Consolidating Financial Information of Guarantors and Issuers Cash Flows (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 29, 2015	Mar. 30, 2014
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities	$ (60,249)	$ (83,256)
CASH FLOWS FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany Receivable	0	0
Proceeds from Sales of Assets, Investing Activities	2,000	0
Capital expenditures	(59,730)	(40,342)
Net cash for investing activities	(61,730)	(40,342)
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Net borrowings (payments) on revolving credit loans	57,000	55,000
Distributions paid to partners	(42,052)	(39,091)
Intercompany payable	0	0
Excess tax benefit from unit-based compensation expense	(1,299)	(568)
Net cash for financing activities	13,649	15,341
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	(3,785)	(932)
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	(112,115)	(109,189)
Balance, beginning of period	131,840	118,056
Balance, end of period	19,725	8,867
Cedar Fair L.P. (Parent) [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities	(17,967)	(6,307)
CASH FLOWS FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany Receivable	0	0
Proceeds from Sales of Assets, Investing Activities	0
Capital expenditures	0	(16,379)
Net cash for investing activities	0	(16,379)
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Net borrowings (payments) on revolving credit loans	57,000	55,000
Distributions paid to partners	(42,618)	(39,994)
Intercompany payable	(76,415)	(67,320)
Excess tax benefit from unit-based compensation expense	0	0
Net cash for financing activities	(62,033)	(52,314)
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	(80,000)	(75,000)
Balance, beginning of period	80,000	75,000
Balance, end of period	0	0
Guarantor Subsidiaries Co Issuer Subsidiary Magnum [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities	(44,980)	(26,421)
CASH FLOWS FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany Receivable	0	(23,497)
Proceeds from Sales of Assets, Investing Activities	2,000
Capital expenditures	0	(4)
Net cash for investing activities	(2,000)	(23,501)
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Net borrowings (payments) on revolving credit loans	0	0
Distributions paid to partners	0	0
Intercompany payable	47,897	46,917
Excess tax benefit from unit-based compensation expense	(1,299)	(568)
Net cash for financing activities	46,598	46,349
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	(382)	(3,573)
Balance, beginning of period	382	4,144
Balance, end of period	0	571
Co-Issuer Subsidiary (Cedar Canada) [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities	(6,910)	(27,243)
CASH FLOWS FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany Receivable	(10,594)	0
Proceeds from Sales of Assets, Investing Activities	0
Capital expenditures	(1,500)	(5,077)
Net cash for investing activities	(12,094)	(5,077)
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Net borrowings (payments) on revolving credit loans	0	0
Distributions paid to partners	0	0
Intercompany payable	(7,849)	1,201
Excess tax benefit from unit-based compensation expense	0	0
Net cash for financing activities	(7,849)	1,201
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	(3,785)	(932)
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	(30,638)	(32,051)
Balance, beginning of period	45,519	35,575
Balance, end of period	14,881	3,524
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities	10,174	(22,382)
CASH FLOWS FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany Receivable	46,961	29,591
Proceeds from Sales of Assets, Investing Activities	0
Capital expenditures	(58,230)	(18,882)
Net cash for investing activities	(11,269)	10,709
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Net borrowings (payments) on revolving credit loans	0	0
Distributions paid to partners	0	0
Intercompany payable	0	13,108
Excess tax benefit from unit-based compensation expense	0	0
Net cash for financing activities	0	13,108
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	(1,095)	1,435
Balance, beginning of period	5,939	3,337
Balance, end of period	4,844	4,772
Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities	(566)	(903)
CASH FLOWS FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany Receivable	(36,367)	(6,094)
Proceeds from Sales of Assets, Investing Activities	0
Capital expenditures	0	0
Net cash for investing activities	(36,367)	(6,094)
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Net borrowings (payments) on revolving credit loans	0	0
Distributions paid to partners	566	903
Intercompany payable	36,367	6,094
Excess tax benefit from unit-based compensation expense	0	0
Net cash for financing activities	36,933	6,997
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	0	0
Balance, beginning of period	0	0
Balance, end of period	$ 0	$ 0