Consolidating Financial Information of Guarantors and Issuers Balance Sheet (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 28, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 29, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 189,374	$ 118,056	$ 183,482	$ 78,830	$ 96,102
Receivables	41,262	21,333	42,534
Inventories	30,461	26,080	29,316
Current deferred tax asset	9,675	9,675	8,185
Other current assets	13,985	11,353	9,626
Total current assets	284,757	186,497	273,143
Property and equipment (net)	1,518,131	1,505,763	1,514,674
Investment In Park	0	0	0
Goodwill	232,513	238,089	241,936	246,221
Other intangibes, net	38,766	39,471	40,025
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Other Assets	42,909	44,807	31,269
Assets	2,117,076	2,014,627	2,101,047
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	4,600	0	6,300
Accounts payable	21,866	13,222	21,877
Deferred revenue	48,141	44,521	37,627
Accrued interest	12,008	23,201	10,253
Accrued taxes	38,407	19,481	39,393
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	42,139	29,200	39,621
Self-insurance reserves	23,931	23,653	24,088
Other accrued liabilities	8,392	5,521	7,618
Total current liabilities	199,484	158,799	186,777
Deferred Tax Liability	157,389	158,113	157,603
Derivative Liability	25,802	26,662	31,646
Other Liabilities	16,595	11,290	9,073
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	614,250	618,850	622,125
Notes	950,000	901,782	901,606
Total long-term debt	1,564,250	1,520,632	1,523,731
Equity	153,556	139,131	192,217
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	2,117,076	2,014,627	2,101,047
Cedar Fair L.P. (Parent) [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	124,000	75,000	133,000	25,000	43,000
Receivables	11	6	12
Inventories	0	0	0
Current deferred tax asset	0	0	0
Other current assets	1,084	599	995
Total current assets	125,095	75,605	134,007
Property and equipment (net)	459,332	447,724	450,205
Investment In Park	560,750	514,948	548,241
Goodwill	9,061	9,061	9,061
Other intangibes, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Other Assets	11,147	25,210	13,196
Assets	1,165,385	1,072,548	1,154,710
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	2,621		3,590
Accounts payable	340,850	259,850	281,983
Deferred revenue	0	0	0
Accrued interest	2,579	4,637	2,677
Accrued taxes	5,255	4,609	5,413
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	0	0	1
Self-insurance reserves	0	0	0
Other accrued liabilities	446	1,146	991
Total current liabilities	351,751	270,242	294,655
Deferred Tax Liability	0	0	0
Derivative Liability	15,115	15,610	18,407
Other Liabilities	20	0	0
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	350,046	352,668	354,534
Notes	294,897	294,897	294,897
Total long-term debt	644,943	647,565	649,431
Equity	153,556	139,131	192,217
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	1,165,385	1,072,548	1,154,710
Guarantor Subsidiaries Co Issuer Subsidiary Magnum [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	2,194	4,144	2,293	444	2,263
Receivables	131,297	115,972	124,478
Inventories	3,147	1,968	1,578
Current deferred tax asset	5,430	5,430	3,708
Other current assets	5,863	4,443	3,558
Total current assets	147,931	131,957	135,615
Property and equipment (net)	8,105	976	985
Investment In Park	837,800	796,735	824,356
Goodwill	0	0	0
Other intangibes, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	29,935	31,122	30,316
Other Assets	21,071	10,002	9,031
Assets	1,044,842	970,792	1,000,303
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	1,873		2,565
Accounts payable	208,763	188,818	159,781
Deferred revenue	0	0	0
Accrued interest	1,552	3,223	1,593
Accrued taxes	6,534	0	29,386
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	29,505	21,596	27,622
Self-insurance reserves	5,797	5,757	5,545
Other accrued liabilities	5,388	2,993	4,077
Total current liabilities	259,412	222,387	230,569
Deferred Tax Liability	0	0	0
Derivative Liability	10,687	11,052	13,239
Other Liabilities	4,688	7,858	5,573
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	250,088	251,961	253,294
