I tried doing the same thing but was unsuccessful. Instead, I used a very small screw driver and slowly pry the dome lens cover off. If you look at the lens cover closely, there are some gaps for a small screw driver and it just pop out. After the cover off, replacing the bulbs was easy.

 

in the back yes - this is exactly what you do
but in the front - there are no little gaps unless you are talking about under the door and on/off buttons... i tried putting an exato knife up there and it snapped when i tried to pull it down hah -_-

 

Use a plastic pry tool, you can pick them up at your local body and paint supply shop, or get a plastic scraper tool, something thin with a bit of rigidity. Don't use a screwdriver, you will dent the surrounding plastic.