Try this..

Vehicle in D, foot brake on, park brake on, foot brake off, shift into Park.

or

Vehicle in D, foot brake on, park brake on, shift into N, foot brake off, shift into Park.

Ive never had any problems with my park brake on my 07 and I use it all the time - you need to use it like a stick shift park brake here on the hills of San Francisco which are sometimes so steep that the sidewalk is stairs. The FEH tranny doesnt hold the car on a hill in D like a normal automatic. I wonder how they are handling this in the 2008s with the floor brake.

Lots of vehicles have working park brakes but still can lean on that parking pawl which can cause problems. My last vehicle, a 3/4 Suburban was so heavy that if you parked it leaning on the Park pawl as you describe, you couldnt get it out of P at all, You had to get another vehicle to push you from behind to take the weight off the pawl so that the shifter could be moved. After getting stuck once I learned to never shift into P until I was sure that the vehicle was leaning on the brake first.

Tim

2007 Ford Escape Hybrid FWD
Premium Package
Safety Package
Moonroof