Consolidating Financial Information of Guarantors and Issuers Income Statement (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 29, 2015	Mar. 30, 2014
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	$ 46,817	$ 40,466
Costs and expenses:
Cost of food, merchandise, and games revenues	5,588	4,985
Operating expenses	78,130	80,350
Selling, general and administrative	25,818	21,404
Depreciation and amortization	4,011	4,307
Loss on impairment / retirement of fixed assets, net	2,903	997
Total costs and expenses	116,450	112,043
Operating loss	(69,633)	(71,577)
Interest expense (income), net	20,492	24,659
Net effect of swaps	(116)	371
Unrealized / realized foreign currency loss	38,218	17,184
Other (income) expense	0	0
Loss from investment in affiliates	0	0
Loss before taxes	(128,227)	(113,791)
Benefit for taxes	(44,394)	(30,251)
Net loss	(83,833)	(83,540)
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax):
Cumulative foreign currency translation adjustment	7,214	1,621
Unrealized loss on cash flow hedging derivatives	(2,439)	(650)
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax)	4,775	971
Total Comprehensive Income (Loss)	(79,058)	(82,569)
Cedar Fair L.P. (Parent) [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	(1,383)	4,755
Costs and expenses:
Cost of food, merchandise, and games revenues	0	0
Operating expenses	134	1,348
Selling, general and administrative	799	1,396
Depreciation and amortization	0	474
Loss on impairment / retirement of fixed assets, net	0	249
Total costs and expenses	933	3,467
Operating loss	(2,316)	1,288
Interest expense (income), net	7,836	10,199
Net effect of swaps	14	194
Unrealized / realized foreign currency loss	0	0
Other (income) expense	188	187
Loss from investment in affiliates	72,786	73,588
Loss before taxes	(83,140)	(82,880)
Benefit for taxes	693	660
Net loss	(83,833)	(83,540)
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax):
Cumulative foreign currency translation adjustment	7,214	1,621
Unrealized loss on cash flow hedging derivatives	(2,439)	(650)
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax)	4,775	971
Total Comprehensive Income (Loss)	(79,058)	(82,569)
Guarantor Subsidiaries Co Issuer Subsidiary Magnum [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	4,020	8,679
Costs and expenses:
Cost of food, merchandise, and games revenues	0	0
Operating expenses	23,057	22,462
Selling, general and administrative	13,275	16,672
Depreciation and amortization	9	9
Loss on impairment / retirement of fixed assets, net	0	0
Total costs and expenses	36,341	39,143
Operating loss	(32,321)	(30,464)
Interest expense (income), net	6,837	7,011
Net effect of swaps	(130)	177
Unrealized / realized foreign currency loss	0	0
Other (income) expense	(4,816)	(3,274)
Loss from investment in affiliates	51,745	47,143
Loss before taxes	(85,957)	(81,521)
Benefit for taxes	(13,172)	(10,422)
Net loss	(72,785)	(71,099)
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax):
Cumulative foreign currency translation adjustment	0	0
Unrealized loss on cash flow hedging derivatives	(777)	(173)
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax)	(777)	(173)
Total Comprehensive Income (Loss)	(73,562)	(71,272)
Co-Issuer Subsidiary (Cedar Canada) [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	78	151
Costs and expenses:
Cost of food, merchandise, and games revenues	0	1
Operating expenses	4,971	6,937
Selling, general and administrative	1,743	873
Depreciation and amortization	0	0
Loss on impairment / retirement of fixed assets, net	0	0
Total costs and expenses	6,714	7,811
Operating loss	(6,636)	(7,660)
Interest expense (income), net	6,120	9,468
Net effect of swaps	0	0
Unrealized / realized foreign currency loss	38,218	17,184
Other (income) expense	1,046	374
Loss from investment in affiliates	3,503	4,064
Loss before taxes	(55,523)	(38,750)
Benefit for taxes	(20,024)	(10,506)
Net loss	(35,499)	(28,244)
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax):
Cumulative foreign currency translation adjustment	7,214	1,621
Unrealized loss on cash flow hedging derivatives	0	0
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax)	7,214	1,621
Total Comprehensive Income (Loss)	(28,285)	(26,623)
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	46,737	40,312
Costs and expenses:
Cost of food, merchandise, and games revenues	5,588	4,984
Operating expenses	52,603	63,034
Selling, general and administrative	10,001	2,463
Depreciation and amortization	4,002	3,824
Loss on impairment / retirement of fixed assets, net	2,903	748
Total costs and expenses	75,097	75,053
Operating loss	(28,360)	(34,741)
Interest expense (income), net	(301)	(2,019)
Net effect of swaps	0	0
Unrealized / realized foreign currency loss	0	0
Other (income) expense	3,582	2,713
Loss from investment in affiliates	35,489	28,244
Loss before taxes	(67,130)	(63,679)
Benefit for taxes	(11,891)	(9,983)
Net loss	(55,239)	(53,696)
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax):
Cumulative foreign currency translation adjustment	0	0
Unrealized loss on cash flow hedging derivatives	0	0
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax)	0	0
Total Comprehensive Income (Loss)	(55,239)	(53,696)
Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	(2,635)	(13,431)
Costs and expenses:
Cost of food, merchandise, and games revenues	0	0
Operating expenses	(2,635)	(13,431)
Selling, general and administrative	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	0	0
Loss on impairment / retirement of fixed assets, net	0	0
Total costs and expenses	(2,635)	(13,431)
Operating loss	0	0
Interest expense (income), net	0	0
Net effect of swaps	0	0
Unrealized / realized foreign currency loss	0	0
Other (income) expense	0	0
Loss from investment in affiliates	(163,523)	(153,039)
Loss before taxes	163,523	153,039
Benefit for taxes	0	0
Net loss	163,523	153,039
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax):
Cumulative foreign currency translation adjustment	(7,214)	(1,621)
Unrealized loss on cash flow hedging derivatives	777	173
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax)	(6,437)	(1,448)
Total Comprehensive Income (Loss)	$ 157,086	$ 151,591