I wouldn't sweat taking the door panel off. It's super easy to do, just take your time and be careful so you don't break any clips. The interior handle (with the window switches) is held in by a spring clip at the front of the handle and lifts up and out of the way fairly easily, then disconnect the wires to the locks and switches. There is one (maybe two) phillips head screws to unscrew and then the rest of the panel is held in by more spring clips so it should just pop right off. The one thing I can't remember is if you have to take the tweeter cover off to get it out of the way. If you do, there is a little plastic "door" that hides a screw and that comes right off.
"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong, it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair."
-Douglas Adams, Mostly Harmless