Business Segments - Information by Geographic Region (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Oct. 02, 2022 USD ($) item	Oct. 03, 2021 USD ($)	Oct. 02, 2022 USD ($) item segment	Oct. 03, 2021 USD ($)	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	$ 2,419,460	$ 2,421,409	$ 2,419,460	$ 2,421,409	$ 2,441,486
Revenues	504,831	638,284	1,078,360	1,180,095
Income before income taxes	$ 176,809	224,667	$ 184,467	217,618
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	$ 2,308,557	2,295,840	$ 2,308,557	2,295,840	2,324,420
Revenues			994,463	1,125,917
Income before income taxes			158,489	212,462
Foreign
Business segment information by geographical areas
Goodwill and long-lived assets	$ 110,903	$ 125,569	110,903	125,569	$ 117,066
Revenues			83,897	54,178
Income before income taxes			$ 25,978	$ 5,156