Consolidating Financial Information of Guarantors and Issuers Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 27, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Mar. 29, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 64,551	$ 119,557	$ 19,725	$ 131,840
Receivables	33,914	29,494	24,125
Inventories	38,455	25,029	37,369
Prepaid Expense and Other Assets			27,027
Other current assets	27,918	9,946
Total current assets	164,838	184,026	108,246
Property and equipment (net)	1,570,154	1,514,878	1,558,264
Investment In Park	0	0	0
Goodwill	214,708	210,811	219,883	228,291
Other intangibes, net	36,655	35,895	36,983
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Other Assets	17,405	17,410	18,682
Total Assets	2,003,760	1,963,020	1,942,058
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	4,050	2,475	0
Accounts payable	34,092	17,122	38,265
Deferred revenue	105,256	69,514	92,664
Accrued interest	11,360	9,910	12,056
Accrued taxes	10,563	41,937	10,159
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	22,441	26,916	26,111
Self-insurance reserves	24,252	23,996	22,785
Distribution Payable	46,314	0	0
Current derivative liability	0	0	9,989
Other accrued liabilities	7,196	6,801	11,486
Total current liabilities	265,524	198,671	223,515
Deferred Tax Liability	138,948	129,763	112,298
Derivative Liability	27,855	22,918	19,252
Other Liabilities	12,388	17,983	15,351
Long-Term Debt:
Long-term Line of Credit, Noncurrent	65,000	0	57,000
Term debt	597,309	598,346	599,145
Notes	938,542	938,330	936,689
Total long-term debt	1,600,851	1,536,676	1,592,834
Total partners' equity	(41,806)	57,009	(21,192)
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	2,003,760	1,963,020	1,942,058
Cedar Fair L.P. (Parent) [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	77,007	0	80,000
Receivables	18	0	1
Inventories	0	0	0
Prepaid Expense and Other Assets			80
Other current assets	77	188
Total current assets	95	77,195	81
Property and equipment (net)	0	0	0
Investment In Park	699,382	724,592	622,008
Goodwill	674	674	674
Other intangibes, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Other Assets	0	0	0
Total Assets	700,151	802,461	622,763
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable	317,035	433,621	274,612
Deferred revenue	0	0	0
Accrued interest	1,290	4,602	1,595
Accrued taxes	1,935	1,066	1,792
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	0	0	0
Self-insurance reserves	0	0	0
Distribution Payable	46,968
Current derivative liability			5,980
Other accrued liabilities	1,438	1,355	864
Total current liabilities	368,666	440,644	284,843
Deferred Tax Liability	0	0	0
Derivative Liability	16,713	13,396	11,197
Other Liabilities	0	0	0
Long-Term Debt:
Long-term Line of Credit, Noncurrent	65,000		57,000
Term debt	0	0	0
Notes	291,578	291,412	290,915
Total long-term debt	356,578	291,412	347,915
Total partners' equity	(41,806)	57,009	(21,192)
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	700,151	802,461	622,763
Guarantor Subsidiaries Co Issuer Subsidiary Magnum [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	382
Receivables	2,192	1,292	89,060
Inventories	131	121	152
Prepaid Expense and Other Assets			369
Other current assets	26,642	1,261
Total current assets	28,965	2,674	89,581
Property and equipment (net)	5,584	5,593	5,621
Investment In Park	904,557	911,910	765,178
Goodwill	0	0	0
Other intangibes, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	2,920	14,080	60,326
Other Assets	14,413	14,414	14,431
Total Assets	956,439	948,671	935,137
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	1,649	1,008
Accounts payable	161,288	115,135	199,361
Deferred revenue	139	85	92
Accrued interest	1,303	3,221	1,526
Accrued taxes	0	0	503
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	21,805	22,166	21,608
Self-insurance reserves	11,417	7,437	8,031
Distribution Payable	0
Current derivative liability			4,009
Other accrued liabilities	1,125	1,531	3,365
Total current liabilities	198,726	150,583	238,495
Deferred Tax Liability	0	0	0
Derivative Liability	11,142	9,522	8,055
Other Liabilities	1,232	6,705	3,707
Long-Term Debt:
Long-term Line of Credit, Noncurrent	0		0
Term debt	243,628	244,101	244,603
Notes	202,794	202,679	202,333
Total long-term debt	446,422	446,780	446,936
