Consolidating Financial Information of Guarantors and Issuers Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jun. 26, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Jun. 28, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 68,085	$ 119,557	$ 35,447	$ 131,840
Receivables	78,006	29,494	70,019
Inventories	46,207	25,029	46,627
Other current assets	32,474	9,946	29,804
Total current assets	224,772	184,026	181,897
Property and equipment (net)	1,576,494	1,514,878	1,574,731
Investment In Park	0	0	0
Goodwill	217,026	210,811	221,662	228,291
Other intangibes, net	36,833	35,895	37,278
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Other Assets	17,256	17,410	18,269
Total Assets	2,072,381	1,963,020	2,033,837
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	0	2,475	0
Accounts payable	40,242	17,122	39,917
Deferred revenue	173,062	69,514	147,943
Accrued interest	11,710	9,910	12,455
Accrued taxes	30,829	41,937	12,143
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	33,962	26,916	32,233
Self-insurance reserves	25,588	23,996	24,020
Current derivative liability	0	0	6,895
Other accrued liabilities	14,047	6,801	15,433
Total current liabilities	329,440	198,671	291,039
Deferred Tax Liability	138,229	129,763	133,021
Derivative Liability	30,900	22,918	18,806
Other Liabilities	12,474	17,983	16,061
Long-Term Debt:
Long-term line of credit	55,000	0	42,000
Term debt	595,902	598,346	599,691
Notes	938,863	938,330	936,750
Total long-term debt	1,589,765	1,536,676	1,578,441
Total partners' equity	(28,427)	57,009	(3,531)
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	2,072,381	1,963,020	2,033,837
Cedar Fair L.P. (Parent) [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	77,007	0	80,000
Receivables	(9)	0	1
Inventories	0	0	0
Other current assets	377	188	434
Total current assets	368	77,195	435
Property and equipment (net)	0	0	0
Investment In Park	667,710	724,592	663,494
Goodwill	674	674	674
Other intangibes, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Other Assets	0	0	0
Total Assets	668,752	802,461	664,603
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt		0
Accounts payable	377,726	433,621	310,462
Deferred revenue	0	0	0
Accrued interest	4,825	4,602	5,487
Accrued taxes	2,499	1,066	3,082
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	0	0	0
Self-insurance reserves	0	0	0
Current derivative liability			4,127
Other accrued liabilities	1,846	1,355	0
Total current liabilities	386,896	440,644	323,158
Deferred Tax Liability	0	0	0
Derivative Liability	18,540	13,396	10,927
Other Liabilities	0	0	968
Long-Term Debt:
Long-term line of credit	0		42,000
Term debt	0	0	0
Notes	291,743	291,412	291,081
Total long-term debt	291,743	291,412	333,081
Total partners' equity	(28,427)	57,009	(3,531)
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	668,752	802,461	664,603
Guarantor Subsidiaries Co Issuer Subsidiary Magnum [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	382
Receivables	1,565	1,292	108,653
Inventories	0	121	228
Other current assets	26,236	1,261	1,658
Total current assets	27,801	2,674	110,539
Property and equipment (net)	885	5,593	5,612
Investment In Park	830,528	911,910	814,861
Goodwill	0	0	0
Other intangibes, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	2,549	14,080	39,602
Other Assets	2,000	14,414	14,409
Total Assets	863,763	948,671	985,023
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt		1,008
Accounts payable	142,024	115,135	213,778
Deferred revenue	0	85	592
Accrued interest	3,343	3,221	4,211
Accrued taxes	0	0	0
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	31,881	22,166	22,318
Self-insurance reserves	11,842	7,437	7,925
Current derivative liability			2,768
Other accrued liabilities	2,737	1,531	4,587
Total current liabilities	191,827	150,583	256,179
Deferred Tax Liability	0	0	0
Derivative Liability	12,360	9,522	7,879
Other Liabilities	1,388	6,705	3,574
Long-Term Debt:
Long-term line of credit	0		0
Term debt	124,244	244,101	244,769
Notes	202,910	202,679	202,449
Total long-term debt	327,154	446,780	447,218
Total partners' equity	331,034	335,081	270,173
