TDR Explorer

Christopher Nilghe (born: ), better known online as TDR Explorer, is an Canadian YouTuber who uploads videos regarding his trips to Disney Parks, and crafting content on his website for theme park fans traveling to Asia. He mainly films and talks about Asia Disney Theme Parks, but he also goes into other parks such as USJ (Universal Studios Japan), and other parks in asia, but he has since expanded outside of the theme parks. He also has another channel which is now inactive.
==Before being a YouTuber==
He first came to Japan in 2003 living in Tochigi, north of Tokyo as an exchange student when he was 18. He wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland (not DisneySea) while he was still in Japan, but his friends replied “anywhere but Disneyland”, so he ended up not going. He moved back to Canada after staying 6 months in Japan.
He went back to Canada and went to the University of Saskatchewan and got a degree in computer science in 2010. As a graduation gift, his at then friend, John Himpe surprised him with a trip to Walt Disney World and Universal Studios Florida. He also went to Tokyo Disney a short time later, and also got his first job outside University a short time after.
In 2009, he started doing blogging on Tokyo Disney Resort under the name “Fat Hobbit”, after some trips to Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disney Resort. He did this blog for fun on his website, generally describing his day at the parks from eating at the day to attractions he rode.
He decided to go back to Japan 10 years later on November 2013 to stay for 1 year. After 1 month in Tokyo, he ended up getting a job in a small IT company in Tokyo as an engineer, and decided to stay in Japan a bit longer.
During this time, he got enough money in 1 week from his IT job to get a Tokyo Disney Resort Annual Passport. 1 year later, 2014 was a big year for him. During this time, Chris met Trish and started a podcast called the TDR Now Podcast, to talk a variety of things in Japan. Also during this time, he changed from Fat Hobbit to TDR Explorer, since now he has decided to stay in Japan. With this rebranding, he officially made the TDR Explorer YouTube channel.
Suddenly, after 3 years in the company in 2016, he was fired from his IT job. He was devastated, and thought of whether going back to Canada or staying in Japan. He also considered his Fat Hobbit blog. He started looking for other IT jobs in Japan.
During this time, he considered with his business partner to start a company talking about niche things in Japan. This was put on a stop as he was still looking for a job.
After many interviews, he made it to the next stage on a company for a engineering position. The interviewer asked “Besides web development, what do you enjoy doing?”. He explained that he loved blogging on Tokyo Disney Resort, even showcasing his TDR Wait Time App. The interviewer replied with “Oh, I thought that stuff was for kids? You can find that much stuff to write about Disneyland? Huh, OK then”. He was shocked, and continued the interview in a shocked state because of the interviewers reply.
After that interview, he decided to make what he was doing work. He proceeded to make TDR Explorer his full-time job, and to see where it goes.
But then comes another problem, for Working Visa purposes, he needed to be employed by a Japanese company to stay in Japan. Going back to his business partner, they decided to go forward with this and decided to name their company Niche Japan, talking about Niche stuff in Japan. He is talking about Tokyo Disney Resort and talked about general stuff in Japan, as well as Shanghai Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland since of how close it is to Japan. With this company, he could now stay in Japan and work on TDR Explorer and Niche Japan as well.
Now over 2.5 million Explorer’s are using his information, and now doing what he loves, making happy families trips to Tokyo Disney Resort, and making guide books and continuing to make videos.
==TDR Explorer Website==
TDR Explorer was first started on his website, and still uses it as one of his main priorities, other than YouTube. He uses this as a much faster way to push these news out, and only chooses specific topic to be made into YouTube videos, as there are so many news coming out.
On June 26 2020, the TDR Explorer website was updated to make it easier to help find people’s information easier and more efficiently.
==Ebooks==
 TDR Explorer has released “The TDR Explorer Guide to Tokyo Disney Resort” on March 13, 2018 as a paid ebook to include more information into planning your trip to Tokyo Disney Resort. The Tokyo Disney Resort book has racked up over 3000 copies from it’s release on March 13, 2018. The book was updated on December 29, 2019.
On September 11, 2018, TDR Explorer made another ebook for USJ. On the same day, they also released a set that came with both books for cheaper. The book was also updated on April 16, 2020.
==Patreon==
On February 13, 2017, TDR Explorer released his Patreon page, with tiers that include perks such as monthly live streams, custom blog post ideas, and one-on-one talks with Chris himself.
1 month earlier, TDR Explorer and Trish started their own Patreon with different rewards and perks as TDR Now is a podcast, and TDR Explorer is mainly a website and the Youtube channel.
==Trivia==
*TDR Explorer also written for WDWNT, but only wrote a handful of articles. Somewhere during end of July - June 10 2020, his author page has been removed, the link will now lead you to a “Page dosent exist”, rather than his description and written articles.
*In Offhand Disney’s video on “Tokyo Disney is the Best in the World: Here’s Why”, he gave a shoutout to TDR Explorer.
*The TDR Explorer team was featured on NBC LA covering the reopening of Shanghai Disneyland during the Covid-19 pandemic.
*TDR Explorer is now writing for WDW Magazine. This was the item inside that black envelope on his Instagram Stories.
*On June 30, 2020 he came out as “two-spirit”, other than just being gay. A definition of two-spirit can be found here. With this he is now part of the LGBTQ2S+ community.
*In TDR Explorer’s Nintendo Store Japan Merchandise Haul | Shibuya, Tokyo Shopping video, he got his first ever sponsor from SurfShark, and VPN shortly after hitting 20k subscribers.
Category:Vlogging YouTubers
Category:Canadian YouTubers
Category:LGBT YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2014
Category:Review YouTubers