Thanks to this site, I was able to remove the panel and replace the pump. It wasn't quite as easy as the video made it look though - we spent almost two hours trying to get the front panel off, till we figured out that you push in to get the tabs to release not up! Replacing the pump itself was pretty easy except that its a good thing we had two people working on it because it really required three hands to hold open the hose clamp, stretch the drain hose towards the front of the machine, and attach the hose to the pump. But we did it! and miracle of all miracles, when we tested our work there was no flood of water coming from the bottom of the machine!
Tools needed: Pliers (for holding open the hose clamps), putty knives (for opening the front panel), Socket set and driver (for removing and replacing bolts holding pump in place)
Timing: For most people this would be a 20-30 minute job. It took us a lot longer because we had a lot of trouble even opening the machine. Once we did it probably took 10 minutes to remove the old pump and 20 minutes to install the new one.