Brooke, it seems pretty clear of two things; first, you have a passion for this profession, and second, there's no clear path to being an Imagineer. Take a look this link, and devour the google search, and I'm pretty sure you'll find the same.

http://beta.latimes.com/entert...

As for being a woman, don't let anyone tell you that can't do something, because of your gender, economic status, or ethnicity. Tell them to fuck off, and you'll see them at their barista job at Caribou Coffee.

I am not sure Architecture would be the right avenue for you to go too if your ultimate goal is a Disney animator. There are other great animation companies too that you can use as stepping stones. I hear Pixar is great company to work with. I would recommend you to create a LinkedIn account and reach out to people and network with people that work at Pixar, Disney, and other related animators. If you ask the right questions I’m sure people will help you decided on great decisions to make toward your goal. I would love for someone to ask me questions and I would be happy to help them. Don’t let anyone kick you down and never give up! Don’t let anyone tell you that a female and not able to do something. That’s total bullshit. I am living proof that I survived architecture school through all the nasty names and bullshit. everyone that said I would not able to do it. Those that told me all those nasty things work in retail now. I am a licensed architect now in two countries and 3 states... and still trying to advance myself to bigger and better things! Best of luck and keep your head up and toward your goal. I would also start downloading software and looking up free tutorials and start teaching yourself basics to give you a heads up on anyone else. 

i Apologize I had not idea with an Imagineering was... in that sense architecture career is the way to go! However I do think networking is very important and get in touch with those that do what you want to do! 

I would suggest engineering or at least a minor. Imagineers have to design and engineer the spectacles, not just sketch them out. A deep technical knowledge of how things - physical, digital, and virtual (VR, AR) - work is critical.

why don’t you go to film school and study screenplay writing with an emphasis in animated movies? 

You can also go to school for video game design.

You can also go to school for video game design.

Academy of Art in San Francisco

Why? When I was working at Rockstar Games in Carlsbad, we would hire almost exclusively from AAU, and the people from there were very good at Maya, hand sketches, everything - 

For those who are unfamiliar, Walt Disney Imagineering is the unit responsible for designing Disney’s theme parks and other entertainment venues. They are not the group that makes the animated films, that is Walt Disney Animation Studios. 

While Walt Disney Imagineering is currently lead by an architect, it is not really a career path inside of Walt Disney Imagineering itself. Architecture services are contracted out to other firms on a per-project basis so most of the architects are experienced architects in a supervisory role and not a design role. Those third parties is where you should look at eventually getting hired. You’re options are much broader and you’ll have opportunities to work for Disney as well as other theme parks. Disney and Universal sometimes like to have teams close by and will have their contracted firms work in their offices. There are also cases where third party employees are embedded, meaning they essentially work at Disney as a contracted employee. 

Being at a third party also offers some additional job security. Disney hires a lot of freelancers on a per project basis and there are rules on how many projects you can do and for how long you can be contracted. At a third party, if Disney has no work you can do work for another park or, if there is a downturn in park build, work on other projects. 

Do not be sucked into the lie that the Disney College Program is an internship. It is not, you’ll waste time away from your degree to work in the parks. The real internships are the Disney Professional Internships. They are highly competitive and while an architecture degree may be applicable for some, they are usually for different fields. Even if you do get into Walt Disney Imagineering doing architecture related work, your time there may not qualify as experience towards registration (if that is important to you).

I would say architecture, engineering, graphic, landscape, and set design are all relevant avenues as the job will likely be an amalgam of all those things.  Before you pick a focus or school maybe write them and see if you can shadow them for a few days to get a better feel for the day to day. 

I once took a FEMA course for Hurricane resilience at the Center for Architecture in NYC. It was taught by an architect who did a lot of work at Disney World - I forget his name.  But he was super knowledgeable about building for Hurricanes and about building in southern Florida in general, so maybe focus your studies on a program geared towards resilience or building for extreme climates. Also find out which firms compete for work in theme parks and read their job listings to see what kind of skills they look for.

You might look at Art Center - their Entertainment Design program places a lot of folks into Disney's Imagineering group.

With that said, Disney has a terrible reputation as an employer, and even worse as a client (architects beware). Many reputable firms in Los Angeles will not work for them. Just go into all this with your eyes open and some other options.