Consolidating Financial Information of Guarantors and Issuers Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 25, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 27, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 187,302	$ 119,557	$ 196,323	$ 131,840
Receivables	51,536	29,494	44,979
Inventories	31,059	25,029	30,162
Other current assets	13,809	9,946	14,085
Total current assets	283,706	184,026	285,549
Property and equipment (net)	1,526,040	1,514,878	1,515,082
Investment In Park	0	0	0
Goodwill	215,460	210,811	214,319	228,291
Other intangibes, net	36,430	35,895	36,249
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Other Assets	21,473	17,410	17,553
Total Assets	2,083,109	1,963,020	2,068,752
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	1,200	2,475	0
Accounts payable	32,891	17,122	21,418
Deferred revenue	65,748	69,514	51,944
Accrued interest	10,939	9,910	11,898
Accrued taxes	69,916	41,937	49,735
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	42,744	26,916	42,555
Self-insurance reserves	26,820	23,996	24,402
Current derivative liability	0	0	3,770
Other accrued liabilities	12,348	6,801	15,474
Total current liabilities	262,606	198,671	221,196
Deferred Tax Liability	137,712	129,763	144,964
Derivative Liability	30,185	22,918	24,042
Other Liabilities	12,488	17,983	15,488
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	595,253	598,346	600,262
Notes	939,418	938,330	937,658
Total long-term debt	1,534,671	1,536,676	1,537,920
Total partners' equity	105,447	57,009	125,142
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	2,083,109	1,963,020	2,068,752
Cedar Fair L.P. (Parent) [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	77,007	132,000	80,000
Receivables	(5)	0	478
Inventories	0	0	0
Other current assets	275	188	285
Total current assets	270	77,195	132,763
Property and equipment (net)	0	0	0
Investment In Park	820,465	724,592	760,412
Goodwill	674	674	674
Other intangibes, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Other Assets	0	0	0
Total Assets	821,409	802,461	893,849
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable	399,384	433,621	456,209
Deferred revenue	0	0	0
Accrued interest	875	4,602	1,199
Accrued taxes	3,325	1,066	2,548
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	0	0	0
Self-insurance reserves	0	0	0
Current derivative liability			2,257
Other accrued liabilities	2,358	1,355	1,183
Total current liabilities	405,942	440,644	463,396
Deferred Tax Liability	0	0	0
Derivative Liability	18,111	13,396	14,065
Other Liabilities	0	0	0
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	0	0	0
Notes	291,909	291,412	291,246
Total long-term debt	291,909	291,412	291,246
Total partners' equity	105,447	57,009	125,142
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	821,409	802,461	893,849
Guarantor Subsidiaries Co Issuer Subsidiary Magnum [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	382
Receivables	1,387	1,292	139,898
Inventories	0	121	124
Other current assets	24,479	1,261	25
Total current assets	25,866	2,674	140,047
Property and equipment (net)	876	5,593	5,602
Investment In Park	963,870	911,910	876,248
Goodwill	0	0	0
Other intangibes, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	3,651	14,080	27,659
Other Assets	1,999	14,414	14,413
Total Assets	996,262	948,671	1,063,969
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	247	1,008
Accounts payable	164,335	115,135	155,898
Deferred revenue	0	85	30
Accrued interest	597	3,221	2,793
Accrued taxes	0	0	36,440
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	40,588	22,166	31,277
Self-insurance reserves	12,394	7,437	7,861
Current derivative liability			1,513
Other accrued liabilities	3,532	1,531	3,641
Total current liabilities	221,693	150,583	239,453
Deferred Tax Liability	0	0	0
Derivative Liability	12,074	9,522	9,976
Other Liabilities	1,520	6,705	4,088
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	123,996	244,101	244,938
Notes	203,025	202,679	202,565
Total long-term debt	327,021	446,780	447,503
Total partners' equity	433,954	335,081	362,949
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	996,262	948,671	1,063,969
Co-Issuer Subsidiary (Cedar Canada) [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	75,562	39,106	49,512	45,519
Receivables	24,964	27,788	117,605
Inventories	1,519	1,222	1,496
Other current assets	680	1,332	747
Total current assets	102,725	69,448	169,360
Property and equipment (net)	179,172	176,390	183,842
Investment In Park	197,538	179,529	178,052
Goodwill	95,180	90,531	94,040
Other intangibes, net	13,519	12,832	13,330
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Other Assets	123	210	240
Total Assets	588,257	528,940	638,864
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	28	57
Accounts payable	1,342	810	3,062
Deferred revenue	5,091	4,397	4,582
Accrued interest	7,784	2,056	7,906
Accrued taxes	14,109	0	991
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	2,156	1,026	2,012
Self-insurance reserves	1,567	1,400	1,391
Current derivative liability			0
Other accrued liabilities	510	167	601
Total current liabilities	32,587	9,913	20,545
Deferred Tax Liability	19,497	21,979	49,021
Derivative Liability	0	0	0
Other Liabilities	0	0	0
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	13,616	13,691	13,724
Notes	444,484	444,239	443,847
Total long-term debt	458,100	457,930	457,571
Total partners' equity	78,073	39,118	111,727
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	588,257	528,940	638,864
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	111,740	3,444	16,632	5,939
Receivables	585,190	547,361	701,212
Inventories	29,540	23,686	28,542
Other current assets	12,800	8,781	13,028
Total current assets	739,270	583,272	759,414
Property and equipment (net)	1,345,992	1,332,895	1,325,638
Investment In Park	347,137	27,862	42,485
Goodwill	119,606	119,606	119,605
Other intangibes, net	22,911	23,063	22,919
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Other Assets	19,351	2,786	2,900
Total Assets	2,594,267	2,089,484	2,272,961
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	925	1,410
Accounts payable	27,830	14,503	322,284
Deferred revenue	60,657	65,032	47,332
Accrued interest	1,683	31	0
Accrued taxes	76,907	42,487	9,756
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	0	3,724	9,266
Self-insurance reserves	12,859	15,159	15,150
Current derivative liability			0
Other accrued liabilities	5,948	3,748	10,049
Total current liabilities	186,809	146,094	413,837
Deferred Tax Liability	121,866	121,864	123,602
Derivative Liability	0	0	1
Other Liabilities	10,968	11,278	11,400
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	457,641	340,554	341,600
Notes	0	0	0
Total long-term debt	457,641	340,554	341,600
Total partners' equity	1,816,983	1,469,694	1,382,521
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	2,594,267	2,089,484	2,272,961
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	(1,821)	$ 0
Receivables	(560,000)	(546,947)	(914,214)
Inventories	0	0	0
Other current assets	(24,425)	(1,616)	0
Total current assets	(584,425)	(548,563)	(916,035)
Property and equipment (net)	0	0	0
Investment In Park	(2,329,010)	(1,843,893)	(1,857,197)
Goodwill	0	0	0
Other intangibes, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	(3,651)	(14,080)	(27,659)
Other Assets	0	0	0
Total Assets	(2,917,086)	(2,406,536)	(2,800,891)
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable	(560,000)	(546,947)	(916,035)
Deferred revenue	0	0	0
Accrued interest	0	0	0
Accrued taxes	(24,425)	(1,616)	0
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	(584,425)	(548,563)	(916,035)
Deferred Tax Liability	(3,651)	(14,080)	(27,659)
Derivative Liability	0	0	0
Other Liabilities	0	0	0
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	0	0	0
Notes	0	0	0
Total long-term debt	0	0	0
Total partners' equity	(2,329,010)	(1,843,893)	(1,857,197)
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	$ (2,917,086)	$ (2,406,536)	$ (2,800,891)