Ted is given driving lessons in his father's squad car. Later Bill and Ted borrow "Blue Betty" to drive 5 blocks to buy the new Iron Maiden CD, and he accidentally wrecks it, which leads to him and Bill going back in time to require some help. They also improve the first Thanksgiving feast, meet pirates and sea explorers like Sir Francis Drake, car pioneer Henry Ford and the inventors of the airplane, The Wright brothers.
Bill and Ted use their phone booth to find a heinous bully to deal with a bully at Deacon's school. They try the English ruler Henry VIII of England, evil Russian czar Ivan the Terrible, cowgirl personality Calamity Jane, and American patriot Paul Revere. They even help start the American Revolution, kick off the Boston Tea Party, help Benjamin Franklin discover electricity, and sign the United States Declaration of Independence.
The duo house-sit for an eccentric explorer named Mr. Stickler and a cat eats his most prized possession, a rare bird called "Prince Rupert III" which leads to finding a replacement. They also help polar explorer Richard E. Byrd fly across the South Pole, build a nose for the Sphinx, and help Mr. Henry Morton Stanley find Dr. David Livingstone.
A math teacher named Ms. Spleen is fed up with Bill and Ted and threatens them with expelling them unless they can catch up with their homework. In order to get a great audience at their concert, they go back to get their old friends Joanna and Elizabeth from 15th century England, but end up in the Crusades with Muslim leader Saladin.
Bill and Ted are fed up with not getting any applause after their fourth gig. They give up on the band, which disrupts time, causes Rufus to get younger and younger, and leads to Bill and Ted meeting famous inventor Thomas Edison, professional artist, thinker, scientist, and inventor Leonardo da Vinci, English chemist Joseph Priestley, and history's greatest sailor, Christopher Columbus.