So we went yesterday afternoon (Saturday) and it was really easy to find and the crowd wasn't near as bad as I was expecting it to be. Really neat to see people who knew about Top Gear to share stories with while waiting in line. We arrived so early, we couldn't even find where to go and drove around, for fun, on the big empty landing area and accidentally red-lined the MiniCooper. Just this huge piece of tarmac with no one around and nothing to hit. I got a little too enthusiastic with the freedom, but no harm done. We wandered around a bit more and found a Top Gear Crew ONLY part of the area and took some pictures of a yellow Lambo, a blacked out Ferrari and some other cool cars with no plates on them. Eventually we found the entrance, which at the time, was a closed gate with a tiny sign and no one around. Eventually we talked to a really cool security guard and tried to talk him into giving us his Top Gear Crew ID. So close, but didn't get it. We ended being 18 and 19 in line for the Saturday afternoon taping and got in just fine. The studio is a little small but you are LITERALLY rubbing shoulders with the hosts. Tanner was very cool, Adam seemed a bit distant but I told him I was a huge fan of his from many years ago when he did stand-up comedy and I quoted some of his lines and then he broke out into a comedy routine, which was totally cool and 100% Adam. Rutlidge was a cool guy, I never heard of him before, but he seemed very approachable and easy going. They let us in the gate at 2pm, we got into the studio about 3:15p, and it ended about 7pm. Yes, you are on your feet the whole time while in the studio but who complains? I'd of stood for 15 hours if they would have let me. I couldn't get enough of it. There was so much going on inside the studio for the eyes to take in. All the little details. I noticed no music during the segments, so I do hope they add music before it airs. The filming and editing techniques of the segments are just like Top Gear UK and the hosts are still finding their groove. Over all, for a first season, I walked away impressed and looking forward to the season. I drove in Friday night from Phoenix, AZ, and then drove back to Phoenix right after the taping ended. I told Adam and he said "You came all the way out here just for this? Was it worth it?" and then a girl behind me said she came out from Minnesota, by herself, just to see the taping as a birthday present to herself. How cool is that? We saw the Stig walking around the parking lot behind the studio and then, eventually, get into a Chrysler Town & Country Mini Van and drive off. That mini van never looked so cool!
For anyone with a GPS, you can enter these co-ordinates to go directly to the entrance:
N 33 degrees 40.387'
W 117 degrees 45.065'
Then park anywhere around these co-ordinates:
N 33 degrees 40.338'
W 117 degrees 44.648'
Then look for the tiny sign on the gate if the gate is closed.