98 Escort - Won't shift out of Park

I started the car, stepped on the brake and attempted to put it in reverse, to no avail. The button will not depress on the side of the shifter. The familiar meachanical linkage sound at the shifter when I step on the brake is there but it is not as solid of a sound as when it was working. I was trying to take off the console to see what was wrong but cannot as the shifter needs to go back into low for the console to clear.

I see a small covered hole on the console to the right of the shifter. Is this an access to release the shifter out of park? Any assistance on getting the shifter to work again would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Yes, remove that plug and put a screwdriver through that hole and it will release the lock on the shifter.