I find it easier to pull the whole dash out but there are lots of things to do before you can drop it out. A few things are dropping the column to the floor after taking out the seat, Unscrewing the bulkhead (fusebox and connectors) from the dash, and disconnecting any heater control cables and wires.
After loosening the 2 side nuts under the kick panels, the dash rotates down and out after taking out the 4 screws at rhe defroster vents.
I know MEK-Danger replaced his dash pad without pulling the dash out so he might want to say how hard or easy it was to do that. But for me, I can pull a column and dash out fairly quickly.