Notes	205,103	205,103	205,103
Total long-term debt	455,191	457,064	458,397
Equity	314,864	272,431	292,525
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	1,044,842	970,792	1,000,303
Co-Issuer Subsidiary (Cedar Canada) [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	52,792	35,575	36,187	50,173	40,278
Receivables	88,605	67,829	70,303
Inventories	1,833	1,898	2,090
Current deferred tax asset	800	800	816
Other current assets	14,219	14,266	1,275
Total current assets	158,249	120,368	110,671
Property and equipment (net)	230,723	243,208	248,484
Investment In Park	163,809	142,668	143,548
Goodwill	112,234	117,810	121,657
Other intangibes, net	15,911	16,683	17,228
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Other Assets	8,587	6,657	6,902
Assets	689,513	647,394	648,490
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	106		145
Accounts payable	22,485	17,632	7,802
Deferred revenue	4,682	2,815	1,951
Accrued interest	7,877	15,341	5,983
Accrued taxes	0	0	0
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	1,962	1,101	2,154
Self-insurance reserves	1,747	1,742	1,896
Other accrued liabilities	693	181	694
Total current liabilities	39,552	38,812	20,625
Deferred Tax Liability	55,676	57,704	61,143
Derivative Liability	0	0	0
Other Liabilities	0	0	0
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	14,116	14,221	14,297
Notes	450,000	401,782	401,606
Total long-term debt	464,116	416,003	415,903
Equity	130,169	134,875	150,819
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	689,513	647,394	648,490
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	10,388	3,337	12,002	3,213	10,561
Receivables	651,998	552,633	589,797
Inventories	25,481	22,214	25,648
Current deferred tax asset	3,445	3,445	3,661
Other current assets	5,847	7,764	3,798
Total current assets	697,159	589,393	634,906
Property and equipment (net)	819,971	813,855	815,000
Investment In Park	60,788	63,948	81,719
Goodwill	111,218	111,218	111,218
Other intangibes, net	22,855	22,788	22,797
Deferred Tax Asset	0	117	90
Other Assets	2,104	2,938	2,140
Assets	1,714,095	1,604,257	1,667,870
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	0		0
Accounts payable	280,417	262,029	314,367
Deferred revenue	43,459	41,706	35,676
Accrued interest	0	0	0
Accrued taxes	39,646	30,591	4,594
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	10,672	6,503	9,844
Self-insurance reserves	16,387	16,154	16,647
Other accrued liabilities	1,865	1,201	1,856
Total current liabilities	392,446	358,184	382,984
Deferred Tax Liability	131,648	131,648	126,866
Derivative Liability	0	0	0
Other Liabilities	11,887	3,432	3,500
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	0	0	0
Notes	0	0	0
Total long-term debt	0	0	0
Equity	1,178,114	1,110,993	1,154,520
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	1,714,095	1,604,257	1,667,870
Eliminations [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0	0
Receivables	(830,649)	(715,107)	(742,056)
Inventories	0	0	0
Current deferred tax asset	0	0	0
Other current assets	(13,028)	(15,719)	0
Total current assets	(843,677)	(730,826)	(742,056)
Property and equipment (net)	0	0	0
Investment In Park	(1,623,147)	(1,518,299)	(1,597,864)
Goodwill	0	0	0
Other intangibes, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	(29,935)	(31,239)	(30,406)
Other Assets	0	0	0
Assets	(2,496,759)	(2,280,364)	(2,370,326)
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	0		0
Accounts payable	(830,649)	(715,107)	(742,056)
Deferred revenue	0	0	0
Accrued interest	0	0	0
Accrued taxes	(13,028)	(15,719)	0
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	0	0	0
Self-insurance reserves	0	0	0
Other accrued liabilities	0	0	0
Total current liabilities	(843,677)	(730,826)	(742,056)
Deferred Tax Liability	(29,935)	(31,239)	(30,406)
Derivative Liability	0	0	0
Other Liabilities	0	0	0
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	0	0	0
Notes	0	0	0
Total long-term debt	0	0	0
Equity	(1,623,147)	(1,518,299)	(1,597,864)
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	$ (2,496,759)	$ (2,280,364)	$ (2,370,326)