Consolidating Financial Information of Guarantors and Issuers Balance Sheet (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Jun. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Jul. 01, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Jun. 26, 2011
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 43,628	$ 78,830	$ 35,929	$ 35,524	$ 35,679
Receivables	67,199	18,192	42,953
Inventories	45,452	27,840	51,236
Current deferred tax asset	28,302	8,184	10,345
Prepaid advertising	16,614	1,086	16,250
Income tax refundable	0	0	10,083
Other current assets	17,274	8,060	9,339
Total current assets	218,469	141,106	176,135
Property and equipment (net)	1,550,901	1,544,272	1,621,364
Investment In Park	0	0	0
Intercompany Note Receivable			0
Goodwill	239,480	246,221	243,239
Other intangibes, net	39,719	40,652	40,249
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Intercompany Receivable	0	0	0
Other Assets	32,326	47,614	52,542
Assets	2,080,895	2,019,865	2,133,529
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	6,300	0	0
Accounts payable	34,339	10,734	38,292
Deferred revenue	132,365	39,485	108,467
Accrued interest	23,944	15,512	16,029
Accrued taxes	10,021	17,813	10,740
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	29,896	24,836	37,709
Self-insurance reserves	24,592	23,906	23,198
Other accrued liabilities	8,789	5,916	8,652
Total current liabilities	270,246	138,202	243,087
Deferred Tax Liability	154,292	153,792	134,108
Derivative Liability	26,772	32,260	35,146
Other Liabilities	8,796	8,980	7,121
Intercompany Note Payable			0
Long-Term Debt:
Revolving credit loans	58,000	0	111,000
Term debt	622,125	1,131,100	1,140,100
Notes	901,431	401,080	400,647
Total long-term debt	1,581,556	1,532,180	1,651,747
Equity	39,233	154,451	62,320
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	2,080,895	2,019,865	2,133,529
Cedar Fair L.P. (Parent) [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	25,000	0	0	6,000
Receivables	2,960	4	0
Inventories	0	0	0
Current deferred tax asset	0	0	0
Prepaid advertising	0		0
Income tax refundable			0
Other current assets	620	563	800
Total current assets	3,580	25,567	800
Property and equipment (net)	463,783	439,506	465,146
Investment In Park	447,080	485,136	471,253
Intercompany Note Receivable			0
Goodwill	9,061	9,061	9,061
Other intangibes, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Intercompany Receivable	874,125	877,612	880,971
Other Assets	13,605	22,048	24,678
Assets	1,811,234	1,858,930	1,851,909
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	6,300
Accounts payable	155,522	147,264	108,234
Deferred revenue	0	0	0
Accrued interest	5,189	98	481
Accrued taxes	6,534	4,518	7,083
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	1	0	1
Self-insurance reserves	0	0	0
Other accrued liabilities	860	1,110	953
Total current liabilities	174,406	152,990	116,752
Deferred Tax Liability	0	0	0
Derivative Liability	16,039	19,309	21,090
Other Liabilities	0	0	0
Intercompany Note Payable			0
Long-Term Debt:
Revolving credit loans	58,000		111,000
Term debt	622,125	1,131,100	1,140,100
Notes	901,431	401,080	400,647
Total long-term debt	1,581,556	1,532,180	1,651,747
Equity	39,233	154,451	62,320
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	1,811,234	1,858,930	1,851,909
Guarantor Subsidiaries Co Issuer Subsidiary Magnum [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	444	0	512	2,962
Receivables	89,760	101,093	71,210
Inventories	4,639	1,724	4,861
Current deferred tax asset	23,822	3,705	6,239
Prepaid advertising	9,181		10,181
Income tax refundable			0
Other current assets	2,259	17,858	2,971
Total current assets	129,661	124,824	95,462
Property and equipment (net)	994	1,013	1,025
Investment In Park	735,017	772,183	701,181
Intercompany Note Receivable			86,362
Goodwill	0	0	0
Other intangibes, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	34,028	36,443	43,471
Intercompany Receivable	1,123,159	1,070,125	1,186,016
Other Assets	9,382	14,832	16,454
Assets	2,032,241	2,019,420	2,129,971
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	6,300
Accounts payable	208,924	213,279	233,508
Deferred revenue	0	0	0
Accrued interest	3,563	64	195
Accrued taxes	458	0	571
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	18,642	17,932	26,108
Self-insurance reserves	5,535	5,528	4,280
Other accrued liabilities	4,421	2,502	4,489
Total current liabilities	247,843	239,305	269,151
Deferred Tax Liability	0	0	0
Derivative Liability	10,733	12,951	14,056
Other Liabilities	5,296	5,480	3,621
Intercompany Note Payable			0
Long-Term Debt:
Revolving credit loans	58,000		111,000
Term debt	622,125	1,131,100	1,140,100
Notes	901,431	401,080	400,647
