Consolidating Financial Information of Guarantors and Issuers Cash Flows (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 26, 2016	Jun. 28, 2015
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
NET CASH FROM (FOR) OPERATING ACTIVITIES	$ 97,173	$ 73,277
CASH FLOWS FROM (FOR) INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany receivables (payments) receipts	0	0
Purchase of preferred equity investment	0	(2,000)
Capital expenditures	(106,233)	(120,380)
Net cash for investing activities	(106,233)	(122,380)
CASH FLOWS FOR FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Net borrowings on revolving credit loans	55,000	42,000
Term debt (payments) borrowings	(6,000)	0
Distributions paid to partners	(92,676)	(84,154)
Intercompany payables (payments) receipts	0	0
Tax effect of units involved in treasury unit transactions	(1,604)	(2,048)
Net cash for financing activities	(45,280)	(44,202)
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	2,868	(3,088)
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	(51,472)	(96,393)
Balance, beginning of period	119,557	131,840
Balance, end of period	68,085	35,447
Cedar Fair L.P. (Parent) [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
NET CASH FROM (FOR) OPERATING ACTIVITIES	73,921	3,954
CASH FLOWS FROM (FOR) INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany receivables (payments) receipts	0	0
Purchase of preferred equity investment		0
Capital expenditures	0	0
Net cash for investing activities	0	0
CASH FLOWS FOR FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Net borrowings on revolving credit loans	0	42,000
Term debt (payments) borrowings	0
Distributions paid to partners	(93,938)	(85,236)
Intercompany payables (payments) receipts	(56,990)	(40,718)
Tax effect of units involved in treasury unit transactions	0	0
Net cash for financing activities	(150,928)	(83,954)
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	(77,007)	(80,000)
Balance, beginning of period	77,007	80,000
Balance, end of period	0	0
Guarantor Subsidiaries Co Issuer Subsidiary Magnum [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
NET CASH FROM (FOR) OPERATING ACTIVITIES	(30,306)	(55,759)
CASH FLOWS FROM (FOR) INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany receivables (payments) receipts	0	0
Purchase of preferred equity investment		(2,000)
Capital expenditures	0	0
Net cash for investing activities	0	(2,000)
CASH FLOWS FOR FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Net borrowings on revolving credit loans	0	0
Term debt (payments) borrowings	(1,236)
Distributions paid to partners	0	0
Intercompany payables (payments) receipts	33,146	59,425
Tax effect of units involved in treasury unit transactions	(1,604)	(2,048)
Net cash for financing activities	30,306	57,377
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	0	(382)
Balance, beginning of period	0	382
Balance, end of period	0	0
Co-Issuer Subsidiary (Cedar Canada) [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
NET CASH FROM (FOR) OPERATING ACTIVITIES	7,756	(2,970)
CASH FLOWS FROM (FOR) INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany receivables (payments) receipts	0	(10,576)
Purchase of preferred equity investment		0
Capital expenditures	(5,747)	(5,551)
Net cash for investing activities	(5,747)	(16,127)
CASH FLOWS FOR FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Net borrowings on revolving credit loans	0	0
Term debt (payments) borrowings	(139)
Distributions paid to partners	0	0
Intercompany payables (payments) receipts	0	(7,849)
Tax effect of units involved in treasury unit transactions	0	0
Net cash for financing activities	(139)	(7,849)
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	2,868	(3,088)
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	4,738	(30,034)
Balance, beginning of period	39,106	45,519
Balance, end of period	43,844	15,485
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
NET CASH FROM (FOR) OPERATING ACTIVITIES	47,717	129,912
CASH FLOWS FROM (FOR) INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany receivables (payments) receipts	23,844	(282)
Purchase of preferred equity investment		0
Capital expenditures	(100,486)	(114,829)
Net cash for investing activities	(76,642)	(115,111)
CASH FLOWS FOR FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Net borrowings on revolving credit loans	55,000	0
Term debt (payments) borrowings	(4,625)
Distributions paid to partners	0	0
Intercompany payables (payments) receipts	0	0
Tax effect of units involved in treasury unit transactions	0	0
Net cash for financing activities	50,375	0
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	21,450	14,801
Balance, beginning of period	3,444	5,939
Balance, end of period	24,894	20,740
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
NET CASH FROM (FOR) OPERATING ACTIVITIES	(1,915)	(1,860)
CASH FLOWS FROM (FOR) INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany receivables (payments) receipts	(23,844)	10,858
Purchase of preferred equity investment		0
Capital expenditures	0	0
Net cash for investing activities	(23,844)	10,858
CASH FLOWS FOR FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Net borrowings on revolving credit loans	0	0
Term debt (payments) borrowings	0
Distributions paid to partners	1,262	1,082
Intercompany payables (payments) receipts	23,844	(10,858)
Tax effect of units involved in treasury unit transactions	0	0
Net cash for financing activities	25,106	(9,776)
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	(653)	(778)
Balance, beginning of period	0	0
Balance, end of period	$ (653)	$ (778)