Not at all. I don't know about mobile suits, but NERV and SEELE [headcanon on SEELE, but he had to learn how to pilot somehow] both have simulators that are much smaller than a full-sized EVA. Just big enough to hold the pilot and the machinery necessary to simulate a neural link.
((i'm really sorry, i can't find a picture or a video of the simulator. but it's canon, and it'd just take a very large room.))