Preferred Stock and Stockholders' Equity (Details) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Nov. 29, 2007 Series A Perpetual Stock	Dec. 31, 2010 Series A Perpetual Stock	Dec. 31, 2010 Series A Perpetual Stock	Nov. 29, 2012 Series B Convertible Preferred Stock	Nov. 29, 2007 Series B Convertible Preferred Stock	Jan. 31, 2011 Series B Convertible Preferred Stock	Dec. 31, 2011 Series B Convertible Preferred Stock	Nov. 29, 2012 Common Stock	Jan. 31, 2011 Common Stock
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Preferred stock, shares issued		0	35,000	190,000				35,000
Payments for Repurchase of Preferred Stock and Preference Stock				$ 190,000,000				$ 35,000,000
Payments of Stock Issuance Costs				3,000,000				800,000
Stock Repurchased During Period, Shares					190,000
Preferred Stock, Redemption Amount					199,000,000	199,000,000
Preferred Stock Redemption Premium					7,600,000
Dividends, Preferred Stock, Cash					1,400,000	25,927,000
Convertible Stock Initial Stated Value								$ 1,000
Preferred Stock Accretion Rate per Annum								6.00%
Preferred Stock, Accretion Value for Conversion										1,000
Convertible Preferred Stock, Shares Issued per Aggregate Accretion Value Unit										14.44878
Conversion of Series B preferred stock, shares							34,900		100
Conversion of Stock, Amount Converted							47,000,000		120,000
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, Conversion of Convertible Securities											679,168	1,737
Authorized amount under stock repurchase program	45,000,000
Cumulative DineEquity common stock repurchased under program (shares)		534,101
Cumulative DineEquity common stock repurchased under program		$ 21,200,000
Average price per share of DineEquity common stock repurchased under program		$ 39.64