It does sound like a belt issue to me as well. Were you having any other issues before this incident (e.g.: didn't play DVD)? If not, the player sounds very salvageable (I’m actually shocked you considered this on the level of “dead”; not even close).
As rein-o said, unplug the power and remove the case. I would then check to see if your transport assembly is in the raised or lowered position. If it's raised, you'll need to move a gear to drop it down. Once it's lowered, locate the gearing where the loading belt is on and turn it to move the tray out (might even be able to simply pull out the tray manually by just grabbing it but try the gear first).
Another option if you just want to extract the disc quickly might be to just remove the upper clamp assembly and then you might have room to maneuver the disc out of the player. Here are the parts you need to remove (in red)....
(original pic courtesy of "itsvince725')
The upper track will still be in the way but like I said you might be able to maneuver the disc out. Just be very careful for the sake of the disc itself.
After you get it out, you'll have to look into whether the loading belt was the issue. If you have never replaced it, it's probably time for a new one.