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	863,763	948,671	985,023
Co-Issuer Subsidiary (Cedar Canada) [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	43,844	39,106	15,485	45,519
Receivables	23,381	27,788	119,015
Inventories	3,169	1,222	3,143
Other current assets	2,205	1,332	2,681
Total current assets	72,599	69,448	140,324
Property and equipment (net)	189,226	176,390	204,916
Investment In Park	184,964	179,529	164,516
Goodwill	96,746	90,531	101,383
Other intangibes, net	13,743	12,832	14,371
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Other Assets	183	210	321
Total Assets	557,461	528,940	625,831
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt		57
Accounts payable	3,139	810	3,983
Deferred revenue	17,154	4,397	16,235
Accrued interest	1,771	2,056	1,874
Accrued taxes	5,993	0	1,771
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	2,081	1,026	1,989
Self-insurance reserves	1,483	1,400	1,456
Current derivative liability			0
Other accrued liabilities	1,157	167	1,067
Total current liabilities	32,778	9,913	28,375
Deferred Tax Liability	18,913	21,979	49,021
Derivative Liability	0	0	0
Other Liabilities	0	0	0
Long-Term Debt:
Long-term line of credit	0		0
Term debt	13,624	13,691	13,687
Notes	444,210	444,239	443,220
Total long-term debt	457,834	457,930	456,907
Total partners' equity	47,936	39,118	91,528
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	557,461	528,940	625,831
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	24,894	3,444	20,740	5,939
Receivables	567,888	547,361	635,647
Inventories	43,038	23,686	43,256
Other current assets	29,564	8,781	26,476
Total current assets	665,384	583,272	726,119
Property and equipment (net)	1,386,383	1,332,895	1,364,203
Investment In Park	295,114	27,862	24,292
Goodwill	119,606	119,606	119,605
Other intangibes, net	23,090	23,063	22,907
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Other Assets	15,073	2,786	3,539
Total Assets	2,504,650	2,089,484	2,260,665
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt		1,410
Accounts payable	32,825	14,503	305,769
Deferred revenue	155,908	65,032	131,116
Accrued interest	1,771	31	883
Accrued taxes	48,245	42,487	8,735
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	0	3,724	7,926
Self-insurance reserves	12,263	15,159	14,639
Current derivative liability			0
Other accrued liabilities	8,307	3,748	9,779
Total current liabilities	259,319	146,094	478,847
Deferred Tax Liability	121,865	121,864	123,602
Derivative Liability	0	0	0
Other Liabilities	11,086	11,278	11,519
Long-Term Debt:
Long-term line of credit	55,000		0
Term debt	458,034	340,554	341,235
Notes	0	0	0
Total long-term debt	513,034	340,554	341,235
Total partners' equity	1,599,346	1,469,694	1,305,462
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	2,504,650	2,089,484	2,260,665
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	(653)	0	(778)	$ 0
Receivables	(514,819)	(546,947)	(793,297)
Inventories	0	0	0
Other current assets	(25,908)	(1,616)	(1,445)
Total current assets	(541,380)	(548,563)	(795,520)
Property and equipment (net)	0	0	0
Investment In Park	(1,978,316)	(1,843,893)	(1,667,163)
Goodwill	0	0	0
Other intangibes, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	(2,549)	(14,080)	(39,602)
Other Assets	0	0	0
Total Assets	(2,522,245)	(2,406,536)	(2,502,285)
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt		0
Accounts payable	(515,472)	(546,947)	(794,075)
Deferred revenue	0	0	0
Accrued interest	0	0	0
Accrued taxes	(25,908)	(1,616)	(1,445)
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	0	0	0
Self-insurance reserves	0		0
Current derivative liability			0
Other accrued liabilities	0	0	0
Total current liabilities	(541,380)	(548,563)	(795,520)
Deferred Tax Liability	(2,549)	(14,080)	(39,602)
Derivative Liability	0	0	0
Other Liabilities	0	0	0
Long-Term Debt:
Long-term line of credit	0		0
Term debt	0	0	0
Notes	0	0	0
Total long-term debt	0	0	0
Total partners' equity	(1,978,316)	(1,843,893)	(1,667,163)
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	$ (2,522,245)	$ (2,406,536)	$ (2,502,285)