Consolidating Financial Information of Guarantors and Issuers Balance Sheet (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 29, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 25, 2011
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 183,482	$ 78,830	$ 96,102	$ 35,524	$ 96,312
Receivables	42,534	18,192	29,357
Inventories	29,316	27,840	33,593
Current deferred tax asset	8,185	8,184	10,345
Income tax refundable	662	0	10,454
Other current assets	8,964	8,060	7,443
Total current assets	273,143	141,106	187,294
Property and equipment (net)	1,514,674	1,544,272	1,555,999
Investment In Park	0	0	0
Goodwill	241,936	246,221	247,663
Other intangibes, net	40,025	40,652	40,865
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Intercompany Receivable	0	0	0
Other Assets	31,269	47,614	50,171
Assets	2,101,047	2,019,865	2,081,992
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	6,300	0	0
Accounts payable	21,877	10,734	22,596
Deferred revenue	37,627	39,485	34,682
Accrued interest	10,253	15,512	7,012
Accrued taxes	39,393	17,813	52,404
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	39,621	24,836	36,219
Self-insurance reserves	24,088	23,906	23,092
Other accrued liabilities	7,618	5,916	10,843
Total current liabilities	186,777	138,202	186,848
Deferred Tax Liability	157,603	153,792	140,113
Derivative Liability	31,646	32,260	34,708
Other Liabilities	9,073	8,980	7,380
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	622,125	1,131,100	1,131,100
Notes	901,606	401,080	400,676
Total long-term debt	1,523,731	1,532,180	1,531,776
Equity	192,217	154,451	181,167
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	2,101,047	2,019,865	2,081,992
Cedar Fair L.P. (Parent) [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	133,000	25,000	43,000	0	49,000
Receivables	12	4	3
Inventories	0	0	0
Current deferred tax asset	0	0	0
Income tax refundable	0		0
Other current assets	995	563	929
Total current assets	134,007	25,567	43,932
Property and equipment (net)	450,205	439,506	425,747
Investment In Park	548,241	485,136	572,748
Goodwill	9,061	9,061	9,061
Other intangibes, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Intercompany Receivable	877,010	877,612	877,208
Other Assets	13,196	22,048	23,361
Assets	2,031,720	1,858,930	1,952,057
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	6,300
Accounts payable	281,983	147,264	210,936
Deferred revenue	0	0	0
Accrued interest	2,677	98	735
Accrued taxes	5,413	4,518	5,818
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	1	0	0
Self-insurance reserves	0	0	0
Other accrued liabilities	991	1,110	824
Total current liabilities	297,365	152,990	218,313
Deferred Tax Liability	0	0	0
Derivative Liability	18,407	19,309	20,801
Other Liabilities	0	0	0
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	622,125	1,131,100	1,131,100
Notes	901,606	401,080	400,676
Total long-term debt	1,523,731	1,532,180	1,531,776
Equity	192,217	154,451	181,167
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	2,031,720	1,858,930	1,952,057
Guarantor Subsidiaries Co Issuer Subsidiary Magnum [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	2,293	444	2,263	512	2,489
Receivables	124,478	101,093	108,211
Inventories	1,578	1,724	1,584
Current deferred tax asset	3,708	3,705	6,239
Income tax refundable	0		0
Other current assets	3,558	17,858	2,065
Total current assets	135,615	124,824	120,362
Property and equipment (net)	985	1,013	1,025
Investment In Park	824,356	772,183	786,753
Goodwill	0	0	0
Other intangibes, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	30,316	36,443	39,320
Intercompany Receivable	1,069,069	1,070,125	1,069,721
Other Assets	9,031	14,832	15,580
Assets	2,069,372	2,019,420	2,032,761
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	6,300
Accounts payable	159,781	213,279	116,160
Deferred revenue	0	0	0
Accrued interest	1,593	64	195
Accrued taxes	29,386	0	42,090
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	27,622	17,932	24,864
Self-insurance reserves	5,545	5,528	4,751
Other accrued liabilities	4,077	2,502	4,097
Total current liabilities	234,304	239,305	192,157
Deferred Tax Liability	0	0	0
Derivative Liability	13,239	12,951	13,907
Other Liabilities	5,573	5,480	3,880
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	622,125	1,131,100	1,131,100
