You can keep it disabled as desired, and then remove the disabled attribute before the form is submitted.
$('#myForm').submit(function() {
$('select').removeAttr('disabled');
});
Note that if you rely on this method, you'll want to disable it programmatically as well, because if JS is disabled or not supported, you'll be stuck with the disabled select.
$(document).ready(function() {
$('select').attr('disabled', 'disabled');
});