Total partners' equity	298,917	335,081	237,944
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	956,439	948,671	935,137
Co-Issuer Subsidiary (Cedar Canada) [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	38,251	39,106	14,881	45,519
Receivables	20,709	27,788	115,830
Inventories	1,920	1,222	2,070
Prepaid Expense and Other Assets			2,382
Other current assets	2,097	1,332
Total current assets	62,977	69,448	135,163
Property and equipment (net)	186,379	176,390	202,853
Investment In Park	176,055	179,529	160,401
Goodwill	94,428	90,531	99,603
Other intangibes, net	13,384	12,832	14,119
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Other Assets	219	210	349
Total Assets	533,442	528,940	612,488
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	93	57
Accounts payable	1,839	810	2,424
Deferred revenue	6,313	4,397	6,077
Accrued interest	7,853	2,056	7,943
Accrued taxes	1,810	0	749
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	636	1,026	771
Self-insurance reserves	1,426	1,400	1,413
Distribution Payable	0
Current derivative liability			0
Other accrued liabilities	190	167	99
Total current liabilities	20,160	9,913	19,476
Deferred Tax Liability	20,003	21,979	49,021
Derivative Liability	0	0	0
Other Liabilities	0	0	0
Long-Term Debt:
Long-term Line of Credit, Noncurrent	0		0
Term debt	13,660	13,691	13,676
Notes	444,170	444,239	443,441
Total long-term debt	457,830	457,930	457,117
Total partners' equity	35,449	39,118	86,874
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	533,442	528,940	612,488
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	28,203	3,444	4,844	5,939
Receivables	488,005	547,361	546,424
Inventories	36,404	23,686	35,147
Prepaid Expense and Other Assets			24,196
Other current assets	25,153	8,781
Total current assets	577,765	583,272	610,611
Property and equipment (net)	1,378,191	1,332,895	1,349,790
Investment In Park	24,194	27,862	11,776
Goodwill	119,606	119,606	119,606
Other intangibes, net	23,271	23,063	22,864
Deferred Tax Asset	0	0	0
Other Assets	2,773	2,786	3,902
Total Assets	2,125,800	2,089,484	2,118,549
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	2,308	1,410
Accounts payable	32,189	14,503	289,058
Deferred revenue	98,804	65,032	86,495
Accrued interest	914	31	992
Accrued taxes	32,869	42,487	7,115
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	0	3,724	3,732
Self-insurance reserves	11,409	15,159	13,341
Distribution Payable	0
Current derivative liability			0
Other accrued liabilities	4,443	3,748	7,158
Total current liabilities	182,936	146,094	407,891
Deferred Tax Liability	121,865	121,864	123,603
Derivative Liability	0	0	0
Other Liabilities	11,156	11,278	11,644
Long-Term Debt:
Long-term Line of Credit, Noncurrent	0		0
Term debt	340,021	340,554	340,866
Notes	0	0	0
Total long-term debt	340,021	340,554	340,866
Total partners' equity	1,469,822	1,469,694	1,234,545
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	2,125,800	2,089,484	2,118,549
Eliminations [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	(1,903)	0	0	$ 0
Receivables	(477,010)	(546,947)	(727,190)
Inventories	0	0	0
Prepaid Expense and Other Assets			0
Other current assets	(26,051)	(1,616)
Total current assets	(504,964)	(548,563)	(727,190)
Property and equipment (net)	0	0	0
Investment In Park	(1,804,188)	(1,843,893)	(1,559,363)
Goodwill	0	0	0
Other intangibes, net	0	0	0
Deferred Tax Asset	(2,920)	(14,080)	(60,326)
Other Assets	0	0	0
Total Assets	(2,312,072)	(2,406,536)	(2,346,879)
Current Liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable	(478,259)	(546,947)	(727,190)
Deferred revenue	0	0	0
Accrued interest	0	0	0
Accrued taxes	(26,051)	(1,616)	0
Accrued salaries, wages and benefits	0	$ 0	0
Self-insurance reserves	0		0
Distribution Payable	(654)
Current derivative liability			0
Other accrued liabilities	0	$ 0	0
Total current liabilities	(504,964)	(548,563)	(727,190)
Deferred Tax Liability	(2,920)	(14,080)	(60,326)
Derivative Liability	0	0	0
Other Liabilities	0	0	0
Long-Term Debt:
Long-term Line of Credit, Noncurrent	0		0
Term debt	0	0	0
Notes	0	0	0
Total long-term debt	0	0	0
Total partners' equity	(1,804,188)	(1,843,893)	(1,559,363)
Total Partners' Equity and Liabilities	$ (2,312,072)	$ (2,406,536)	$ (2,346,879)