I recently had the same issue with my tranny - would not shift out of first, despite re-starting and all.

Had the car towed back to my house.Re-started next day and still not shifting out of first.

The tranny had to be rebuilt!

Diagnosis : Clutch material within the tranny disintegrated and plugged up fluid channels.

Cost of rebuild : $1500

I did disconnect the kickdown switch (in case it was sticking) but still the same problem.You may want to do this check first before going any further.

Good luck.