For almost sixty years, Disney listed beards beside poison apples and stolen shadows in its forbidden section in the theme park employee handbook, but starting on February 3rd, the most beloved places in America will be getting a whole lot furrier. A spokesman for the company announced today that both beards and goatees will be acceptable facial accessories, joining well-manicured moustaches grown in full on vacations that were previously deemed acceptable in 2000.

Under normal circumstances, the above lessening of the stringent rules would have been enough to please many Disney employees, but the company actually announced it's not stopping its policy overhauls at just facial hair. According to CBS News, employees will also be allowed to dress casually on Fridays, provided they work in areas of the park that don’t require visitor contact. No word on whether that includes Hawaiian shirts, but for Bill Lumbergh's sake, let's hope so.

Apparently, all of these rules have been periodically analyzed since Disney first began operating parks almost sixty years ago, but like Red’s parole in The Shawshank Redemption, they were denied like clockwork. I’m blame lingering resentment toward hippies as the main roadblock, but I don’t have any specific evidence to support that hypothesis.

Regardless of why it happened, Pop Blend is extremely enthusiastic about this decision. Now employees will get a chance to grow playoff beards in support of their favorite hockey teams. Mike Commodore must be so proud.