Notes	901,606	401,080	400,676
Total long-term debt	1,523,731	1,532,180	1,531,776
Equity	292,525	229,504	291,041
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	2,069,372	2,019,420	2,032,761
Co-Issuer Subsidiary (Cedar Canada) [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	36,187	50,173	40,278	31,540	36,473
Receivables	70,303	71,099	64,153
Inventories	2,090	2,352	2,742
Current deferred tax asset	816	816	772
Income tax refundable	662		10,454
Other current assets	613	530	674
Total current assets	110,671	124,970	119,073
Property and equipment (net)	248,484	268,157	272,951
Investment In Park	143,548	115,401	115,271
Goodwill	121,657	125,942	127,384
Other intangibes, net	17,228	17,835	18,039
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Intercompany Receivable	1,113,983	1,116,623	1,116,623
Other Assets	6,902	8,419	8,925
Assets	1,762,473	1,777,347	1,778,266
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	6,300
Accounts payable	7,802	16,101	29,248
Deferred revenue	1,951	4,996	4,544
Accrued interest	5,983	15,350	6,082
Accrued taxes	0	6,239	0
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	2,154	1,214	2,365
Self-insurance reserves	1,896	1,754	1,698
Other accrued liabilities	694	140	2,417
Total current liabilities	26,780	45,794	46,354
Deferred Tax Liability	61,143	63,460	59,462
Derivative Liability	0	0	0
Other Liabilities	0	0	0
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	622,125	1,131,100	1,131,100
Notes	901,606	401,080	400,676
Total long-term debt	1,523,731	1,532,180	1,531,776
Equity	150,819	135,913	140,674
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	1,762,473	1,777,347	1,778,266
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	12,002	3,213	10,561	3,472	8,350
Receivables	589,797	498,555	478,372
Inventories	25,648	23,764	29,267
Current deferred tax asset	3,661	3,663	3,334
Income tax refundable	0		0
Other current assets	3,798	5,490	3,775
Total current assets	634,906	534,685	525,309
Property and equipment (net)	815,000	835,596	856,276
Investment In Park	81,719	53,790	60,141
Goodwill	111,218	111,218	111,218
Other intangibes, net	22,797	22,817	22,826
Deferred Tax Asset	90	90	0
Intercompany Receivable	0	0	0
Other Assets	2,140	2,315	2,305
Assets	1,667,870	1,560,511	1,578,075
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	0
Accounts payable	314,367	286,649	287,634
Deferred revenue	35,676	34,489	30,138
Accrued interest	0	0	0
Accrued taxes	4,594	23,437	4,496
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	9,844	5,690	8,990
Self-insurance reserves	16,647	16,624	16,643
Other accrued liabilities	1,856	2,164	3,505
Total current liabilities	382,984	369,053	351,406
Deferred Tax Liability	126,866	126,865	119,971
Derivative Liability	0	0	0
Other Liabilities	3,500	3,500	3,500
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	0	0	0
Notes	0	0	0
Total long-term debt	0	0	0
Equity	1,154,520	1,061,093	1,103,198
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	1,667,870	1,560,511	1,578,075
Eliminations [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0	0
Receivables	(742,056)	(652,559)	(621,382)
Inventories	0	0	0
Current deferred tax asset	0	0	0
Income tax refundable	0		0
Other current assets	0	(16,381)	0
Total current assets	(742,056)	(668,940)	(621,382)
Property and equipment (net)	0	0	0
Investment In Park	(1,597,864)	(1,426,510)	(1,534,913)
Goodwill	0	0	0
Other intangibes, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	(30,406)	(36,533)	(39,320)
Intercompany Receivable	(3,060,062)	(3,064,360)	(3,063,552)
Other Assets	0	0	0
Assets	(5,430,388)	(5,196,343)	(5,259,167)
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	(12,600)
Accounts payable	(742,056)	(652,559)	(621,382)
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	(754,656)	(668,940)	(621,382)
Deferred Tax Liability	(30,406)	(36,533)	(39,320)
Derivative Liability	0	0	0
Other Liabilities	0	0	0
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	(1,244,250)	(2,262,200)	(2,262,200)
Notes	(1,803,212)	(802,160)	(801,352)
Total long-term debt	(3,047,462)	(3,064,360)	(3,063,552)
Equity	(1,597,864)	(1,426,510)	(1,534,913)
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	$ (5,430,388)	$ (5,196,343)	$ (5,259,167)