Consolidating Financial Information of Guarantors and Issuers Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 24, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 25, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 249,946	$ 122,716	$ 187,302	$ 119,557
Receivables	52,303	35,414	51,536
Inventories	34,240	26,276	31,059
Other current assets	18,624	11,270	13,809
Total current assets	355,113	195,676	283,706
Property and Equipment, net	1,580,510	1,539,220	1,526,040
Investment in Park	0	0	0
Goodwill	185,010	179,660	215,460	210,811
Other Intangibles, net	38,532	37,837	36,430
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Other Assets	17,407	20,788	21,473
Total Assets	2,176,572	1,973,181	2,083,109
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	0	2,775	1,200
Accounts payable	33,710	20,851	32,891
Deferred revenue	86,732	82,765	65,748
Accrued interest	23,928	9,986	10,939
Accrued taxes	78,657	58,958	69,916
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	30,666	30,358	42,744
Self-insurance reserves	27,549	27,063	26,820
Other accrued liabilities	20,562	9,927	12,348
Total current liabilities	301,804	242,683	262,606
Deferred Tax Liability	112,671	104,885	137,712
Derivative Liability	14,849	17,721	30,185
Other Liabilities	12,340	13,162	12,488
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	723,385	594,228	595,253
Notes	936,241	939,983	939,418
Total long-term debt	1,659,626	1,534,211	1,534,671
Total partners' equity	75,282	60,519	105,447
Total Liabilities and Partners' Equity	2,176,572	1,973,181	2,083,109
Cedar Fair L.P. (Parent) [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	77,007
Receivables	0	0	(5)
Inventories	0	0	0
Other current assets	275	173	275
Total current assets	275	173	270
Property and Equipment, net	0	0	0
Investment in Park	566,548	798,076	820,465
Goodwill	674	674	674
Other Intangibles, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Other Assets	0	0	0
Total Assets	567,497	798,923	821,409
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt		0	0
Accounts payable	478,416	428,396	399,384
Deferred revenue	0	0	0
Accrued interest	292	4,613	875
Accrued taxes	1,589	405	3,325
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	0	0	0
Self-insurance reserves	0	0	0
Other accrued liabilities	2,985	2,282	2,358
Total current liabilities	483,282	435,696	405,942
Deferred Tax Liability	0	0	0
Derivative Liability	8,933	10,633	18,111
Other Liabilities	0	0	0
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	0	0	0
Notes	0	292,075	291,909
Total long-term debt	0	292,075	291,909
Total partners' equity	75,282	60,519	105,447
Total Liabilities and Partners' Equity	567,497	798,923	821,409
Guarantor Subsidiaries Co Issuer Subsidiary Magnum [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Receivables	1,285	1,409	1,387
Inventories	0	0	0
Other current assets	12,843	796	24,479
Total current assets	14,128	2,205	25,866
Property and Equipment, net	842	844	876
Investment in Park	1,016,857	937,626	963,870
Goodwill	0	0	0
Other Intangibles, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	32,190	33,303	3,651
Other Assets	0	2,000	1,999
Total Assets	1,064,017	975,978	996,262
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt		572	247
Accounts payable	345,150	145,258	164,335
Deferred revenue	0	0	0
Accrued interest	195	3,207	597
Accrued taxes	0	18,653	0
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	28,306	29,227	40,588
Self-insurance reserves	12,090	12,490	12,394
Other accrued liabilities	7,772	3,018	3,532
Total current liabilities	393,513	212,425	221,693
Deferred Tax Liability	0	0	0
Derivative Liability	5,916	7,088	12,074
Other Liabilities	1,398	1,236	1,520
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	127,402	123,672	123,996
Notes	0	203,140	203,025
Total long-term debt	127,402	326,812	327,021
