Common stock beneficial ownership shares.

No definition available.

Name:	seas_CommonStockBeneficialOwnershipShares
Namespace Prefix:	seas_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=114001798&loc=d3e33918-111571

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentOwnershipPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount, excluding tax collected from customer, of revenue from satisfaction of performance obligation by transferring promised good or service to customer. Tax collected from customer is tax assessed by governmental authority that is both imposed on and concurrent with specific revenue-producing transaction, including, but not limited to, sales, use, value added and excise.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130543-203045

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130539-203045

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130545-203045

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Indicates type of revenue from product and service.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 55
-Paragraph 91
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=108792157&loc=SL49130690-203046-203046

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_TypeOfRevenueExtensibleList
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	srt-types:extensibleListItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=seas_ZhonghongZhuoyeGroupCoLtdMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=seas_ZHGStockPurchaseAgreementMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=us-gaap_BeneficialOwnerMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Related-Party Transactions - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended
	May 08, 2017	Mar. 31, 2019	Mar. 31, 2018	Mar. 24, 2017
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Revenue		$ 220,575	$ 217,166
Zhonghong Zhuoye Group [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Percentage of common stock outstanding by partnership				21.00%
ZHG Stock Purchase Agreement [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Type of Revenue [Extensible List]		seas:FoodMerchandiseAndOtherRevenueMember	seas:FoodMerchandiseAndOtherRevenueMember
Revenue		$ 1,700	$ 1,300
SunWise [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Beneficial ownership of common stock, shares	19,452,063