Net Income Per Operating Patnership Unit (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017	Mar. 31, 2016
Numerator:
Net income	$ 46,692	$ (67,970)
Numerator:
Net income	46,692	(67,970)
MGP Operating Partnership
Numerator:
Net income	$ 46,692	(67,970)
Denominator:
Basic weighted average Operating Partnership units outstanding (in units)	242,868,331
Basic net income per Operating Partnership Unit (in usd per unit)	$ 0.19
Numerator:
Net income	$ 46,692	$ (67,970)
Denominator:
Basic weighted average Operating Partnership units outstanding (in units)	242,868,331
Effect of dilutive shares for diluted net income per Operating Partnership unit (in units)	278,045
Weighted average shares for diluted net income per Operating Partnership unit (in units)	243,146,376
Diluted net income per Operating Partnership unit (in usd per unit)	$ 0.19