Consolidating Financial Information of Guarantors and Issuers Cash Flows (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 25, 2016	Sep. 27, 2015
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
NET CASH FROM (FOR) OPERATING ACTIVITIES	$ 339,782	$ 344,072
CASH FLOWS FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany receivables (payments) receipts	0	0
Purchase of preferred equity investment	0	(2,000)
Capital expenditures	(126,864)	(144,476)
Net cash for investing activities	(126,864)	(146,476)
CASH FLOWS FOR FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Term debt payments	(6,000)	0
Distributions paid to partners	(139,042)	(126,267)
Intercompany payables (payments) receipts	0	0
Tax effect of units involved in treasury unit transactions	(1,903)	(2,048)
Net cash for financing activities	(146,945)	(128,315)
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	1,772	(4,798)
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	67,745	64,483
Balance, beginning of period	119,557	131,840
Balance, end of period	187,302	196,323
Cedar Fair L.P. (Parent) [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
NET CASH FROM (FOR) OPERATING ACTIVITIES	99,232	76,056
CASH FLOWS 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
Term debt payments	0
Distributions paid to partners	(140,908)	(127,854)
Intercompany payables (payments) receipts	(35,331)	103,798
Tax effect of units involved in treasury unit transactions	0	0
Net cash for financing activities	(176,239)	(24,056)
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	(77,007)	52,000
Balance, beginning of period	77,007	80,000
Balance, end of period	0	132,000
Guarantor Subsidiaries Co Issuer Subsidiary Magnum [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
NET CASH FROM (FOR) OPERATING ACTIVITIES	(54,962)	30
CASH FLOWS 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
Term debt payments	(1,237)
Distributions paid to partners	0	0
Intercompany payables (payments) receipts	58,102	3,636
Tax effect of units involved in treasury unit transactions	(1,903)	(2,048)
Net cash for financing activities	54,962	1,588
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	41,273	31,546
CASH FLOWS FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany receivables (payments) receipts	0	(8,296)
Purchase of preferred equity investment		0
Capital expenditures	(6,451)	(6,610)
Net cash for investing activities	(6,451)	(14,906)
CASH FLOWS FOR FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Term debt payments	(138)
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	(138)	(7,849)
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	1,772	(4,798)
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	36,456	3,993
Balance, beginning of period	39,106	45,519
Balance, end of period	75,562	49,512
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
NET CASH FROM (FOR) OPERATING ACTIVITIES	256,105	239,848
CASH FLOWS FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany receivables (payments) receipts	(22,771)	(91,289)
Purchase of preferred equity investment		0
Capital expenditures	(120,413)	(137,866)
Net cash for investing activities	(143,184)	(229,155)
CASH FLOWS FOR FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Term debt payments	(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	(4,625)	0
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	108,296	10,693
Balance, beginning of period	3,444	5,939
Balance, end of period	111,740	16,632
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
NET CASH FROM (FOR) OPERATING ACTIVITIES	(1,866)	(3,408)
CASH FLOWS FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Intercompany receivables (payments) receipts	22,771	99,585
Purchase of preferred equity investment		0
Capital expenditures	0	0
Net cash for investing activities	22,771	99,585
CASH FLOWS FOR FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Term debt payments	0
Distributions paid to partners	1,866	1,587
Intercompany payables (payments) receipts	(22,771)	(99,585)
Tax effect of units involved in treasury unit transactions	0	0
Net cash for financing activities	(20,905)	(97,998)
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Net increase (decrease) for the period	0	(1,821)
Balance, beginning of period	0	0
Balance, end of period	$ 0	$ (1,821)