Sahara Traders

**Sahara Traders** is the gift shop for *Revenge of the Mummy* at Universal Studios Florida. The gift-shop is themed to being the shop, "**Sahara Traders Souvenirs and Supplies**" at 8 5th Avenue in New York City, nearby to the *Museum of Antiquities* where Revenge of the Mummy takes place and which sells souvenirs for the museum.

## Trivia

* Mail in Sahara Traders identifies the location of the *Museum of Antiquities* as being, "1203 Harryhausen Drive", a tribute to legendary animator Ray Harryhausen (1920-2013) who provided stop-motion special-effects for various monster movies.
* There are various references to the Mummy franchise, King Kong franchise, and other Universal Monster Movies amongst the props in Sahara Traders. The references to King Kong are a tribute to *Kongfrontation*, the attraction which Revenge of the Mummy replaced. Amongst these are:
	+ A brochure for the *Museum of Antiquities* mentions Carl Denham as curating certain exhibitions at the museum. Denham is the antagonistic film-director who captured King Kong. It also mentions Dr. Carl Maia as having an exhibit on a, "Piscine Amphibious Humanoid Skeleton", referencing characters from *The Creature from the Black Lagoon* (1954). Another is curated by M. Shelley's exhibit, "Historic architecture and where to find them", tributing historic Frankenstein author Mary Shelley (1797- 1851), who was also a character in *The Bride of Frankenstein* (1935).
	+ The brochure and a poster promote the *Museum of Antiquities* as having a collection of artifacts relating to Transylvania and its lore. This references the story of Dracula. The poster includes a painting of Vlad the Impaler, who is Dracula's historic namesake. Amongst the artifacts on the poster are wooden stakes and a hammer referencing how Van Helsing kills Dracula in the film, Count Dracula's necklace, and the silver wolf cane of Larry Talbot from the Wolfman (1941). There is a photo of the boat from Nosferatu that Count Orlok (an analogue for Dracula) used, and another photo of Bran Castle which is the alleged real-world Dracula's castle.
	+ Locations in the brochure for the museum reference different monster movies. There is Egypt (The Mummy), Transylvania (Dracula), Iping (the Invisible Man), the Bavarian Alps (Frankenstein). Wales (The Wolfman), and Paris (The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Phantom of the Opera and Murders in the Rue Morgue). A separate brochure mentions the museum having an exhibit on artifacts from Skull Island.
	+ King Kong character Carl Denham has multiple references to assembling the ancient Egyptian artifacts present in the museum, and has him displaying, "New exhibit! The Ninth Wonder of the World: The Living Mummy!", seemingly connecting him to the plot of Revenge of the Mummy. The logo for the Medjai from the 1990s Mummy films appears on the poster for the Ancient Egypt exhibit. Another brochure identifies the display as replacing the exhibit of artifacts from Skull Island, referencing how Revenge of the Mummy replaced Kongfrontation. The Living Mummy in question is likely Imhotep.
	+ There is an old poster promoting King Kong being put on display by Carl Denham, with a promotion for the Museum of Antiquities on the same flyer. This poster says, "Beauty conquered the beast", referencing Carl's famous words at the end of the film. Another promotion for King Kong being put on display mentions it occurring in the Broadway Theater November 13th of 1933, referencing the year that the original King Kong film was released.
	+ There is a newspaper article written by *King Kong* character Jack Driscoll titled "WAKING NIGHTMARE AS MONSTROUS "KONG" WREAKS HAVOC IN THE CITY Thanks in part to one mans ego and ignorance" which covers King Kong's rampage and pins blame on Carl Denham.
	+ There is a letter to the Museum from *King Kong* character Jack Driscoll, warning them against doing business with Carl Denham and saying they owe it to the city (indirectly referencing how he was responsible for King Kong's rampage). The letter may also reference Denham as being in possession of the *Book of the Dead*, as Driscoll mentions hearing that Denham got his hands on a book about Egyptian Mummies and cursed Egyptian items. Jack's publishing company is *Venture Publishing*, referencing the name of the boat The Venture which Carl Denham used to travel to Skull Island.
	+ There is an acquisition document for the Book of the Dead.
	+ There are multiple letters sent to Denham from Jonathan Carnahan from The Mummy (1999) while Carnahan was staying in Cairo hotels. One infers Denham was looking for Rick O'Connell who Carnahan can't locate, and has Jonathan Carnahan offer to sell Denham multiple ancient Egyptian artifacts including some of Rick's clothes, a scarab piece, a scorpion bracelet implied to be the Bracelet of Anubis from The Mummy Returns (2001), and a book implied to be the Book of the Dead. Another letter has Carnahan offer Denham the location of a cursed tomb to shoot a movie within, and has a reference to Carnahan working at the, "Imhotep Club" of Shanghai *fromThe Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor* (2008).
	+ There are also letters sent to Carl Denham by Evelyn O'Connell from The Mummy (1999), who is Carnahan's sister. The letters infer that Carl similarly tried to get artifacts and novelties from her, didn't realize that her fictional book characters weren't her in real-life, and displays a bad relationship between the pair of characters. Evelyn's address is Ardeth Bey Lane in Oxfordshire, referencing the Mummy character Ardeth Bey whose organization's logo appears on her letters, and whose name was taken by an alias used by Imhotep in the original 1932 Mummy film.
	+ There are a pair of books titled, "The Mummy" and, "The Mummy Returns" written by Evelyn O'Connell.
	+ A bronze bust seems to be in the likeness of Doctor Septimus Pretorius from *the Bride of Frankenstein*.
	+ There is a message from Ardeth Bay not to read the Book of the Dead, both referencing entities from the 1990s Mummy films. The logo for the Medjai appears on this warning.
	+ Amongst the props, is an old tram sign for Roosevelt island, referencing the story of *Kongfrontation*.
	+ There is a sign which says, "Now Entering the Dr. Griffin Wing" referencing Dr. Jack Griffin AKA The Invisible Man.
	+ A life-preserver from the, "Vesta" appeared. This was the name of the schooner which Dracula travelled to London on in the 1931 Universal version of Dracula. The prop also appeared to have been recycled from the defunct *Universal Studios Classic Monsters Cafe*.
	+ There is a map of Skull Island, framed on the wall.
* There is a broken open crate addressed to *Horlicks University* with the year 1834. This is a reference to Stephen King's 1979 short-story *The Crate*, in which an old wooden crate at Horlicks University from an 1834 Antarctica expedition is found, containing a man-killing monster which then runs loose. This story was adapted in the 1982 film, *Creepshow*.
* The sign identifies the shop as having opened in 1923.
* There is a menu from *Finnegan's* visible, referencing a restaurant in the same New York themed area.
* One of the props on the desk is a board for the *Royal Game of Ur*.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.laughingplace.com/w/news/2022/08/01/sahara-traders-hiding-details-about-the-soon-to-reopen-revenge-of-the-mummy-at-universal-studios-florida/
2. ↑ https://wdwnt.com/2022/07/sahara-traders-gets-a-new-look-with-tons-of-amazing-details-and-easter-eggs-ahead-of-revenge-of-the-mummy-reopening-at-universal-studios-florida/
3. ↑ https://orlandoparkstop.com/news/theme-park-news/universal-studios-florida-update-hhn-scare-zone-prep-monsters-cafe-demolition-new-sahara-traders/
4. ↑ https://wdwnt.com/2022/05/photo-video-tour-in-memoriam-take-one-last-look-at-universal-studios-classic-monsters-cafe-at-universal-studios-florida/