magma Mountain.”

According to Brian Gaudio , team leader and junior in environmental design in architecture, this year’s competition was the first to provide a prompt for teams.

“We were all asked to imagine the year 3011 and design an entertainment experience in the future,” Gaudio said.

The team, competing against groups from Carnegie Mellon University, Cal Poly Panoma , UC Berkley, Savannah College of Art and Design and Utah State, developed an original storyline for Disney’s proposed lunar resort, and following the narrative of Mickey Mouse descendent Molly Mouse fighting against evil, super-computer nemesis, Archillion .

The team created a story based on good versus evil, with the heroine Molly Mouse traveling from the occupied Archillion City to the virtuous world Preclarium to protect it from Archillion , In the process, she reimposing good in Archillion City, according to Habersetzer .

The experience culminates with a battle scene and a restoration of peace.

Kyle Thompson, a senior in aerospace engineering, said the experience depicts a highly technologically developed space society that receives a fresh installment of creativity that was lost in the future.

The team got together in September 2011 to work on their application to the competition. Out of 130, the NCSU crew was selected with five other teams to compete in the finals. In the weeks leading up the competition in Disneyland, the team worked day and night to prepare for the challenge.

Taking class off last week, the team shadowed Disney engineers and creative developers to get a glimpse of the story telling process.

According to Habersetzer , this week of learning was far more impactful than a semester of lectures.

“The imaginations competition is absolutely inspiring and it’s great getting to meet some of the most talented and creative people in the world,” Habersetzer said. “The Disney company is one of the best, if not the best, storytelling companies in the world. Getting to look into that process has been amazing.”

The glimpse into Disney taught the team about the significance of collaboration in the creative workplace. In addition to the design process, the multi-disciplinary effort includes persuasive and illustrative writing, engineering and product marketing.

For Andy Park, junior in environmental design in architecture and team concept designers, this multi-disciplinary dialog was a strength for the team.

“We’ve been able to complement each other’s strength and build off ideas to make a cohesive project,” Park said.

The collaborative effort paid off for the team, and as first-place winners, they’ll enjoy $3,000 in prize money. However, for Habersetzer , the team already had the feeling of triumph before the final awards ceremony.

“Looking at how far we’ve come, we were selected out of 130 to compete in the finals,” Habersetzer said. “Reflecting on that, I feel like we already won.”

Now with first place, Habersetzer ‘s Disney dream is no longer a figment of his imagination.