Total partners' equity	535,788	428,417	433,954
Total Liabilities and Partners' Equity	1,064,017	975,978	996,262
Co-Issuer Subsidiary (Cedar Canada) [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	92,047	65,563	75,562	39,106
Receivables	33,158	28,019	24,964
Inventories	2,423	1,371	1,519
Other current assets	743	2,229	680
Total current assets	128,371	97,182	102,725
Property and Equipment, net	183,205	175,358	179,172
Investment in Park	224,464	200,075	197,538
Goodwill	64,730	59,381	95,180
Other Intangibles, net	14,443	13,255	13,519
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Other Assets	53	108	123
Total Assets	615,266	545,359	588,257
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt		64	28
Accounts payable	6,431	740	1,342
Deferred revenue	7,137	5,601	5,091
Accrued interest	9,209	2,057	7,784
Accrued taxes	14,910	0	14,109
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	2,360	1,131	2,156
Self-insurance reserves	1,725	1,321	1,567
Other accrued liabilities	499	193	510
Total current liabilities	42,271	11,107	32,587
Deferred Tax Liability	19,511	12,838	19,497
Derivative Liability	0	0	0
Other Liabilities	0	0	0
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	0	13,598	13,616
Notes	444,874	444,768	444,484
Total long-term debt	444,874	458,366	458,100
Total partners' equity	108,610	63,048	78,073
Total Liabilities and Partners' Equity	615,266	545,359	588,257
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	160,593	58,178	111,740	3,444
Receivables	837,594	576,975	585,190
Inventories	31,817	24,905	29,540
Other current assets	16,829	9,833	12,800
Total current assets	1,046,833	669,891	739,270
Property and Equipment, net	1,396,463	1,363,018	1,345,992
Investment in Park	222,953	324,282	347,137
Goodwill	119,606	119,605	119,606
Other Intangibles, net	24,089	24,582	22,911
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Other Assets	17,354	18,680	19,351
Total Assets	2,827,298	2,520,058	2,594,267
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt		2,139	925
Accounts payable	26,141	18,471	27,830
Deferred revenue	79,595	77,164	60,657
Accrued interest	14,232	109	1,683
Accrued taxes	74,224	41,661	76,907
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	0	0	0
Self-insurance reserves	13,734	13,252	12,859
Other accrued liabilities	9,306	4,434	5,948
Total current liabilities	217,232	157,230	186,809
Deferred Tax Liability	125,350	125,350	121,866
Derivative Liability	0	0	0
Other Liabilities	10,942	11,926	10,968
Long-Term Debt:
Term debt	595,983	456,958	457,641
Notes	491,367	0	0
Total long-term debt	1,087,350	456,958	457,641
Total partners' equity	1,386,424	1,768,594	1,816,983
Total Liabilities and Partners' Equity	2,827,298	2,520,058	2,594,267
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	(2,694)	(1,025)	0	$ 0
Receivables	(819,734)	(570,989)	(560,000)
Inventories	0	0	0
Other current assets	(12,066)	(1,761)	(24,425)
Total current assets	(834,494)	(573,775)	(584,425)
Property and Equipment, net	0	0	0
Investment in Park	(2,030,822)	(2,260,059)	(2,329,010)
Goodwill	0	0	0
Other Intangibles, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	(32,190)	(33,303)	(3,651)
Other Assets	0	0	0
Total Assets	(2,897,506)	(2,867,137)	(2,917,086)
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt		0	0
Accounts payable	(822,428)	(572,014)	(560,000)
Deferred revenue	0	0	0
Accrued interest	0	0	0
Accrued taxes	(12,066)	(1,761)	(24,425)
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	0	0	0
Self-insurance reserves	0		0
Other accrued liabilities	0	0	0
Total current liabilities	(834,494)	(573,775)	(584,425)
Deferred Tax Liability	(32,190)	(33,303)	(3,651)
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	(2,030,822)	(2,260,059)	(2,329,010)
Total Liabilities and Partners' Equity	$ (2,897,506)	$ (2,867,137)	$ (2,917,086)