Net Income Per Common Share (Details) (USD $)	0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Sep. 21, 2012	Jul. 31, 2012	Apr. 30, 2012	Jan. 31, 2012	Oct. 31, 2011	Jul. 31, 2011	Apr. 30, 2011	Jan. 31, 2011	Oct. 31, 2010	Jul. 31, 2012	Jul. 31, 2011	Jul. 31, 2010
Net income attributable to Vail Resorts, Inc.		$ (53,796,000)	$ 79,569,000	$ 46,389,000	$ (55,709,000)	$ (53,906,000)	$ 76,867,000	$ 54,551,000	$ (43,023,000)	$ 16,453,000	$ 34,489,000	$ 30,385,000
Weighted-average shares outstanding, basic (in shares)										36,004,000	36,009,000	36,212,000
Effect of dilutive securities, diluted (in shares)										669,000	745,000	519,000
Weighted-average shares outstanding, diluted (in shares)										36,673,000	36,754,000	36,731,000
Basic net income per share attributable to Vail Resorts, Inc. (in dollars per share)		$ (1.50)	$ 2.21	$ 1.29	$ (1.54)	$ (1.49)	$ 2.13	$ 1.52	$ (1.20)	$ 0.46	$ 0.96	$ 0.84
Diluted net income per share attributable to Vail Resorts, Inc. (in dollars per share)		$ (1.50)	$ 2.17	$ 1.27	$ (1.54)	$ (1.49)	$ 2.08	$ 1.48	$ (1.20)	$ 0.45	$ 0.94	$ 0.83
Anti-dilutive securities (in shares)										36,000	57,000	22,000
Estimated annual dividend amount (in dollars per share)		$ 0.75				$ 0.60
Increase to annual cash dividend rate		25.00%
Cash dividends declared per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.1875									$ 0.675	$ 0.15	$ 0
Cash dividend, aggregate										24,200,000
Parent Company [Member]
Net income attributable to Vail Resorts, Inc.										$ 16,453,000	$ 34,489,000	$ 30,385,000