| **Selected Quarterly Financial Data (Tables)**            | 12 Months Ended                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
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| **Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract]** |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| Selected Quarterly Financial Data                         |   2012 Year Ended July 31, 2012Quarter Ended, July 31, 2012Quarter Ended, April 30, 2012Quarter Ended, January 31, 2012Quarter Ended, October 31, 2011Mountain revenue$766,608$46,414$354,586$315,938$49,670Lodging revenue210,62354,75153,97248,30653,594Real estate revenue47,16312,37912,5879,08813,109Total net revenue1,024,394113,544421,145373,332116,373Income (loss) from operations59,331(80,919)140,40684,218(84,374)Net income (loss)16,391(53,824)79,52846,421(55,734)Net income (loss) attributable to Vail Resorts, Inc.$16,453$(53,796)$79,569$46,389$(55,709)Basic net income (loss) per share attributable to Vail Resorts, Inc.$0.46$(1.50)$2.21$1.29$(1.54)Diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to Vail Resorts, Inc.$0.45$(1.50)$2.17$1.27$(1.54)  2011 Year Ended July 31, 2011Quarter Ended, July 31, 2011Quarter Ended, April 30, 2011Quarter Ended, January 31, 2011Quarter Ended, October 31, 2010Mountain revenue$752,191$41,717$351,418$318,277$40,779Lodging revenue214,65854,38857,47751,67651,117Real estate revenue200,19712,56813,22125,147149,261Total net revenue1,167,046108,673422,116395,100241,157Income (loss) from operations94,472(77,828)139,49597,061(64,256)Net income (loss)34,422(53,915)76,84054,557(43,060)Net income (loss) attributable to Vail Resorts, Inc.$34,489$(53,906)$76,867$54,551$(43,023)Basic net income (loss) per share attributable to Vail Resorts, Inc.$0.96$(1.49)$2.13$1.52$(1.20)Diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to Vail Resorts, Inc.$0.94$(1.49)$2.08$1.48$(1.20) |

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| - Definition
Tabular disclosure of the quarterly financial data in the annual financial statements. The disclosure includes financial information for each fiscal quarter for the current and previous year, including revenues, gross profit, income (loss) before extraordinary items and cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle and earnings per share data.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 270 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (a)-(j) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=20225539&loc=d3e1280-108306
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