Revenue Disclosures - Changes in the Company's contract liability for deferred franchise and development fees (Details) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($)
Change in Contract with Customer, Liability [Roll Forward]
Balance at December 31, 2017	$ 81,433
Recognized as revenue during the nine months ended September 30, 2018	(8,053)
Fees received and deferred during the nine months ended September 30, 2018	3,181
Balance at September 30, 2018	$ 76,561

Amount of obligation to transfer good or service to customer for which consideration has been received or is receivable.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82913815&loc=SL49130531-203044

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82913815&loc=SL49130532-203044

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130549-203045

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant