Consolidating Financial Information of Guarantors and Issuers Cash Flows (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 28, 2015	Jun. 29, 2014
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities	$ 73,277	$ 52,237
CASH FLOWS FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany receivables (payments) receipts	0	0
Purchase of preferred equity investment	(2,000)	0
Sale of non-core asset	0	1,377
Capital expenditures	(120,380)	(106,690)
Net cash for investing activities	(122,380)	(105,313)
CASH FLOWS FOR FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Net borrowings on revolving credit loans	42,000	39,000
Note borrowings	0	450,000
Note payments, including amounts paid for early termination	0	(426,148)
Distributions paid to partners	(84,154)	(78,275)
Intercompany payables (payments) receipts	0	0
Tax Effect of Units Involved in Option Exercises And Treasury Unit Transactions	(2,048)	(725)
Payment of debt issuance costs	0	(9,795)
Net cash for financing activities	(44,202)	(25,943)
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	(3,088)	1,097
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	(96,393)	(77,922)
Balance, beginning of period	131,840	118,056
Balance, end of period	35,447	40,134
Cedar Fair L.P. (Parent) [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities	3,954	57,348
CASH FLOWS FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany receivables (payments) receipts	0	0
Purchase of preferred equity investment	0
Sale of non-core asset		0
Capital expenditures	0	(47,494)
Net cash for investing activities	0	(47,494)
CASH FLOWS FOR FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Net borrowings on revolving credit loans	42,000	39,000
Note borrowings		0
Note payments, including amounts paid for early termination		0
Distributions paid to partners	(85,236)	(79,544)
Intercompany payables (payments) receipts	(40,718)	(44,310)
Tax Effect of Units Involved in Option Exercises And Treasury Unit Transactions	0	0
Payment of debt issuance costs		0
Net cash for financing activities	(83,954)	(84,854)
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	(55,759)	(48,952)
CASH FLOWS FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany receivables (payments) receipts	0	7,625
Purchase of preferred equity investment	(2,000)
Sale of non-core asset		0
Capital expenditures	0	(193)
Net cash for investing activities	(2,000)	7,432
CASH FLOWS FOR FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Net borrowings on revolving credit loans	0	0
Note borrowings		0
Note payments, including amounts paid for early termination		0
Distributions paid to partners	0	0
Intercompany payables (payments) receipts	59,425	38,101
Tax Effect of Units Involved in Option Exercises And Treasury Unit Transactions	(2,048)	(725)
Payment of debt issuance costs		0
Net cash for financing activities	57,377	37,376
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	(382)	(4,144)
Balance, beginning of period	382	4,144
Balance, end of period	0	0
Co-Issuer Subsidiary (Cedar Canada) [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities	(2,970)	(22,362)
CASH FLOWS FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany receivables (payments) receipts	(10,576)	0
Purchase of preferred equity investment	0
Sale of non-core asset		0
Capital expenditures	(5,551)	(11,573)
Net cash for investing activities	(16,127)	(11,573)
CASH FLOWS FOR FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Net borrowings on revolving credit loans	0	0
Note borrowings		450,000
Note payments, including amounts paid for early termination		(426,148)
Distributions paid to partners	0	0
Intercompany payables (payments) receipts	(7,849)	2,631
Tax Effect of Units Involved in Option Exercises And Treasury Unit Transactions	0	0
Payment of debt issuance costs		(9,795)
Net cash for financing activities	(7,849)	16,688
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	(3,088)	1,097
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	(30,034)	(16,150)
Balance, beginning of period	45,519	35,575
Balance, end of period	15,485	19,425
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities	129,912	76,734
CASH FLOWS FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany receivables (payments) receipts	(282)	3,829
Purchase of preferred equity investment	0
Sale of non-core asset		1,377
Capital expenditures	(114,829)	(47,430)
Net cash for investing activities	(115,111)	(42,224)
CASH FLOWS FOR FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Net borrowings on revolving credit loans	0	0
Note borrowings		0
Note payments, including amounts paid for early termination		0
Distributions paid to partners	0	0
Intercompany payables (payments) receipts	0	(7,861)
Tax Effect of Units Involved in Option Exercises And Treasury Unit Transactions	0	0
Payment of debt issuance costs		0
Net cash for financing activities	0	(7,861)
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	14,801	26,649
Balance, beginning of period	5,939	3,337
Balance, end of period	20,740	29,986
Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities	(1,860)	(10,531)
CASH FLOWS FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany receivables (payments) receipts	10,858	(11,454)
Purchase of preferred equity investment	0
Sale of non-core asset		0
Capital expenditures	0	0
Net cash for investing activities	10,858	(11,454)
CASH FLOWS FOR FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Net borrowings on revolving credit loans	0	0
Note borrowings		0
Note payments, including amounts paid for early termination		0
Distributions paid to partners	1,082	1,269
Intercompany payables (payments) receipts	(10,858)	11,439
Tax Effect of Units Involved in Option Exercises And Treasury Unit Transactions	0	0
Payment of debt issuance costs		0
Net cash for financing activities	(9,776)	12,708
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	(778)	(9,277)
Balance, beginning of period	0	0
Balance, end of period	$ (778)	$ (9,277)