Consolidating Financial Information of Guarantors and Issuers Income Statement (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 26, 2017	Mar. 27, 2016
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	$ 48,318	$ 58,438
Costs and expenses:
Cost of food, merchandise, and games revenues	5,480	6,237
Operating expenses	84,289	84,604
Selling, general and administrative	27,619	25,612
Depreciation and amortization	5,365	5,191
Loss on impairment / retirement of fixed assets, net	1,526	2,612
Total costs and expenses	124,279	124,256
Operating loss	(75,961)	(65,818)
Interest expense (income), net	18,882	19,769
Net effect of swaps	301	1,842
Unrealized / realized foreign currency (gain) loss	(2,671)	(19,561)
Other (income) expense	0	0
Income from investment in affiliates	0	0
Loss before taxes	(92,473)	(67,868)
Benefit for taxes	(27,719)	(19,382)
Net loss	(64,754)	(48,486)
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax):
Foreign currency translation adjustment	(660)	(4,395)
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedging derivatives	1,994	(2,631)
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax)	1,334	(7,026)
Total comprehensive loss	(63,420)	(55,512)
Cedar Fair L.P. (Parent) [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	(6,138)	(2,500)
Costs and expenses:
Cost of food, merchandise, and games revenues	0	0
Operating expenses	0	10
Selling, general and administrative	894	894
Depreciation and amortization	0	0
Loss on impairment / retirement of fixed assets, net	0	0
Total costs and expenses	894	904
Operating loss	(7,032)	(3,404)
Interest expense (income), net	8,169	8,038
Net effect of swaps	150	1,442
Unrealized / realized foreign currency (gain) loss	0	0
Other (income) expense	62	62
Income from investment in affiliates	48,666	34,681
Loss before taxes	(64,079)	(47,627)
Benefit for taxes	675	859
Net loss	(64,754)	(48,486)
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax):
Foreign currency translation adjustment	(660)	(4,395)
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedging derivatives	1,994	(2,631)
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax)	1,334	(7,026)
Total comprehensive loss	(63,420)	(55,512)
Guarantor Subsidiaries Co Issuer Subsidiary Magnum [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	(291)	7,841
Costs and expenses:
Cost of food, merchandise, and games revenues	0	0
Operating expenses	40,592	39,978
Selling, general and administrative	14,495	13,186
Depreciation and amortization	8	9
Loss on impairment / retirement of fixed assets, net	0	0
Total costs and expenses	55,095	53,173
Operating loss	(55,386)	(45,332)
Interest expense (income), net	5,308	6,445
Net effect of swaps	151	400
Unrealized / realized foreign currency (gain) loss	0	0
Other (income) expense	(15,264)	(19,371)
Income from investment in affiliates	20,604	14,144
Loss before taxes	(66,185)	(46,950)
Benefit for taxes	(17,519)	(12,270)
Net loss	(48,666)	(34,680)
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax):
Foreign currency translation adjustment	0	0
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedging derivatives	605	(756)
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax)	605	(756)
Total comprehensive loss	(48,061)	(35,436)
Co-Issuer Subsidiary (Cedar Canada) [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	353	119
Costs and expenses:
Cost of food, merchandise, and games revenues	0	(2)
Operating expenses	5,304	5,277
Selling, general and administrative	746	763
Depreciation and amortization	2	0
Loss on impairment / retirement of fixed assets, net	445	21
Total costs and expenses	6,497	6,059
Operating loss	(6,144)	(5,940)
Interest expense (income), net	5,905	6,036
Net effect of swaps	0	0
Unrealized / realized foreign currency (gain) loss	(2,671)	(19,561)
Other (income) expense	657	874
Income from investment in affiliates	4,344	3,475
Loss before taxes	(14,379)	3,236
Benefit for taxes	(3,276)	2,510
Net loss	(11,103)	726
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax):
Foreign currency translation adjustment	(660)	(4,395)
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedging derivatives	0	0
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax)	(660)	(4,395)
Total comprehensive loss	(11,763)	(3,669)
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	45,296	58,317
Costs and expenses:
Cost of food, merchandise, and games revenues	5,480	6,239
Operating expenses	29,295	44,678
Selling, general and administrative	11,484	10,769
Depreciation and amortization	5,355	5,182
Loss on impairment / retirement of fixed assets, net	1,081	2,591
Total costs and expenses	52,695	69,459
Operating loss	(7,399)	(11,142)
Interest expense (income), net	(500)	(750)
Net effect of swaps	0	0
Unrealized / realized foreign currency (gain) loss	0	0
Other (income) expense	14,545	18,435
Income from investment in affiliates	11,097	(725)
Loss before taxes	(32,541)	(28,102)
Benefit for taxes	(7,599)	(10,481)
Net loss	(24,942)	(17,621)
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax):
Foreign currency translation adjustment	0	0
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedging derivatives	0	0
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax)	0	0
Total comprehensive loss	(24,942)	(17,621)
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenues	9,098	(5,339)
Costs and expenses:
Cost of food, merchandise, and games revenues	0	0
Operating expenses	9,098	(5,339)
Selling, general and administrative	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	0	0
Loss on impairment / retirement of fixed assets, net	0	0
Total costs and expenses	9,098	(5,339)
Operating loss	0	0
Interest expense (income), net	0	0
Net effect of swaps	0	0
Unrealized / realized foreign currency (gain) loss	0	0
Other (income) expense	0	0
Income from investment in affiliates	(84,711)	(51,575)
Loss before taxes	84,711	51,575
Benefit for taxes	0	0
Net loss	84,711	51,575
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax):
Foreign currency translation adjustment	660	4,395
Unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedging derivatives	(605)	756
Other comprehensive income (loss), (net of tax)	55	5,151
Total comprehensive loss	$ 84,766	$ 56,726