Document and Entity Information	6 Months Ended
	Jul. 01, 2012	Aug. 01, 2012
Entity Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Jul. 01, 2012
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q2
Entity Registrant Name	CEDAR FAIR L P
Entity Central Index Key	0000811532
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		0
Entity Unit, Units Outstanding		55,517,403