Total long-term debt	1,581,556	1,532,180	1,651,747
Equity	186,813	229,504	191,396
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	2,032,241	2,019,420	2,129,971
Co-Issuer Subsidiary (Cedar Canada) [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	21,745	50,173	13,974	31,540	9,902
Receivables	86,590	71,099	64,931
Inventories	4,182	2,352	4,663
Current deferred tax asset	816	816	772
Prepaid advertising	1,579		596
Income tax refundable			10,083
Other current assets	487	530	908
Total current assets	115,399	124,970	95,927
Property and equipment (net)	250,249	268,157	272,511
Investment In Park	129,942	115,401	114,053
Intercompany Note Receivable			0
Goodwill	119,201	125,942	122,960
Other intangibes, net	16,880	17,835	17,412
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Intercompany Receivable	1,165,828	1,116,623	1,236,507
Other Assets	7,112	8,419	9,010
Assets	1,804,611	1,777,347	1,868,380
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	6,300
Accounts payable	7,971	16,101	14,320
Deferred revenue	18,719	4,996	19,946
Accrued interest	15,192	15,350	15,353
Accrued taxes	181	6,239	59
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	2,153	1,214	2,410
Self-insurance reserves	1,727	1,754	1,771
Other accrued liabilities	715	140	935
Total current liabilities	52,958	45,794	54,794
Deferred Tax Liability	61,544	63,460	58,162
Derivative Liability	0	0	0
Other Liabilities	0	0	0
Intercompany Note Payable			0
Long-Term Debt:
Revolving credit loans	58,000		111,000
Term debt	622,125	1,131,100	1,140,100
Notes	901,431	401,080	400,647
Total long-term debt	1,581,556	1,532,180	1,651,747
Equity	108,553	135,913	103,677
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	1,804,611	1,777,347	1,868,380
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	27,904	3,213	27,476	3,472	16,815
Receivables	517,925	498,555	436,324
Inventories	36,631	23,764	41,712
Current deferred tax asset	3,664	3,663	3,334
Prepaid advertising	5,854		5,473
Income tax refundable			0
Other current assets	13,908	5,490	4,660
Total current assets	605,886	534,685	518,979
Property and equipment (net)	835,875	835,596	882,682
Investment In Park	38,992	53,790	21,834
Intercompany Note Receivable			0
Goodwill	111,218	111,218	111,218
Other intangibes, net	22,839	22,817	22,837
Deferred Tax Asset	90	90	0
Intercompany Receivable	0	0	0
Other Assets	2,227	2,315	2,400
Assets	1,617,127	1,560,511	1,559,950
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	0
Accounts payable	285,379	286,649	217,263
Deferred revenue	113,646	34,489	88,521
Accrued interest	0	0	0
Accrued taxes	2,848	23,437	3,027
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	9,100	5,690	9,190
Self-insurance reserves	17,330	16,624	17,147
Other accrued liabilities	2,793	2,164	2,275
Total current liabilities	431,096	369,053	337,423
Deferred Tax Liability	126,866	126,865	119,417
Derivative Liability	0	0	0
Other Liabilities	3,500	3,500	3,500
Intercompany Note Payable			86,362
Long-Term Debt:
Revolving credit loans	0		0
Term debt	0	0	0
Notes	0	0	0
Total long-term debt	0	0	0
Equity	1,055,665	1,061,093	1,013,248
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	1,617,127	1,560,511	1,559,950
Eliminations [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	(6,021)	0	(5,521)	0	0
Receivables	(630,036)	(652,559)	(529,512)
Inventories	0	0	0
Current deferred tax asset	0	0	0
Prepaid advertising	0		0
Income tax refundable			0
Other current assets	0	(16,381)	0
Total current assets	(636,057)	(668,940)	(535,033)
Property and equipment (net)	0	0	0
Investment In Park	(1,351,031)	(1,426,510)	(1,308,321)
Intercompany Note Receivable			(86,362)
Goodwill	0	0	0
Other intangibes, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	(34,118)	(36,533)	(43,471)
Intercompany Receivable	(3,163,112)	(3,064,360)	(3,303,494)
Other Assets	0	0	0
Assets	(5,184,318)	(5,196,343)	(5,276,681)
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	(12,600)
Accounts payable	(623,457)	(652,559)	(535,033)
Deferred revenue	0	0	0
Accrued interest	0	0	0
Accrued taxes	0	(16,381)	0
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	0	0	0
Self-insurance reserves	0	0	0
Other accrued liabilities	0	0	0
Total current liabilities	(636,057)	(668,940)	(535,033)
Deferred Tax Liability	(34,118)	(36,533)	(43,471)
Derivative Liability	0	0	0
Other Liabilities	0	0	0
Intercompany Note Payable			(86,362)
Long-Term Debt:
Revolving credit loans	(116,000)		(222,000)
Term debt	(1,244,250)	(2,262,200)	(2,280,200)
Notes	(1,802,862)	(802,160)	(801,294)
Total long-term debt	(3,163,112)	(3,064,360)	(3,303,494)
Equity	(1,351,031)	(1,426,510)	(1,308,321)
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	$ (5,184,318)	$ (5,196,343)	$ (5,276,681)