Halloween Horror Nights modifies Bill & Ted show following Las Vegas tragedy

Aftershocks from recent real-life terror in Las Vegas have impacted Universal Orlando’s fantasy frights, as Halloween Horror Nights 27’s Bill & Ted show has been modified in the wake of last Sunday’s shooting during the Route 91 Harvest country music festival.

This year’s Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure show, the 26th and final installment of Universal Orlando’s popular pop-culture spoof, was originally set at a music festival, and involved the Grim Reaper threatening to kill the entire audience. As of Wednesday, Oct. 4, the Bill & Ted script has been modified to eliminate or downplay certain elements that might evoke the Las Vegas tragedy.

First, all references to the show taking place during a “festival” have been dropped, including a series of jokes where a “Sean Spicer” character would give the event absurdly long names (like “The Mega Virgin Comic-Cochella-Con Murder & Wine Festival”).  Instead, the location of the show is now simply a concert in the Fear Factor stage.

Second, the Death character now only attempts to kill only Bill and Ted, rather than threatening to destroy all humanity, including the audience. In the revised script, Bill & Ted must find something redeeming about pop culture in order to save themselves from being dragged to “Hell,” not the whole world.

In addition to these changes made in the wake of Las Vegas shooting, the Bill & Ted script has seen other minor tweaks since opening night, as is often the case. For example, the “Sean Spicer” character now comments on how Apple made an iPhone X and 8 but skipped 9. Another section that frequently changes is when Bill is briefly killed and brought back to life; Disney’s Great Movie Ride and Pleasure Island have been among the deceased things he reports seeing in the afterlife.

As of the publishing of this article, Universal Orlando had not replied to our request for comment on the Bill & Ted changes. For more about Bill & Ted, watch this video with the duo from the Halloween Horror Nights 27 opening night media event: