Business Segments - Information by Geographic Region (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jul. 03, 2022 USD ($) item	Jul. 04, 2021 USD ($)	Jul. 03, 2022 USD ($) item segment	Jul. 04, 2021 USD ($)	Jan. 02, 2022 USD ($)
Business segment information by geographical areas
Number of reportable segments | segment			1
Number of parks owned or operated | item	27		27
Goodwill and long-lived assets	$ 2,439,064	$ 2,436,562	$ 2,439,064	$ 2,436,562	$ 2,441,486
Revenues	435,422	459,787	573,529	541,811
(Loss) income before income taxes	$ 92,433	120,660	$ 7,658	(7,049)
Mexico
Business segment information by geographical areas
Number of parks owned or operated | item	2		2
Canada
Business segment information by geographical areas
Number of parks owned or operated | item	1		1
Domestic
Business segment information by geographical areas
Goodwill and long-lived assets	$ 2,322,514	2,304,446	$ 2,322,514	2,304,446	2,324,420
Revenues			531,041	521,346
(Loss) income before income taxes			(1,063)	(1,753)
Foreign
Business segment information by geographical areas
Goodwill and long-lived assets	$ 116,550	$ 132,116	116,550	132,116	$ 117,066
Revenues			42,488	20,465
(Loss) income before income taxes			$ 8,721	$ (5,296)