Chosen Solution

For some reason my MacBook Pro–15" model 1286–won’t eject the store-bought DVD I put in it today. The DVD is not showing up on the finder and it’s not spinning. I’ve tried restarting several times holding down the mouse button and trackpad–a force eject that I read about online. I’ve also gone into Terminal and typed “drutil eject” and that didn’t work, but I’m not sure If I’m utilizing Terminal correctly. If anyone knows how to get this DVD out of my computer, short of disassembly, I’d appreciate hearing about it! Thank you.

At this point your best solution is to remove the drive–open it up and then replace the drive. Link for removal included. Try macheads solution first. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2008 and Early 2009 Optical Drive Replacement

You can always try the double sticky tape method. Find an old CD/DVD and some thin double sticky tape (like scotch tape ~3/4in wide). Put a couple of strips close together on one edge of the CD/DVD, firmly hang on to the untaped part of CD/DVD and side it half way into the slot TAPE SIDE DOWN, angling UP so that the tape isn’t grabbing yet. When it’s part way in straighten or reverse tilt the disk so the tape will hit the stuck disk and adhere to it. You want to try to snag the disk with the tape, so that you can pull it out. I’ve done this with Slot Loading iMacs… If this Answer is helpful please remember to return and mark it Accepted.

@machead3 worked a treat:)