(6) Fair Value of Financial Instruments Fair Value of Financial Instruments 2 (Details) (USD $) In Thousands	Jul. 03, 2011
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Carrying (Reported) Amount, Fair Value Disclosure [Member] | Financial Guarantee [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Guarantees	$ 362
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Portion at Fair Value, Fair Value Disclosure [Member] | Financial Guarantee [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Guarantees	362	[1]
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Carrying (Reported) Amount, Fair Value Disclosure [Member] | 10% senior notes (d) | Unsecured Debt [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	554,058
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Portion at Fair Value, Fair Value Disclosure [Member] | 10% senior notes (d) | Unsecured Debt [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	626,020	[2]
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Carrying (Reported) Amount, Fair Value Disclosure [Member] | Wendy's Restaurants term loan [Member] (d) | Secured Debt [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	468,265
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Portion at Fair Value, Fair Value Disclosure [Member] | Wendy's Restaurants term loan [Member] (d) | Secured Debt [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	471,662	[2]
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Carrying (Reported) Amount, Fair Value Disclosure [Member] | 6.20% senior notes (d) | Unsecured Debt [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	221,070
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Portion at Fair Value, Fair Value Disclosure [Member] | 6.20% senior notes (d) | Unsecured Debt [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	233,550	[2]
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Carrying (Reported) Amount, Fair Value Disclosure [Member] | Sale-leaseback obligations [Member] (e) | Sale Leaseback [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	1,488
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Portion at Fair Value, Fair Value Disclosure [Member] | Sale-leaseback obligations [Member] (e) | Sale Leaseback [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	1,518	[3]
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Carrying (Reported) Amount, Fair Value Disclosure [Member] | Capitalized lease obligations (e) | Capital Lease Obligations [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	15,224
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Portion at Fair Value, Fair Value Disclosure [Member] | Capitalized lease obligations (e) | Capital Lease Obligations [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	15,608	[3]
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Carrying (Reported) Amount, Fair Value Disclosure [Member] | 7% debentures (d) | Unsecured Debt [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	81,771
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Portion at Fair Value, Fair Value Disclosure [Member] | 7% debentures (d) | Unsecured Debt [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	93,000	[2]
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Carrying (Reported) Amount, Fair Value Disclosure [Member] | Other [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	1,060
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Portion at Fair Value, Fair Value Disclosure [Member] | Other [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	1,073
Corporate [Member] | Carrying (Reported) Amount, Fair Value Disclosure [Member] | 6.54% aircraft term loan (e) | Secured Debt [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	11,884
Corporate [Member] | Portion at Fair Value, Fair Value Disclosure [Member] | 6.54% aircraft term loan (e) | Secured Debt [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	11,937	[3]
The Wendy's Company [Member] | Carrying (Reported) Amount, Fair Value Disclosure [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	1,354,820
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Carrying (Reported) Amount, Fair Value Disclosure [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	1,342,936
The Wendy's Company [Member] | Portion at Fair Value, Fair Value Disclosure [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	1,454,368
Wendy's Restaurants, LLC [Member] | Portion at Fair Value, Fair Value Disclosure [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Long-term debt, including current portion	$ 1,442,431

[1] Wendy’s provided loan guarantees to various lenders on behalf of franchisees entering into pooled debt facility arrangements for new store development and equipment financing. Wendy’s has accrued a liability for the fair value of these guarantees, the calculation for which was based upon a weighted average risk percentage established at the inception of each program.

[2] The fair values were based on quoted market prices.

[3] The fair values were determined by discounting the future scheduled principal payments using an interest rate assuming the same original issuance spread over a current U.S. Treasury bond yield for securities with similar durations.